Chinese social media users were impressed at how the Brazilians conducted opening ceremonies for the 31st Olympic Games that is being held in Rio de Janeiro this year despite negative reviews.
On Monday, the Global Times reported about the Chinese netizens' positive reaction towards the opening of the 2016 Rio Olympics, with some noting the tasteful music and partying as well as the inclusion of global issues in the mix.
According to the outlet, the praises from Chinese social media users who took to the Twitter-like microblogging platform Sina Weibo to express their opinion came after negative reviews about the global sports event prior to its commencement.
Reactions Posted on Weibo
The Global Times cited the views and hashtag use of Chinese social media users as proof that the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is definitely something that deserves praise.
Accordingly, the topic with the hashtag "the opening ceremony of the Rio Games" became trending over Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, and was view a staggering 220 million times.
The outlet also noted that the international sports gathering had also been the subject of over 60,000 comments on the social networking platform, many of which indicate that the Chinese netizens were impressed by the opening event.
"The ceremony made me touch the inside of Brazil and feel the enthusiasm, humor and creativity of South Americans through their samba dance and music," posted Sina Weibo user MISS YH.
Meanwhile, another noted that while the event held in the Brazilian capital does not come near the glamor provided in the Olympics by the ones conducted in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, it proved to be a uniquely awesome event despite the budget cuts.
Negative Reviews
Prior to the opening event held on August 5, news broke about how the Rio Olympics is expected to turn for the worse because of problems in the locality.
According to the National Review, one the 'predictable' problems that could occur during the Games is the outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
While both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) repeatedly assured that Rio is safe, many athletes still decided to skip the Games for varying reasons.
Aside from that, there were also reports about the lack of motivation for law enforcement officers to do their jobs as highlighted by the recent labor strike involving police officers who held up banners saying: "Welcome to Hell: police and firefighters don't get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe."
Despite this, the opening of the games was still considered a success considering that Rio managed to pull through and win over Chinese netizens particularly the youth.
"After being haunted by negative news for months, including postponed constructions and security problems, Rio won the Chinese back by a successful and creative opening ceremony. Brazil combined their romance with social issues, which appealed to Chinese especially the youth," explained proferssor He Hui of the Beijing Foreign Studies University's School of International Journalism and Communication.