Super basketball star Yao Ming shared his Olympic experiences and his
expectations for the Beijing Games in 2008 in an interview with the forthcoming
issue of Beijing 2008, published by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.
The following are edited excerpts.
You played in the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games. How did you feel there?
What impressed you most about those Games?
The Olympic Games is holy. Athletes from around the world, including myself,
of course, dream to participate.
We and athletes from other countries and regions stayed in the Olympic
villages in Sydney and Athens. We got to know each other, took photos, exchanged
souvenirs and had lots of fun. It was like a big family. Sport is the best means
of communication between people from different religions and countries.
In the Olympic villages, you don't have to understand other people's
languages when you communicate with them.
There were many things that left deep impressions on me there. I was
particularly touched when the Chinese delegation left for the 2000 Sydney Games.
It was spectacular when hundreds of athletes, all wearing nice suits, waited in
lines to board the plane. Although we all belonged to the national teams, we
hadn't often seen much of each other.
At the moment when I boarded the plane, I suddenly felt it was like a huge
army going to the battlefield. I was very proud. I remember I had filmed many
interesting moments with my DV camera. I had seen something like that only once
before, in 2000. For the 2004 Athens Games, the basketball team had departed
early. A group departure won't happen at the Beijing Olympic Games. That will
wait until 2012, when we go to competition in London.
What can Beijing learn from Sydney and Athens?
I think Sydney and Athens did a great job in afforestation around the venues.
I believe Beijing can do the same with its "Green Olympics" concept.
I would suggest that during the Beijing Games the service industry be more
internationally minded. In fact, there are differences in the meaning of
"enthusiasm" for foreign athletes and for us. In Sydney and Athens, the service
people were very nice. They smiled and said, "Hello," to you, but they also gave
the athletes lots of personal space; they did not bother them. I hope the
Olympic staff in Beijing will learn from such foreign practices.
Can you give some other examples of the cultural differences between the East
and West?
There are differences everywhere. For example, Westerners respect privacy,
and they are very competitive in terms of work and personalities. My teammates
in China and I can talk about everything. But with my Houston Rockets teammates,
even though we're friends, we cannot ask each other about everything.
What are your expectations for the Beijing Olympic Games? As the host of the
2008 Games, how should the Chinese people receive foreign guests with different
cultural backgrounds during the Beijing Olympic Games?
I am confident that the Beijing Olympic Games will be the best Games I have
ever participated in. I think they will be environmentally friendly, efficient,
and cost-effective. I don't think that being cost-effective implies that they
must be shabby or lack dignity. Cost-effectiveness is smart and suits China, and
is an international trend.
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