Chinese For Dummies (95 page)

Some sports, such as gymnastics and swimming, actually involve multiple events. Here are the common components of these two sports:

ān mǎ
鞍马
(
鞍馬
) (ahn mah) (
pommell horse
)

dān gàng
单杠
(
單槓
) (dahn gahng) (
high bar
)

gāo dī gàng
高低杠
(
高低槓
)
(gaow dee gahng) (
uneven bars
)

shuāng gàng
双杠
(
雙槓
) (shwahng gahng) (
parallel bars
)

zìyóu tǐcāo
自由体操
(
自由體操
)
(dzuh-yo tee-tsaow) (
floor exercise
)

cè yǒng
侧泳
(
側泳
) (tsuh yoong) (
sidestroke
)

dié yǒng
蝶泳
(dyeh yoong) (
butterfly stroke
)

wā yǒng
蛙泳
(wah yoong) (
frog-style or breast stroke
)

yǎng yǒng
ä»°æ³³
(yahng yoong) (
backstroke
)

zìyóu yǒng
自由泳
(dzuh-yo yoong) (
freestyle
)

And if you're a
tiàoshuǐ yùndòngyuán
跳水运动员
(
跳水運動員
) (tyaow-shway yewn-doong-ywan) (
diver
), you'd better not
pà gāo
怕高
(pah gaow) (
be scared of heights
).

You can use the verb
dǎ
to talk about playing sports as well as pursuing other hobbies (check out the earlier section “
Naming Your Hobbies
”). But you can also
wán
玩
(wahn) (
play
) ball games as well.

Remember:
Some games require the use of
pīngpāngqiú pāi
乒乓球拍
(peeng-pahng-chyo pye) (
ping-pong paddles
),
wǎngqiú pāi
网球拍
(
網球拍
) (wahng-chyo pye) (
tennis rackets
), or
qiú
球
(chyo) (
balls
). All games, however, require a sense of
gōngpíng jìngzhēng
公平竞争
(
公平競爭
)
(goong-peeng jeeng-jung) (
fair play
).

Soccer season in Beijing is from May to October, but in southern China it goes year-round. As in Europe, soccer is the spectator sport of preference throughout the country. And just as in Europe, passionate fans sometimes boil over into brawling hordes. If you ever find yourself in Shanghai, check out the game at the Hong Kou Stadium. In Beijing, try the Workers' Stadium near the City Hotel.