The Ambassasdors Magazine - January 2009

"The future of the world was reliant on how China defined its own greatness."
Former US President Bill Clinton

China is China, a nation unlike any other. It is a geographic empire and a psychological totality Zhongguo (the Middle Kingdom), the center of the earth and home to 1/6 of all humans, a statistic that has probably stood steady throughout history. On August 8, when the Olympic flame flared to life and blazed in Beijing's National Stadium (also known as the Bird's Nest), Chinese hearts around the globe glowed with pride. The ancient city which was home to this remarkable spectacle, was on display to showcase a side of the modern China emblazoned with modern Chinese nationalism. The 1.3 billion people in China and the 40 million Chinese around the world were especially proud given their country's recent advancement to the center of the world stage partly because its is a come-back-from-behind story. The century or so leading up to China's rise to global prominence featured a succession of disasters, from the collapse of an imperial dynasty, to the descent into warlordism, and then years of infighting between nationalists and communists, then the isolation, poverty and extremism of Mao Zedong's years that crested with the tumult of the Cultural Revolution. Yet, the Chinese are a proud people--proud of their 5,000 of continuous civilization, their language, their cuisine, their arts and sciences, and most recently, their breathtaking ascent from pauper state to economic dynamo. Since the late 19th century, Chinese nationalist reformers dreamed of a China that is "rich and strong." Now it is on its way to being both, the year 2008 represents the realization of this century old dream of national revival. On the luckiest day of the Chinese calendar, 8 August 2008 (since the number eight holds special significance), China opened its arms to the world in an Olympic launch that symbolized the country's arrival on the global arena. A self assured china that wins the respect, admiration and acceptance of the world could reach superpower status without threatening international security, a process Beijing likes to call "peaceful rise."

On May 12, 2008, China was hit by a tragic natural disaster when an 8.0 strong earthquake shook Sichuan province and claimed 69,227 lives and injured 374,000 people. Just 3 months before the Olympics, it took a colossal effort from all sectors of Chinese society to recover from this tragedy. The world saw another side of Chinese patriotism as thousands of volunteers came to help and millions donated to the relief efforts, showing solidarity in the face of adversity, and displaying Chinese civic engagement which was a blossoming of Chinese internationalism.

This year, one of the remarkable archaeological discoveries was made by Chinese researchers as they unearthed a site with substantial dinosaur fossils. Professor Zhao Xijin, the eminent paleontologist from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences,,who is in charge of the excavations told Chinese state media: "This group of fossilised dinosaurs is currently the largest ever discovered in the world... in terms of area." Despite being a relative late-comer to archaeology, China has boosted their exploration in recent years and is now at the forefront of paleontological discovery. In one of the most notable finds, about 3000 dinosaur bones have been dug up from a single pit just a few hundred metres long and thousands of others have been unearthed at a number of sites nearby. The Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that they have uncovered 7600 dinosaur bones since March 2008 in Shandong province. Most of the bones date back to the late Cretaceous period which is around the time when dinosaurs became extinct. Zhucheng in Shandong province is known locally as "dinosaur city" and has been the scene of several important finds since the 1960s. This area is also notorious for the smuggling of rare fossils, which are taken out of China and sold for large sums.

(AP/Getty/ABC News)

Dino-Museum, Shandong , is home to
some of China's most rare dinosaur finds (Radio86).

Chinese astronauts Liu Boming (R), Zhai Zhigang (C) and Jing Haipeng wave in front of a poster of China's first astronaut Yang Liwei before the launch of the Shenzhou VII manned spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province September 25, 2008 (Stringer/Reuters)

It has always been a Chinese dream to have a footprint in space, and advance that is hard to forget and is viewed as a national triumph. The eventual goal is to build a space station and possibly making a visit to the moon. The Chinese leaders mentioned that their ultimate goal of this project is to explore and peacefully use outer space, post-national economic development and people's well being.

On the 25th of September 2008, China's third manned space mission blasted off from a remote desert site on a trip designed to showcase its technological mastery, including its first-ever space walk. Znou 7 hot up into a chilly inky black sky at the Giuquan Launch center in the northwest province of Gansu carrying 3 astronauts: Jing Haipeng, ZhaiZ Hu and, Liu Boming. it entered earths orbit. The astronaut were calm with one waving at the crowd and the other with the victory sign/ Chinese president Hu Jintao called the launch another "great feat in the Chinese people's scaling of the peak of world science and technology." It is China's third manned-space mission as it it joined Russia and the US as the only countries to have sent astronauts into space.

