Beijingers Embraces the World Cup

With the 2006 World Cup kicking beginning on June 9 in Germany, football fans in Beijing are finally able to enjoy the carnival they've been looking forward to for four years. Thirty days full of passion and joy, it's almost like a holiday!

"We are football!" The host Germany has seduced many with this simple but powerful slogan. As before, since we can't avoid the "deadly" appeal of football, we just change our lives. Because of the six-hour difference in time zones, all live matches are broadcast between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Beijing time. This holiday turns us into nighthawks.

When god said, "Let there be football," he must have created beer at the same time, as the two are as in separable as white on rice. Thirty days with World Cup is a time of destiny, augmented with beer, food and cheers and emotional highs and lows that promise a wonderland of escape from the humdrum of daily life. Bars of various scales and styles in Beijing definitely beat Saipan or Hawaii as ideal spots to enjoy this Teutonic extravaganza.

Back in 2002, people were not so fascinated by the idea of going to a bar to watch the World Cup games as today, but then there weren't many bars to choose from. The Euro Cup in 2004 was a great boon for Beijing's bars, which just keep popping up around the city. But even then, a two-hour search for a bar that wasn't packed with fans was impossible to find during the final match.

With Beijing bars developing faster than China's national football team is backsliding, their owners began to realize the financial opportunities associated with the world's favourite pastime. It is estimated that the sales of beer at bars increase three-five times or even as much as by ten times during the games. So almost half a month before the games kicked off, bars in Beijing had prepared themselves for this carnival, not for watching the World Cup games, but to watch football fans' guzzle beer and fork out cash.

In the Houhai Lake, Sanlitun and Workers' Stadium areas, where many of Beijing's finest and most fashionable bars are located, a football-carnival atmosphere could be easily detected. Many bars are decorated with national flags of countries participating in the game; even cocktails featuring those flags are available, which are especially attractive to women fans. Waiters and waitresses are dressed in the uniforms of different national teams. Moreover, giant outdoor screens have been set up to broadcast the games. Everywhere you can hear whistles and exhortations such as: "Goal for...," or "Corner kick"! 

On the night of June 9, many fans crammed into the Goose and Duck Pub, opposite Chaoyang Park's West Gate, for the opening ceremony and first game, Germany versus Costa Rica. No one need look further to realize what an international city Beijing has become. The bar was filled with people of all colours and speaking the world's languages, of course, mainly English and Chinese.

A sales manager from Siemens with the surname Paulson had been in Beijing for just a couple of months and was viewing his first football match.

He said, "It is a totally different experience, but the fun is the same." Back in his hometown, Frankfurt, Paulson said they used to serve mountains of beer and sausages when watching the games, and, of course, everyone backed the German side.

"While here we have so many people from different countries and cultures, this makes the atmosphere just incredible. Besides, Chinese really know something about football and how to enjoy themselves. It's really like a festival; I can't help but join them in all the cheering and applauding."

John Harkness, associate partner of the Goose and Duck, said business seemed to increase about tenfold compared to regular weekends. Fans began arriving from the late afternoon to grab prime viewing positions for the game.

"It's just amazing," Harkness said.

Zhang Lin, a senior-year student from the University of International Business and Economics also found the whole World Cup-watching bar scene pretty amazing.

"This is much more fun than watching at home, where I'm restricted by my parents. Here I shout and jump as much as I like without caring about others' views, because everybody else is also jumping and cheering."

Zhang said watching games at a bar means you can share your passion and joy with your friends and even strangers instead of plopped down in front of a TV set alone at home. "People tend to be more honest at expressing themselves when watching football matches. You can make some real friends among these crazy football fans."

At Browns, on the second floor of the Loft Bar, Jessica Lynn was one of the few women found viewing the games. Games were shown on two enormous screens hanging over the counter as Brazil bested Croatia. Lynn was quite distinctive being on of a kind at the football-mad bar. Obviously she was not dragged here by some football-loving husband or boyfriend.

"I am a huge fan of football," she said, seeming a little annoyed at being questioned about her love for the game.

Presently living at an ordinary apartment, Lynn failed to pick up a channel showing World Cup games with English commentaries since China Central Television (CCTV) is the sole official TV broadcaster for the World Cup in China. This was the major reason she chose Browns. "I really cannot appreciate those Chinese commentaries," even though Lynn is currently teaching at an international school and grasps Chinese quite well, "They give too many personal opinions."

She admitted her slight embarrassment at being surrounded by an all-male audience, but when Kaka scored a goal bringing victory to Brazil, she immediately forgot all about gender difference, and joined the male sea in a Brazilian-dance celebration.

The World Cup is considered the world's most popular sports event, drawing an enormous number of television viewers around the globe.