Posters like one below are found everywhere in Chinese cities. But why do the Chinese people love basketball so much?
The popularity of NBA is believed to have surged in China after Yao Ming was selected as the first overall pick in 2002 NBA draft. It is estimated that his first NBA game attracted more than 200 million viewers in China. In 2008, the number of NBA fans in China was estimated to be around 450 million, and 300 million people were estimated to play basketball in China. 20% of all NBA.com traffic comes from China, and NBA was the 10th most popular search on Google in China.
So let’s learn how to say the most popular sports in China in Chinese language
篮(lán):basket
球(qiú):ball
篮球(lánqiú): basketball
Here are few other sports involving a球 (qiú):
足球(zúqiú): soccer/football
橄榄球(gǎnlǎnqiú): American football
排球(páiqiú): volleyball
冰球(bīngqiú): ice hockey
乒乓球(pīngpāng qiú): ping pong/table tennis
网球(wǎngqiú): tennis
Feel free to leave a comment and add your favorite sports to this list.
China is also very popular for its pino pong skills. If you check out the ping pong ratings, you will notice that they are actually almost all Chinese. Apparently elmost every 3rd Chinese person had played it.
ReplyDeleteI do not even know why are they so into it, but it seems to be super popular there.
You make a very good point Ante.
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting article on the rising popularity of ping pong in the US
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_20/b4228082667291.htm?chan=magazine+channel_etc.
There was an article on BBC which provides a brief history of table tennis in China:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/table_tennis/13341282.stm
I should go play basketball in China. I hope everyone is routing against the Miami Heat. Who are the most popular players in China?
ReplyDeleteThere was an article on BBC this week which gives a brief account of the rise and importance of table tennis in China:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/table_tennis/13341282.stm
And here is an interesting article on the rising popularity of ping pong in the US
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_20/b4228082667291.htm
Spearing, Yao Ming has to be the most popular NBA player in China. This was the 2009 rank based on jersey sales
ReplyDeleteKobe Bryant
Kevin Garnett
Tracy McGrady
Paul Pierce
Allen Iverson
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-05/18/content_7786782.htm