I can roughly divide my time here in Shanghai into two different categories: weeks that I have Beijing Huanying Ni stuck in my head, and weeks that I don’t. This week happens to be one of the former. This song, meaning Beijing Welcomes You, came out last year for the Olympics and has a music video that will make the patriot in all of you want to fistpump. I’ve watched it many times and still can’t figure out what it is about this song that makes me love China so much. Maybe it’s the fact that it smushes all of China’s popstars into an epic 6 minute long ballad. Maybe it’s the ridiculous number of key changes. Or maybe Jackie Chan singing like an angel atop the Great Wall is all it takes. Even if you’re not Chinese, there’s no way you can watch this video and not have one tear slowly roll down your face with pride.
My only question is: does it beat Proud to be an American for all time most corny patriotic anthem?
(For translated English lyrics of Beijing Huanying Ni, check this out.)
