Patterson Irrigator

Elizabette Guecamburu / Community Columnist

In China, don’t be loud. You might get arrested.

In August, the world will turn its eyes to China for the Olympics in Beijing.

It’s the first time the Olympic Games will take place in China, which is surprising, because the country has the largest population on Earth. This is a big deal for the Chinese — it’s their chance to show the globe that they are on their way to becoming the world’s next superpower.

As you can probably imagine, China is in a flurry of preparation for the upcoming Olympics — not to mention having to complete all the other tasks that need to be done to run a country with
1.3 billion people. Between building venues, beefing up security and trying to remove the lead from manufactured toys headed to the U.S., China has a lot to do.

It seems, though, that it’s added another task to its to-do list: a government-sponsored campaign to improve the sportsmanship of Chinese fans. Now, call me ill-informed, but when did Chinese fans become exceptionally rowdy?

I know the Chinese media isn’t the most transparent of institutions — it is run by an authoritarian government famous for its censorship — but have Chinese citizens been bludgeoning one another with stadium seat cushions at sporting events without our knowledge? Have they been fighting in parking lots, like folks do at Oakland Raiders games? That would be front-page news, if that were the case.

But, according to The Associated Press, the Chinese authorities are so concerned about having their Olympics turn out to perfection that they want to educate their citizens on how to be ideal sports fans.
The government is conducting workshops in many locations in and around Beijing. These classes offer instruction on how to cheer politely, when to take photographs, how it’s uncouth to cut in the bathroom line, and so on.

Even though the effort may seem a little “Stepford,” the Chinese might be on to something. A little politeness has never hurt anyone, after all. It would be lovely to wait in line and not have a nearby person become impatiently rude.

I only wonder, can they bring the campaign to the U.S.? I know a few paint-clad NFL fans they should meet.

Elizabette Guecamburu is a writer and native Patterson resident. She accepts e-mails at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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