2002

“From now on, Beijing will not encourage the development of internet bars”
Mayor Liu Qi

Sad news today… the internet cafes which helped us create and maintain this site in China are closed or about to close as a result of a fire in a PC bar in Beijing.

As we made our way across Europe, we were still reading the camera manuals trying to familiarise ourselves with the vast amount of functions that Sony have packed into the little video cameras that we are carrying…

click here to download the MPEG of Phil showing his grasp of the technology

By the time we arrived in Urumqi, we had travelled through 12 countries in eight weeks, encountering more than 15 languages along the way…

click here to download the MPEG of Chris showing his grasp of geography

Rob Davis reports on the World Cup opening from Hangzhou, China:

It was a warm evening in Hagzhou last night as I set out to get some measure of China’s reaction to the World Cup opening in this scenic town two hours South of Shanghai. The lake around which the town was built has inspired many great Chinese poets and writers over the years - would it have inspired a similar fondness for football?

After reassurances from the Korean Embassy in Beijing that we would have no trouble getting in to Korea, we decided to head for Weihai, ferry gateway to Incheon, Seoul’s port, and to the Opening Ceremony. Since the full story has already been told, I’ll just show the alternative that we contemplated.

A dawn swim to the East beckons

Actually, more than just contemplated…

Some things just leave a bad taste in the mouth

With only 4 days to go ’til the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup 2002 Japan/Korea, the ball finally reaches the other side of this 7000 mile wide continent. Holy Smoke, the sea air is welcome since our last sniff of English Channel air, the recent soup of Beijing air, oh yeah, and the self inflicted tab smoking. I can hardly believe that Chris, the ball and I, have made it this far and with only a short ferry trip over the Yellow Sea to the start of a month of football heaven in Korea and Japan, to go. So flicking through the Weidong Ferry Co. brochure we decide to treat ourselves to a Royal Class cabin for the 17 hour ride. “Not so fast, oh World Cup travellers….

So how does the ball and the FLH team cover the huge distances they have travelled across mainland China? The answer is the excellent Chinese rail network and its fleet of sleeper carriages.

Buying a ticket at a Chinese train ticket office is initially a challenge. There is no Roman alphabet in sight and staff often speak little or no English. The first step is to find out the Chinese characters for your destination of choice…

The Ball takes over the Square

The Ball found a quick visit to Tianamen Square irresistable, though it seemed like a place in which it would not be made welcome, despite China’s qualification for the World Cup finals for the first time this year. It decided to head onwards very quickly…

Outside the Terracota Army near Xi’an (where I launched a beautiful free kick over a wall of imitation statues) there are many tourist-tat-traders / thieves. We were surrounded quickly, our pockets felt and as always the Ball received much attention. This warrior couldn’t resist a touch:

Click here to download the MPEG clip with warrior’s kick and celebration dance

Shortly afterwards, as our attentions were bombarded with diversions, I noticed the ball gone…

Terracotta Army! Make some noise!

Xi’an provided us with a day’s break between Xiahe and Beijing, and, of course, the classic photo-opportunity of playing football in and amongst the Terracotta Army.

Spot the player

…to Xi’an and deep into Han territory, heartland of the Chinese majority and the terracotta army.

The Ball rolls onwards