Culture In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

Culture In The Beijing Olympics Introduction
The Olympics is a tradition that symbolizes strength, perseverance, and the uniting of nations, tracing all the way back to 776 BC. I find the Olympics by themselves very interesting, but when you add in the culture of a prominent country, I think it becomes so much more. After reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the Chinese culture began to intrigue me; making the two together a great research paper topic. This was not my first topic though. I was sick the day my class chose theirs, so I ended up with "Communism in China". Although it was not ideal, I thought I could write a lot about it. The day after, the idea of "The Beijing Olympics" came to me. Since no one else had it yet, I believed
that it would be a great fit for me. I was looking forward to mainly learning about the Chinese culture and how that was incorporated into the games, as well as the symbolic aspects of it all. I also planned on finding a lot about the Chinese athletes and what they thought of being in the Olympics, as well as how it affected them and their families. Research Method
The majority of my research was done online, right here on my iPad and computer, but I also found a little information elsewhere.
I tried to use the database research method given to us, but was unable to find details that I had not already found on a previous site. Although I did not have much luck with the database method, I was able to find an abundance of information throughout the internet, including an online eBook called Inside The Beijing Olympics by Jeff Ruffolo. A few of the specific terms that I actually searched were: The National Stadium, the National Swimming centre, the "Dancing Beijing" (which is the Beijing Olympic 's official logo), and the opening and closing ceremonies. I decided to search each of those terms individually because I felt that they had a lot of specific meaning and information behind them. Concluding my research, a little over half of my best information came from multiple reliable websites on the
internet. Results
The location of Beijing, China was chosen for the 2008 Olympic Games after a group of people called the International Olympic Committee, came together and voted ("Beijing Olympics"). Beijing won out of the option of three others. They were chosen because they were willing to greatly invest in the construction of grand venues and transportation. The main building, where the opening and closing ceremonies were held, was named the Beijing National Stadium, otherwise known as the "Bird 's Nest". Besides the Beijing National Stadium, the other iconic arena built for the 2008 games, was the Beijing National Aquatics Center. This building was also known as the "Water Cube". Both buildings were given their nick names due to their appearance from the outside.

To start off the Olympic Games as usual, there was the opening ceremony. So much hard work, thought, and culture was put into the creation of this celebration/performance. To begin, it was held on August eighth of 2008 because the Chinese believed the number eight would give them good luck and prosperity. Two parts of the ceremony were called the "Brilliant Civilization" and the "Glorious Era", representing the Chinese civilization and the modern China ("Opening Ceremony"). All together, the opening ceremony was hoping to represent the Chinese culture and the dream of peace between all of the world 's people. The torch relay and lighting of the flame was not forgotten though. Almost all other main traditions were still continued, but were not unique to the Beijing Olympics.

As for the center of attention of the Olympics: the athletics, there were 43 world records and 132 Olympic records set. The Chinese came out with 51 gold medals, 21 silver medals, and 28 bronze medals, for a total of 100 medals ("2008 Statistics and Summary"). Although they won the most gold medals, the United States beat them by ten for an overall medal count with 110. One of the most famous athletes from the Beijing Olympics is Michael Phelps, who won a whopping eight gold medals, which definitely gave the US an advantage.

Even though many people love the athletic aspect of the Olympics, there is so much more to it than just that.
The "Dancing Beijing" emblem (or what many would consider the Beijing Olympic 's official logo) symbolizes a Chinese seal and the Chinese character Jīng. The name Jīng is from the name of the host city and is depicted in the form of a dancing figure ("Modern and Ancient"). This is just one of the many symbolic emblems that are related and connected with Chinese culture and the Beijing Olympics.

The Beijing Olympic 's motto or slogan was "One World, One Dream". This is saying that all of the nations, despite everyone 's race, religion, or beliefs, are from the same world and seek the harmony of all participating in the Olympics. All the athletes from all over the world come together to compete and strive for the same goal, but only the hardest working will succeed. The motto also represents the entire country of China, and maybe even more, in saying that they believe in creating modernizing, harmonious, and peaceful world that is ready to lend a helping hand at any
time.

Coming back to the athletic side of the Olympics, it is important to know that about 10,942 athletes competed in the Beijing Olympics. There were almost 302 events out of a total of 28 sports. This competition of sports and athletics lasted from August eighth of 2008, through August 24th of 2008. Not only were there that many athletes but there was approximately 302 nations competing against each other for bronze, silver, and gold medals ("2008 Summer Olympics").

For many countries, winning any medal at all was a huge accomplishment. Anyone from a third world country who was lucky enough to win a bronze or silver medal, was more than ecstatic. One who does this well in the Olympics would be proud to represent their home country and even more pleased to be a role model for many of those still at home, who may not be as fortunate. This definitely came into play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was also a very big cultural aspect. It once again began at 8:00 o 'clock on the 24th, as the Chinese believed that eight was linked with confidence and other lucky characteristics. To start off the closing ceremony, many fireworks are lit off, which are a large part of the Chinese culture especially at big events. Fireworks are then followed by the raising of the flag of People 's Republic of China, along with their national anthem. Continuing on after that, more fireworks and other elaborate performances are put on and medal ceremonies are finally wrapped up. Lastly, there is a procession of all those who volunteered and helped work and set up the Olympics, along with all the athletes who participated. The procession includes all the flags of the athlete 's countries and many torches of light. After the torch is put out, it then concludes the Beijing Olympics of 2008.

Discussion & Summary
To conclude my research paper, I have to say I really enjoyed learning about the Beijing Olympics and the Chinese culture. If I had time, I would go into greater research about the construction of all the massive buildings made for the Olympics and how the Chinese handled that. I think it would be extremely interesting considering the time frame they were given and the amazingly difficult architecture. I was in awe at the beauty of all them in the photos I found, and could not help but wonder how they managed to build them. On the other hand, some advice that I would give to someone else researching this topic, would include making sure to specify about the Chinese part of the Olympics, and not just the athletes. I would say this because it took me some time to find information that was mainly focused on the Chinese culture being expressed in different parts of the Olympics. My other piece of advice for them would be making sure that all of the facts they use are true by ensuring that the website is reliable, as I ran into a few problems with that. Lastly, I do not think that the knowledge of this topic will change my life, but I do think that it was a great learning experience and will encourage me to learn the meaning behind some of the major events in other Olympic Games to come.

Works Cited
"Beijing 2008." Videos. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
"Interview: Beijing Olympics Highlight Chinese Values: Scholar_English_Xinhua." Interview: Beijing Olympics Highlight Chinese Values: Scholar_English_Xinhua. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
"MichaelPHELPS." Michael PHELPS. Olympic.org, n.d. Web. 29 Jan."
"Modern and Ancient." Olympic.org. N.p., 2009. Web. 28 Jan. 2014."
"Opening Ceremony." Yahoo Sports. Yahoo, 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2014."

"Ruffolo, Jeff. Inside The Beijing Olympics. eBookIt, 2012."
"The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games; Statistics and Summary." Yahoo Contributor Network. Yahoo, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
"2008 Summer Olympics." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Jan. 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.