It's a measure of just how much the world has changed in the last decade or so, that it's a surprise to come across a global event in which China is not playing a part. It's as much a measure of how much China has changed that, despite that, the country is looking for a light hearted way to capture some of the attention associated with said global event.
The event in question is the World Cup which you may possibly have come across being promoted in an understated and unassuming way on some TV, radio and other media channels. If by any chance these have passed you by, then the doughty organisers of the office sweepstake will no doubt get you fully up to speed.
China will not have a team in Brazil. The national side competed in the final stages in 2002, losing all three of their games without scoring- but simply participating was the cause of much national joy and excitement. This time round they secured a 13-2 aggregate defeat of Laos but did not progress beyond the next qualifying stage
Football has been yet another of those aspects of China's national life where corruption has dabbled its dirty fingers and recent years have seen a host of players, match officials and administrators jailed and banned from the game. The national league has provided a stage for sabbaticals for stars from European leagues, late in their careers - Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka among them. David Beckham- who is perhaps as iconic figure in China as anywhere else- was unveiled last year in an ambassador's role aimed at restoring football's image among younger people in China.
The murky reputation of the Chinese national league seems to have led many fans to devote themselves to following competitions elsewhere. English Premiership games are broadcast live. Time difference, of course, means that games do take place at odd hours. I recall, recently, just after touching down in China and frazzled by jag lag, having the long night just a little sweetened watching the spectacle of Newcastle United being thoroughly tonked at St James by Man U (we north easterners should really leave our sad tribal loyalties at home, I know, but you simply have to take your Schadenfreude where you can find it - even when it turns up two in the morning in Beijing.)
Anyway, the current tawdry reputation of the local game and the absence of the national side from the finals hasn't at all deflected interest from the World Cup in China and their response allows China to display a taste for the absurd which although a regular part of the national character doesn't often get an international airing.
Following on from the example of Paul the Octopus, whom all will remember achieved brief and deserved celebrity for an ability to forecast the results of games in the last world cup, the Chinese are biging up similar clairvoyant skills in a squad of baby pandas
.
Now it just so happens that I am slightly acquainted with this group. I had the opportunity to visit the panda research station in Chengdu at the end of last year and the sight of four dozing baby pandas was quite the most 'aaaww' inducing aspect of a fairly 'aaaww' filled couple of hours.
The apparent reluctance of the giant panda to get down to the vital chore of reproduction has been widely reported. My visit threw up some rather less well known facts that might have a bearing. A panda eats about 40% of its body weight in bamboo every day. Moreover, this stuff is fundamentally (and, as you will see, I use that word advisedly) so indigestible that almost no sooner is it swallowed that it is being evacuated. For a panda, simply keeping yourself nourished leaves scant time for more strategic stuff such as producing the next generation. What's more -and possibly as a consequence - pandas are pretty dreadful mothers. When they give birth to twins -a not uncommon occurrence-they simply abandon one and do their best to raise the singleton. Again not a great approach for an already threatened species.
The two pairs of twins (all together again, 'aaaww') I was introduced to, were born at the research park, rescued from the possible neglect of their mothers and entrusted to the tenderer care of an experienced panda-mum who seems to fare better at the task.
Buoyed up by unexpected maternal care, they are to be entrusted with the challenging task of predicting world cup games by climbing trees emblazoned with colours of competing sides or by selecting similarly differentiated food bowls.
Bearing in mind their main foodstuff -and, yes, you saw this coming but I've started so I'll finish- maybe it's best not to be bamboo-zled by all this nonsense.
The Birmingham Post has launched a free app for iPad and iPhone. Download it here.
