Ni Hao, Pard! Bull Riding Comes to China

[dnoblett]

From the Wall Street Journal:

 

Ni Hao, Pard! Bull Riding Comes to China

 

Sport Proves Hard to Translate; Mongolian Cowboy

 

http://www.wsj.com/video/professional-bull-riding-is-coming-to-china/B3DAEC9F-565E-4F85-B2FD-F22685D6424A.html

 

LAIYANG, China—Professional bull riding’s Great Chinese Hope carefully lowered himself onto 1,000 pounds of ornery bucking bull. Focus, he said he tells himself. No distractions. After the bull settled a bit, the rider shouted that he was ready to go.

 

The chute opened, the bull grazed the side of the gate, bucked once and deposited the rider—splat!—on the ground. Elapsed time: about two seconds.

 

Embarrassed, the rider, whose name is Harihen, brushed himself off and said he wants “another one.” Score one for persistence.

 

Bull riding is coming to China, but it is traveling a rutted road.

 

Although China doesn’t have a cowboy culture or rodeos, cowboy devotees want to change that. They are led by James Wang, a wealthy Chinese former ostrich importer who fell in love with rodeos during the 10 years he lived in Texas.

 

He signed a deal with Professional Bull Riders Inc., the Colorado company that has turned bull riding into a big-time sport in the U.S., to plan a three-city tour in China this year. It was supposed to be the first PBR-promoted set of events in this country.

 

MORE: http://online.wsj.com/articles/ni-hao-pard-cowboys-come-to-china-but-bull-riding-is-tough-to-translate-1413945002

 

[warpedbored]

Cool! being from a small ranching community in Idaho, rodeo holds a special place in my heart