For the last two weeks, Olympic events have been on TV everywhere I go: coffee shops, hair salons, dance clubs. Even McDonalds had Olympic diving projected on the screen when I went out for a late night snack.

And Chinese viewers aren’t just watching the “popular” sports, like track, swimming and gymnastics. They will watch whatever sport is on, just to be a part of the action going on in and around their city.

But when they had the choice between a gold medal match and an obscure qualifier with a Chinese athlete competing, they always chose the Chinese athlete. We had to go to Frank’s, Beijing’s oldest sports bar (since 1989), to watch Argentina beat Nigeria for men’s football gold. I think all our TV was showing that day was canoe/kayak and judo…

And let’s be serious: Where else in the world would people stop dead in their tracks in the middle of a subway station to watch (not just glimpse at, watch) their team in women’s basketball? Unfortunately, not the USA.

It makes me wonder what they’ll watch now that the events are over. All I can find on TV are opera and crazy game shows!