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By SMG Research Team, March 2, 2010 5:56 pm

Congratulations Canada!

The whole world is buzzing about the end of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, and no country more so than Canada.  It was the Canadians that won the final gold against the USA in Men’s hockey… and as soon as Sidney Crosby made that final heart-stopping goal in sudden-death overtime, the whole country erupted.  Pandemonium broke loose all over the nation awash with red and white.  But even throughout the games, the Canadians have been filled with a hearty, welcoming, joyful pride.  As a nation that has long been viewed as the underdog to the States, it was Canada’s time to shine.  And boy did they ever!

Sea of Canadian red & white (source: BBC)

This got me thinking about national pride and about how different countries show it in their own way.  The Canadians were rowdy and boisterous.  See this Time article that gives Vancouver a gold medal in drinking!  In Vancouver, the party never stopped.  During the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese exuded a much more quiet, though equally powerful, pride.  Millions of citizens volunteered to be a part of the Beijing Olympic Games, millions others sat in front of screens in parks and city squares rooting for team China, and millions yet waited patiently on the streets for events like the torch relay.  The Chinese people radiated pride, though it felt like a controlled simmer.  You could see it shining on faces when they talked about it, but it never overflowed in the manner of unrestrained exuberance seen in Vancouver.

Beijing Olympic Games spectators

But despite their more subdued nature, the Chinese patriotism is something fierce.  With a rich 5,000+ years of history filled with constant threats of invasion from the Mongolians to the Japanese to the British, the Chinese have long been forced to bond together and fight as one.  Without the steadfast nationalism found in China, the country may have fallen apart long ago.  Students are taught at a young age to revere their nation and there is a “Chinese Youth Day” every 4^th of May to celebrate the ideas Chinese youth should live by.  Said President Hu Jintao during 2009’s Youth Day: “First, I hope you will always uphold the banner of patriotism, as it is the spiritual backbone that has sustained the Chinese nation through all the tribulations.”

President Hu shakes hands with students during a visit to the China Agricultural University, Beijing, May 2, 2009. (Source: Xinhua)

It is just that when it comes to expressing this love for their country, the Chinese are extremely modest about it.  This is due to the deeply engrained core values of humility and modesty within their culture.

So when comparing the reactions of the Chinese people versus the Canadians during their respective Olympic Games, a third party observer might easily identify with the excitable ballyhoo that were the Canadians.  But little would he know that under their calm and poised outer exterior, Chinese hearts beat with an equally (if not more) intense and powerful love for their country.

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By SMG Research Team, November 30, 2009 12:18 pm

University Students Take The Lead In Shanghai

University students in Shanghai have been hard at work pinpointing and correcting Shanghai’s “Chinglish” on signs citywide. ”Chinglish” is a humourous term to describe communication using a mix of Chinese and English. It can also mean English phrases that were directly translated from Chinese without taking into consideration English grammar or word/sentence structure (and thus, are often difficult to understand).

Armed with only a notebook, pen and sometimes a digital camera, students have been scouring 28 of the main public spaces in Shanghai, eagle-eyed and alert for erroneous signs.

These errors will be submitted to the city’s language officials for the signs to be updated before the Shanghai World Expo next summer. Changes will be made just in time for the estimated 5.5 million foreign visitors flocking to the Expo.

Says one student: “Shanghai is expecting several million foreign visitors during the 2010 World Expo. For visitors, poorly translated signs can be misleading and can possibly tarnish the city’s image around the world. So I, along with my fellow classmates, have volunteered to help the city make improvements.” (Quote Source: CNN)

Chinese Youth

As identified in Starcom’s Olympics Research, the Beijing Olympics helped prompt and also showcased China-pride in youth. 2008 was a year filled with major events – From the Sichuan earthquake to the Olympics; Chinese youth have had much on their mind.

Countless articles have been written about Chinese youth as “little emperors”, spoiled by their only-child status. However, we can see that they have grown to be a responsible and altruistic bunch. They showed an outpouring of sympathy when the Sichuan earthquake struck, physically going to Sichuan to help with the relief efforts, and raising money towards donations. The number of students who wanted to help out was so great that hospitals did not even have the capacity to handle all the students lining up to give blood after the disaster. For the Beijing Olympics, over a million youth volunteered. Now, we can see that they are once again stepping up to the plate to help Shanghai before the World Expo.

While they have appeared to glamourize the West and also follow the trends of Japan and Korea, this seems to be losing a bit of its luster, as a new shift has taken place and the feeling of China-pride is strong. Chinese youth are embracing their country and they are not ashamed to show it. In fact, we have found in Starcom’s Youth Surveillance research conducted this year that a higher-than-expected 40% of youth say that they prefer products that have a Chinese name or label. Also, 86% between the ages of 16-19 say they are “proud to be Chinese”.