介绍:
Lincoln: The people in China are running. Wu You, they’re running long distances, they’re running short distances, they’re running competitively, they’re running by themselves, they’re running in the winter, they’re running in the summer, they’re running in the rain, they’re running in the wind, they’re running in the snow, they’re running in the fall, they’re running in the summer. Why exactly is everyone running in China, Wu You?
WY: There seems to be growing participation of runners, and it is said that once you are economically independent, you think more spiritually. People are saying that is why we want to run, and also a recent survey conducted in China says that 80% of those asked had bought sports shoes in the past year, and 30% took out a gym membership, and 60% downloaded a fitness app to their smartphones.
Michael: Yeah, and I think it’s interesting to see the growth of marathon running, both competitively and recreationally, here in China. The recent Shanghai marathon, which took place in November last year had over 120,000 people registering for just 35,000 places, so, you know, it’s oversubscribed nearly four times [over] there, and they actually had to draw lots just to allocate the places.
WY: And talking about marathons, back in the year 2014, there [were] 50 marathon events held in China, and [the Chinese Athletic Association] has predicted that marathon events in China will hit 500 by the year 2020.
Lincoln: Maybe there’s some other examples, as well, of this. Maybe other sports are growing too?
WY: When I was running in the morning in the park, I can always see people are playing badminton, or playing ping-pong, people are [practicing] taichi, and some of the interesting examples are someone simply hitting themselves – that I find very interesting.
Lincoln: Hitting themselves?! With what?
WY: Simply by their fist or by their hands, and they were saying that is good for the blood circulation, and one weird example is when I was running under the bridge in the park, and then there was a grandpa behind me in the dark, and then suddenly he shouted! I was shocked, and when I looked back, he was actually practicing singing.
Michael: I’ve seen this as well, old Chinese people in the park. I love old Chinese people.
Lincoln: I want to go on board with this, with Michael. I think old Chinese people are the absolute best.
Michael: I used to go running in a park in Shanghai, and I used to see lots of old Chinese ladies walking backwards, and somebody told me that there’s a sort of belief among the older generation in China that walking backwards helps turn back the years.
Lincoln: Oh, that’s lovely. I look back at some of the old people in South Africa, and I would ask my gran, “Oh, what did you do this weekend?”, and she maybe [just] sat at home. If you ask an older person in China what [they did], they flew a kite, and they went dancing with their friends. That’s fantastic! (WY: Square dancing!) They went square dancing with their friends, they maybe played checkers – Chinese chess – really loudly.
Michael: Which is a spectator sport in China as well, which I find amazing.
Lincoln: Exactly. I really love it, I think it’s fantastic. But as we always talk, we always talk about the good with the bad. China, we’ve spoken [about it] a bit, has a little bit of a pollution problem, some would say, and I’m quite intrigued that marathon running [is popular] – a sport that, you know, is really quite endurance based, and you have to use your lungs quite a lot. But, you know, as we always say, long-term, it looks like the pollution is getting a little bit better, that the authorities are taking steps to bring that down, so Wu You, next time there’s a marathon, or a 5 or a 10k, would you be up to maybe training with me, and then maybe we could run together? I want to join your running club. (WY: Yeah, sure!) Because, you know, the thing is I’m a very competitive person, so I’m going to need to run faster than you.
WY: I think you must run faster, because you are a rugby player.
Lincoln: That’s not true – I haven’t played rugby in a very long time – I haven’t done any sort of competitive sport
WY: Then you should eat black pudding before the race!
Lincoln: Alright, so this is what we’ll do: we’ll run one kilometre, we’ll get some black pudding in, we’ll get some frozen pig skin jelly, we’ll get all of the things that we spoke about on our first topic.
WY: In the last round, the bone marrow – bottoms up!
Lincoln: Yeah – third [kilometre] we’re sucking down bone marrow at the side of the road. Michael, you’re welcome to join in if you’re keen.
Michael: If there’s some black pudding at the end – I need a carrot at the end of the tunnel.
Lincoln: Yeah, well as long as we can eat the carrot, that would be fine.
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