On the 28th of September the three astronomers emerged from their space capsule after a milestone ending a 68 hour mission to carry out their country's first space walk. State broadcaster CCTV showed the astronauts' return on 28 September after their ship's reenter vehicle burst through the earth's atmosphere to make a landing under clear skies in the grasslands of China's northern Inner Mongolia region. Chinese spacewalker and commander Zhai Zhigang, a 41 year old fighter pilot was seen on TV waving next to his colleagues after they landed. He said, "it was a glorious mission, full of challenges and a successful end. We feel proud of the motherland." Prime minister Wen Jiabao applauded at mission control in Beijing and shook hands with staff "this mission's success is a milestone, a stride forward.

The video grab taken on Sept. 27, 2008 in Beijing, China, shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang is outside the orbital module. (Xinhua Photo)

This photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency shows Chinese astronauts Fei Junlong, left, and Nie Haisheng holding flowers after landing in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Monday.

A teacher shows a group of kindergartners a model of the Long March rocket in Hefei in central China. (Str/AFP-Getty Images).

When most countries competing in the Beijing Olympics rejoice with a silver medal, for the Chinese delegate, anything less than gold was no reason for celebration. Here 77kg class weightlifter, Li Hongli's respectable effort earns no more than a silver medal!

There is no argument that the Olympic and Paraolympic games which attracted some of the planet's great athletic powers was one of the most stellar in recent memory. It is well-known that China was excluded from the Games during the Mao Zedong years. Throughout most of its modern history, China was always a modest competitor in the world of international sports. However, with the commencement of the Beijing Olympics, China has transformation itself into one of the world's great athletic powerhouses, if not the greatest. The world was thrilled to see the Chinese leaving nothing to chance in staging one of the greatest show on the earth. Travelers and tourists to China in this past year were astonished with the astonishing material prosperity of Beijing which seemed unimaginable 20 years ago. Equipped with a brand new airport, brand new highways, and brand new hotels, the city seemed to be in mint condition to the tens of thousands of Olympic revelers.

On August 24, near the end of the Closing Ceremony, the international Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge described the Games of 29th Olympiad as "truly exceptional," a muted declaration, a true understatement. The games starting with the opening ceremonies gave the world a taste of the potent force that is Chinese nationalism as some 90,000 fans packed the Bird's Nest Stadium because of its steel lattice construction--and cheered the performers.

Just like the opening ceremony China's athletic display in the Olympic games was astonishingly dominant in nearly all sports as the host country secured 51 gold medals ahead of its competitor, the US by 15 gold medals. Interestingly this came with some controversy as online records and newspaper accounts suggested three of China's top women gymnasts He Kexin, Yang Yuyuan, and Jang Yilin--maybe as young as 14. But Chinese passport records show they met the age of 16, the required age to compete. If evidence of cheating had been found, four of China's six medals could have been affected. In addition to the team gold, He Kexin won gold on uneven bars and Yang got bronze medals on uneven bars and the all-around.

In the a parallel competition in Beijing, the Olympic committee hosted around 4200 athletes from 148 countries who descended on Beijing to compete in the 11-day Paralympics. The event was the most watched Paralympics in history and the biggest ever gathering of disabled athletes with nearly 1.2 million tickets sold or given away. China's domination of the Beijing competitions extended to the Paralympics where athletes secured 89 gold medal, 47 more than its closest competitor Great Britain, and the United States won came up third with just 36 gold medals! Surprisingly, China's total medal count in the Paralympics was 211, more than double that of the Great Britain!

With the country's increasing influence in the world and the impressive spectacle of the Olympics, the world has come knocking on China's doors. Since the Beijing games, bilateral trade agreements with virtually every country in the world are now being sought with the Chinese capital. Some subnational groups have also tried to capitalize with the benefits of commercial relations. Even native groups have begun forging commercial relationships with the upcoming superpower. Of these are 100 Canadian Native leaders who arrived in China last November with a clear message that is both historic and disarmingly direct: "China has vast wealth to invest and Canada's native communities, with their access to timbre coal and minerals want to do business." The China-Canada Aboriginal Business Opportunity, if secured, will be the largest international native business initiative ever undertaken.

With millions of Olympians, delegates, tourists and media all arriving in Beijing for the momentous celebration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the city came a massive hub of activity that stretched throughout the duration of the tournaments. Beijing greeted its visitors nicely, politely and respectfully but some policemen and taxi drivers speak in broken English.

In 2008, the number of visitors, both tourists and media personnel, increased substantially and allowed new accounts of the developments from China to be seen around the world. Of the many wonders they saw in Beijing, the were especially interesting observations: the use of "Chinglish," an often incorrect hybrid variation of English and Chinese, the mass production of replica art, and the popularity of exotic foods.