CBA Shuffle: China's Professional Basketball League

The Xinjiang (far left) has some serious
traveling to away games

This week marked the beginning of the CBA finals between the Beijing Ducks and the Liaoning Flying Leopards.  Who knew leopards could fly, right?  The Chinese Basketball Association has gained a lot of traction on the relatively small Chinese sports circuit, particularly in Beijing.  The Chinese love a winner and the success for the capital's team over the past two seasons, they were champions last season, has done a great deal for a domestic league which is usually overshadowed by the much flasher NBA in America.  I've compiled just a few of the many reasons for groundswell of interest in the CBA.  Enjoy!

Suck it Liaoning.  Go Ducks

1.  NBA Star Power Doesn't Necessarily Equal Dominance - When it comes to sports, the Chinese love winners.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  If you need evidence just look to the massive amount of Miami Heat gear thrown away in this country after Lebron left for Cleveland (Lebron 回来Cleveland).  Without a dominant team with a arrogant, charismatic player leading the league this season, the CBA has experienced heightened visibility this year.  With a more competitive field of teams this year relative to each other than the NBA, the race to the CBA finals remained a barnburner all season long.  It's refreshing to see a homegrown Chinese institution expand its base without the help of government protectionism.  

Marbury with a Chinese translation of his name

2.  Ex-NBA Players Adding an International Feel - Ex-NBA players keep creeping their way on to the rosters of CBA teams.  In a that guy is still around moment, Stephon Marbury is the current star player for the Ducks.  He was named one of Beijing's 10 Model Citizens this year, becoming the first foreigner to win (or be singled out for) the award.  He's even becoming something of a propaganda tool, staring in a musical about his own life.  That's right, sings and dances and everything.  Checkout the link below.  Foreigner players help bolster a domestic talent pool that honestly isn't very strong and give name recognition for foreigners with a passing interest in the league, such as myself.

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/5-amazing-moments-from-stephon-marburys-chinese-musical-20141002

3.  National "Face" and Soccer Prowess - Ask most 18-49 males their favorite soccer team and 9 times out of 10 they will tell you some super successful European team.  Often the question is quickly followed by the statement that Chinese soccer teams aren't good enough.  China (people and government) simply hate the fact Chinese soccer hasn't developed into a global powerhouse.  The President of China recently announced a massive initiative aimed at improving the soccer fortune of the nation.  This attitude of course affects support for the domestic league.  For a number of reasons basketball is less affected by the lust for "face" on the national stage.  The CBA might not have the talent of the NBA or European soccer, but your average Zhou seems to care less about this fact in relation to basketball than soccer, and this has helped the league greatly over the period I have lived here.  

Some CBA Cheerleaders

Reason for My Person CBA Interest

The Pacers Terrible Season - The NBA has predictability and competitive parity problems.  There I said it.  It's basically been a foregone conclusion who'd win the conference championships during the last few years, and this has made me tune out as soon as the Pacers are out of the running.  Granted the league has been a lot more interesting this season than in years past, some teams still lord over the competition.  I stopped paying attention when I realized the Pacers season was over 5 minutes after it started.  The CBA gives me an opportunity to get my professional basketball fix without having to bandwagon onto some NBA during the playoffs, or support the NCAA.      

Little Known Beijing Museums: Planes, Trains, and Tanks

Security is tightening as the city prepares for the upcoming party conference.  If stiff technocrats don't interest you, make sure to check out these photos from two of Beijing's lessor known museums. I spent the last two weeks checking out some of Beijing's lesser known tourist attractions, maximizing my free time before my Chinese classes start again.  First up are some photos from the Beijing Railway Museum at the southeastern corner of Tiananmen Square.  The museum is in an old train station and features some cool exhibits.       

Railway Museum ironically framed with buses in the foreground

Chinese propaganda saying, "Keep Hong Kong and Macau developing prosperously."  The
picture is actually of midtown Manhattan.  If you look closely you'll see
the Bank of America and Chrysler Buildings.  Close enough for government work I guess.

Entryway

A shoutout to Tangshan on a museum plaque

Museum artium 

Some awesome Chinglish 

Some of the exhibits were down for repairs

Warning: This flatscreen is dangerous

One of the clock faces from a clocktower at Beijing Railway station.  

All graphs surprisingly display 1949 as a pivotal year for everything

Sorry about the blurriness

Nancy Pelosi unwittingly becomes a propaganda tool

A model of a railroad bridge in Nanjing resembling the Sherman Minton Bridge

Outside the museum looking at Tiananmen Square.  Mao's Mausoleum (right) and the Qianmen Gate (left)

 While wondering around Houhai Lake one afternoon, Tang Qi and I stumbled onto a new coffee shop.  Trendy hipster joints have been multiplying like rabbits in the capital.  This one has a unique angle.  Everything in the coffee shop is for sale, and I mean everything, giving caffeine addicts the ability to get their fix and purchase some overpriced nicknacks.

Inside of a new, local coffee shop.  

Coffee from the Dark Side

Didn't realize there was a demand for this shit.

Go for the Doughboy.  I had one of these a child.  Good times

Bikes and a massive clock for sale

If you need a bust of the predator, I know where to go

First rule of life; always go into the shady basement

The sign and name of the place....I guess

The coffee shop's Dragon Alley like entrance.

A lone protest outside a central Beijing government office.

Tang Qi enjoying Indian food.  It's cool to play with your food here.

A beautiful view of Tangshan from Tang Qi's family's apartment.

 Beijing enjoyed one of its few, fabled blue sky days Wednesday.  In an effort to maximize my time breathing moderately clean air, I visited the Military Museum.  Indoor exhibits are still closed as part of a never ending renovation, but the outdoor stuff is open for business.  Notice that all of the exhibits and pieces are covered in a thick layer of dust.  Though I don't know why the museum staff doesn't clean the exhibits, it helped to remind me about the hazard Beijing's air poses to my lungs.

The Military Museum sports a gothic revivalist style like many important Soviet buildings.

An M4 tank.  Notice the dust.

You can't tell from the photo, but I am reenacting "Tank Man".

A U-2 from the Republic of China Air Force. The plane not the band

Taiwan markings

More propaganda.  Photoshop truly makes artists of us all.

They even have fake Humvees.