Below is a photo of Yao doing the cheer:

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Clap two times (while chanting ??, “Olympics”)
Step 2: Hands in fists with thumbs up, arms extended upward (while chanting, ??, “Let’s go!”)
Step 3: Clap two time (while chanting ??, “China”)
Step 4: Hands in fists, arms extended outward and upward (while chanting ??, “Let’s go!”)

Thanks again to Raymond for this great content.

Below is a 30-second clip titled “Removing the Mountain” ??, which comes from a famous Chinese idiom ????, literally meaning a stubborn and determined man trying to remove a big mountain; a man of fortitude who is not afraid of difficulties and is full of determination to win and has the courage to surmount every difficulty. It has some pretty cool effects:

It got crazy in Beijing on Friday when a horde of fans showed up to buy the remaining 820,000 tickets for Olympic events, and it got testy between police and journalists. This from The Wall Street Journal…

A last-minute sale of Olympics tickets in Beijing turned into sometimes violent confrontations between police and several Hong Kong reporters, raising new questions about how Chinese authorities will treat the thousands of journalists coming for next month’s Games.

Click here for more of the story.

Here’s a video taken before the problems arose with people camping out long in advance to try to get tickets.

On Friday, Yao Ming attended an unveiling of the Chinese delegation to the Olympics, made up of 639 athletes. Check out all the photos here.

Here’s the story from Reuters:

China unveiled its largest delegation for any Olympic Games on Friday, naming 639 athletes behind closed doors to represent the host nation in Beijing.

The Chinese athletes preparing for the Games have been kept away from the media and requests to attend the unveiling of the delegation were refused for all but 10 reporters from state media.

Raymond, our YMM correspondent in China, has found the following interesting tidbits.

Here’s a link to an article about Chinese President Hu Jintao‘s visit to the National Sports Bureau yesterday to talk to his country’s athletes. During his visit to the Chinese basketball national team, he asked Yao about the status of the rehab on his foot.

Below is a video that gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation of various Chinese national teams, like gymnastics, synchronized swimming, weight lifting, table tennis, basketball, and volleyball. The Yao Ming piece is from the 7:40 to 8:40 minute mark.

Below is another video that has some behind-the-scenes clips of the charity short films for the Sichuan earthquake that internationally famous Chinese director Chen Kaige took with Yao Ming as the leading actor. The shorts will be publicly released in China nationwide within the week.

Raymond has another translation of an article written about Yao’s outlook on the tough pairings the Chinese have in the Olympics, which now includes Greece and Germany!

Raymond has done a fantastic job translating the most recent interview with Yao Ming after China’s victory over Russia in the FIBA Stankovic Continental Cup tournament. In the interview, Yao appraises his own performance in the tournament, gives his view of the national team and his teammates, and assesses China’s chances in the Olympics.

You can check it out here.

Here’s a good video on the pressure that’s facing China’s Liu Xiang and Yao Ming in the upcoming Olympic games:

I wanted to point out a few unique photos taken of Yao that Raymond added to the forum a few days ago (that I missed) when the Chinese National Team arrived in Hangzhou on Wednesday for the FIBA Stankovic Cup.

When’s the last time you saw Yao getting a haircut? (I don’t recall one)….

Here’s another of Yao enjoying some ice cream at the team’s lunch buffet…

It’s always interesting to see Yao doing the things that all of us have to do (haircut) or enjoy doing (eating ice cream).

Click here for more photos of Yao at the team luncheon.

China cruised to a 72-50 victory against Russia to finish 2nd in the FIBA Stankovic Continental Cup tournament behind Angola.

Because the victory was an easy one, Yao was hardly needed. He played the first and third quarters. He only took four shots (made two of them) to finish with 6 points. He also grabbed 6 boards, had 4 steals, 3 blocks, but he also had 7 turnovers.

Raymond reports that Yao and the Chinese power forwards (either Yi Jianlian or Wang Zhi-Zhi) haven’t gelled yet, nor has the Chinese national team despite the big victory.

Click here for more photos from the game.