Zhang Shangwu and other Chinese Athletes

In the wake of China’s success at the FINA Championships in Shanghai, a number of new stories have come out regarding the Chinese Sport System and the long term care (or lack of it) for retired or not-so-successful athletes. Here are two stories from the SCMP and China Daily that are good updates on what I wrote about the Chinese Sport Schools System.

Mt. Qomolangma vs. Mt. Everest

That was the question that went racing through my brain as I read the China Daily’s feature article titled “Reaching for the sky” on Wang Lei. Despite having been well versed in general, I had never in my life heard of Mt. Qomolangma. Despite China Daily being Chinese, the English version had always been relatively international both in the topics of coverage as well as in the language of the article. Despite having read a large chunk of the article, a still didn’t get an inkling of what the mountain was.

I was thoroughly surprised when mid-way through the article, I read the following

Mt. Qomolangma, also known as Mt. Everest in the west

Now, I didn’t expect a self proclaimed internationally minded English newspaper read by hundreds of international readers would refuse to use the phrase ‘Mt. Everest’. Universally understood and accepted, there seems little need or reason not to use it.

While I understand if the editorial board decided that Mt. Qomolangma is better understood than Mt. Everest within the Chinese community, the use of the phrase ‘also know as Mt. Everest in the west’ really scares me. That even a universal name could be associated and labeled as ‘western’ is a scary proposition.

What might this mean for the standard of journalism in China? I certainly hope this was a one-off occurrence.