1. Text: | Print|

      World Cup fever, China style

      2014-06-20 09:02 Xinhua Web Editor: Mo Hong'e
      1

      Despite an almost hilariously bad national team of their own, Chinese football fans are wide awake these nights, watching the FIFA World Cup on the other side of the earth.

      The games are mostly scheduled after midnight in Beijing, and many fans are resorting to "sick" leave and buying fake sick notes online.

      At China's largest online shopping platform, "sick leave note" searches have been banned for "legal reasons", but searching for "hospital registration service" will achieve the same end, with prices from dozens of yuan to several hundred, depending on the length of the sick leave and the nature of the imaginary affliction.

      Insurance companies have also brought their ingenuity to the game, as at least three fans in China have reportedly died while watching games at night. In fact, about 50 people die in China every minute, so it's no surprise if a few of them happen to be watching TV at the time.

      At the online shop of Zhongan Insurance, fans can buy "nightbird insurance" for three yuan (48 U.S. cents), with a compensation of up to 10,000 yuan for sudden death while watching soccer games after midnight, or "drunk insurance", which compensates fans who suffer from alcoholism.

      As of Thursday noon, the e-shop had sold 71 nightbirds and 52 drunks.

      WORLD CUP MEMORIES

      Although millions of people spend their sleepless nights in front of the TV, many do not call themselves "fans" at all. They have their own reasons for their football fever.

      Bus driver Cheng Bingjiang started watching soccer in 1978, the first year of China's opening and reform, when a neighbor bought a black-and-white television. They did not even know the soccer show was called "World Cup."

      Five or six male neighbors squeezed in a small room, and watched the games silently at night. "We did not dare celebrate for fear of waking up our wives and children," he recalled, adding the quiet game felt like a reception at a fancy bar nowadays, although they could not afford beer back then.

      Cheng, now 51, still watches the games, together with his son who just finished his national college entrance exam (NCEE). Cheng junior came to football through computer games, and this is the first time he has watched the real World Cup with interest.

      "He is crazier about it than me," said Cheng senior.

      Jiao Xiaoguang is busy preparing a national engineer examination, but he cannot help watching the games because they often reminded him of special years.

      "The quadrennial World Cup meant either an exam year or a graduation year, which were all memorable," he said.

      China initiated its national league in 1994, and most of the fans were born in the 1980s or after. Jiao is one of them.

      In 1998, the year of the France World Cup, he graduated from junior high school and enjoyed the tournament for the first time. In 2002, ahead of the NCEE, Jiao and his classmates watched the World Cup in the classroom. That year, the Chinese soccer qualified for the finals for the one and only time. "The whole class sighed together when we saw our star player Zhao Junzhe hit the woodwork," he recalled.

      Four years later, Jiao was about to graduate from university. The Germany World Cup served as the final gathering of the class. "Many of us were not fans at all. Some simply fell asleep after drinking beer together at restaurant," he said.

      Years have past and the 31-year-old Jiao is father to a six-year-old boy. The World Cup is now a precious opportunity to recall the past. "Old friends contact each other and discuss the game details online," he said.

      In a triumph of realism over aspiration, Cheng Bingjiang thinks it quite unlikely that the Chinese soccer team be back at the World Cup any time soon. Cheng, who played soccer in the street when he was young, did not allow his son to do the same, as cars were everywhere and nowhere was safe.

      "New golf courses have appeared all round Beijing and nearby, but few soccer fields are built for kids," he sighed.

      Comments (0)
      Most popular in 24h
        Archived Content
      Media partners:

      Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

      主站蜘蛛池模板: 1000部啪啪毛片免费看| 一个人免费观看www视频| 亚洲香蕉成人AV网站在线观看 | 亚洲电影国产一区| a毛片在线看片免费| 亚洲乱码精品久久久久..| 亚洲免费日韩无码系列| 亚洲欧洲日产国码高潮αv| 免费国产在线精品一区 | 久久久久久久久久久免费精品| 国产大片免费观看中文字幕| 国产精品亚洲精品日韩电影| 国产精品免费福利久久| 亚洲精品综合一二三区在线 | 无码人妻一区二区三区免费手机 | 中文字幕在线免费看线人| 亚洲三区在线观看无套内射| 久久久久久av无码免费看大片| 亚洲精品成人无限看| 野花香在线视频免费观看大全| 亚洲国产精品婷婷久久| 182tv免费观看在线视频| 亚洲日韩一区二区三区| 国产免费69成人精品视频| av电影在线免费看| 久久久久亚洲av无码专区喷水| 国产大片免费网站不卡美女| 亚洲乱码日产精品一二三| 亚洲综合国产精品第一页| 久久aa毛片免费播放嗯啊| 亚洲一区二区三区在线观看蜜桃 | 久久亚洲国产精品五月天| 久久ww精品w免费人成| 在线aⅴ亚洲中文字幕| 日本在线看片免费人成视频1000 | 亚洲M码 欧洲S码SSS222| 免费成人高清在线视频| 精品久久亚洲中文无码| 午夜亚洲av永久无码精品| 一级毛片不卡片免费观看| 亚洲精品理论电影在线观看|