Linsanity in China

posted by Alan
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JLin in the CBA, 2011

I'm pretty sure you've all gotten your fill of Jeremy Lin media coverage (especially since most of you are in New York). But Linsanity is also alive and kicking over here in NBA-Crazy China too. Actually, Lin Shu Hao(林书豪), as he's known here, has been a topic of interest since last year when he first entered the NBA, but since it all started, his Sino Weibo account (China's twitter) has jumped from 100,000 followers to over 900,000. CCTV5 (the official China sports network) has shifted it's schedule to show more Knicks games, although they've just recently pulled back. You KNOW something is big news when it spooks the Gov. Unfortunately they didn't show the reigning King-of-the-NBA-in-China, Kobe Bryant go against JLin, but video was up on youku(China's youtube) faster than it was on youtube. I've been using Slingbox to keep up on Linsanity. Here are a few other Jeremy Lin in China facts taken from niubball.com (an awesome basketball-in-china-from-the-eyes-of-an-expat site):

- While the NBA was locked out, Lin practiced and played a few games with the Chinese Basketball Association’s DongGuan New Century Leopards.
- Jeremy Lin reads and writes a little bit of Chinese and speaks Mandarin well enough to be interviewed, which Chinese fans love.
- He considers Yao Ming to be a mentor and a close friend and says they speak after games often.



Speaking of Chinese basketball and Knicks resurrectors, newest Knick, JR Smith was also the CBA's leading scorer this year (36 points per game), playing for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. They were in Shanghai a few weeks ago, so we went to check them (him) out. $20 USD will get you courtside seats here. Sharks owner Yao Ming was also in attendance. Smith scored a disappointing 29 in a loss to the Shanghai team, especially after he scored 60 while hitting 14 three pointers the week before. But the huge gap in ability was still huge in watching NBA guys go against the Chinese pros and it was also quite obvious that Smith had his mind on his NBA return and not on taking the Golden Bulls to the CBA playoffs.

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posted by Alan
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14 months ago Janie was born. She's been strong willed since the start and is full of personality. The way she puts a smile on people's faces, from her grandparents to a stranger on the street, I hope will never change. Watching her develop and grow has been nothing but amazing and we're so thankful she's in our lives. We held a small party here for her with a bunch of her little baby friends. Daisy regularly holds playgroups with other expat moms here in Shanghai.




Click here to see more pictures from Janie's Birthday Party: Janie's Party

Chinese New Year also came a bit early this year. It's one of the two most insane travel times of the year here in China. Because we only got back from the US a couple of weeks before, we decided to make it more of a stay-cation and went with a few friends to a hotel not far from the city to just relax and hang out. We were home at midnight on New Year's Eve though, and because we live on a pretty big street in a central area, we were treated to some insane fireworks right outside of our bedroom window. Janie LOVES the fireworks, but unfortunately, midnight is a bit too late for her. See below for video of actual Chinese New Year fireworks in China:
Chinese New Year 2012 - Shanghai