The 5 "good luck dolls" patterned after 4 of China's favorite animals (Jingjing, a panda, native to Sichuan; Yingying, a Tibetan antelope; Nini, a swallow that looks like a kite; Beibei, the fish-shaped Fuwa) and a fifth, Huanhuan, who represents the Olympic flame, have each been paired up with one of the recent string of deadly tragedies that befell the country.
Britain's Telegraph reporter, David Eimer in Beijing explains ...
For all its shiny new buildings and rampant modernisation, China remains a deeply superstitious country. Fortune tellers continue to thrive. And last year hundreds of thousands of couples rushed to have children in the year of the Golden Pig, thought to be an especially lucky year to be born in.
Here in the west we look upon such superstitious thinking as a sure sign of ignorance. A recent poll says that 55% of Americans, including Senator John McCain, take great pride in the fact that we are a nation founded on christian principles. The motto "In God we trust" has been continuously stamped on the penny since 1909 and on the dime since 1916. That's not superstitious. Neither is wearing a cross... Right?
The second news story is about an Ohio public schoolteacher who burned a cross on the arm of one of his students. John Freshwater, a fervent, christian, anti-gay, science teacher who feels compelled to teach creationism, keeps a bible on his classroom desk and occasionally puts the fiery brand of his god on someone else's skin. And he's still teaching while his school board decides what to do.
Perhaps Freshwater will find refuge in Florida where brother Jeb, "has engineered onto the November ballot two initiatives that would eliminate the state constitution’s strict church-state separation provisions, mandate funding of religion and water down language requiring a quality public school system."
Perhaps one day, as China becomes more prosperous, we will be saved by plane loads of Buddhists "on a mission from God" knocking on America's doors and handing out sutras in shopping centers. Until then I can't wait to get back to Beijing.
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"Perhaps one day, as China becomes more prosperous, we will be saved by plane loads of Buddhists "on a mission from God" knocking on America's doors and handing out sutras in shopping centers."
--> Well, if you're not picky about the buddhists and the various sections of buddhism, there's already the Dalai Lama flying all over the world, I'm sure his followers would be open to suggestions of door-to-door Tibetan buddhism conversions, you should pitch the idea to the government in exile XD
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