{"product_id":"olympic-dreams","title":"Olympic Dreams","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlready the world has seen the political, economic, and cultural significance of hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing-in policies instituted and altered, positions softened, projects undertaken. But will the Olympics make a lasting difference? This book approaches questions about the nature and future of China through the lens of sports-particularly as sports finds its utmost international expression in the Olympics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on newly available archival sources to analyze a hundred-year perspective on sports in China, \u003ci\u003eOlympic Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e explores why the country became obsessed with Western sports at the turn of the twentieth century, and how it relates to China's search for a national and international identity. Through case studies of ping-pong diplomacy and the Chinese handling of various sporting events, the book offers unexpected details and unusual insight into the patterns and processes of China's foreign policymaking-insights that will help readers understand China's interactions with the rest of the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmong the questions Xu Guoqi brings to the fore are: Why did Mao Zedong choose competitive ping-pong to manipulate world politics? How did the two-China issue nearly kill the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games? And why do the 2008 Olympics present Beijing with unprecedented dangers and opportunities? In exploring these questions, Xu brilliantly articulates a fresh and surprising perspective on China as an international sport superpower as well as a new \"sick man of East Asia.\" In \u003ci\u003eOlympic Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e, he presents an eloquent argument that in the deeply unsettled China of today, sport, as a focus of popular interest, has the capacity to bring about major social changes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William C. Kirby","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42818414641213,"sku":"9780674028401","price":72.86,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/7689\/2989\/files\/9780674028401_feca4c24-62b7-4643-9bdd-cb1a116cffb4.jpg?v=1766919871","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleaf.com.au\/products\/olympic-dreams","provider":"Palmleaf","version":"1.0","type":"link"}