Nathan Chen

[yyyskate]

我饿了- I'm hungry

洗手间在哪里 - Where's the restroom?

你好谢谢: Hello, Thank you

我的名字是 Nathan Chen: My name is Nathan Chen.

对不起 我不会说很多中国话 but ... : sorry I can't speak that much Chinese but ...

Nathan has the basics down

@oatmella, you are sooo cute, how much Chinese can you speak or write?

 

[shine]

Emma Watson isn’t blonde and that’s his crush lol. I think he’s probably like most dudes and just likes pretty girls in general.

Neither is Alina

Nor Karen.

 

[oatmella]

@oatmella, you are sooo cute, how much Chinese can you speak or write?

I wouldn't say I'm super fluent. Can read some but I wouldn't say a lot - writing not so great . I guess I can type some using pinyin.

Also can understand some Cantonese - and attempt to speak some not very well

 

[sheetz]

There are plans to produce SOI shows in China. They staged their first show this past December. I'm guessing they will want to invite some overseas Chinese skaters like Nathan, Vincent, Karen, and Patrick to perform in the shows.
http://en.ytsports.cn/news-3550.html

 

[yyyskate]

Neither is Alina

Nor Karen.

Nathan likes s**y girls.

 

[heyheyhey]

okay,
about Yuzuru's popularity in China, what @shine said is true.
about Ask FM/ I cannot recall Nathan's response to “not speak Chinese” , but he said he can speak “i am hungry” “where is the restroom“ etc. in Chinese

You guys show more love to a competitor from another country than your own countryman who got 4th place at the Olympics? Tsk tsk [emoji23][emoji39]

No worries Boyang, I’ll love you

 

[yyyskate]

I wouldn't say I'm super fluent - but probably better than Vincent/Karen. Can read some but I wouldn't say a lot - writing not so great

Also can understand some Cantonese - and attempt to speak some not very well

awww, sooo cute. I cannot write Chinese very well nowadays, I can only type them and with the help of google

Vincent is very cute, he wanted to speak Chinese if he realized that you are Chinese fans. I guess perhaps Karen is the same according to that Chinese TV interview.

not like Nathan, start the conversation with the bullet proof “我不会很多中国话，but”

 

[shine]

You guys show more love to a competitor from another country than your own countryman who got 4th place at the Olympics? Tsk tsk [emoji23][emoji39]

No worries Boyang, I’ll love you

haha, but not that surprising really. I'd say figure skating is not a very patriotic sport in general compared to other sports in that fans don't necessarily choose favorites based on nationality. At least it's never been a factor for me personally

 

[sheetz]

It's not uncommon for big international stars to be more popular than local stars, especially in an individual sport. Roger Federer is the most popular tennis player almost everywhere he goes.

 

[yyyskate]

You guys show more love to a competitor from another country than your own countryman who got 4th place at the Olympics? Tsk tsk [emoji23][emoji39]

No worries Boyang, I’ll love you

actually, one big reason why Boyang has relatively larger fanbase (he is the most popular Chinese skater in China) compare to other Chinese skaters (e.g. han yan) in China is because, Boyang's friendly relationship to Yuzuru..

I need to say something about Nathan in this post tho.
but Nathan I love you because, I falling in love with you one day, and I will support you even if it means I will be significantly outnumbered in fan wars.

 

[heyheyhey]

^^ Yea I know, just that China has never had a contender in single skating in the Olympics until Boyang and he did so well which bodes well for him for the next Olympics in his own country so I would think in that circumstance, there would be more overall support for him compared to the rest (like Russia and Canada do with their athletes)

@yyyskate well that’s unfortunate [emoji53] he should be liked because of what he’s achieving for single skating for China, not because of his friendship with someone else. Hope that changes for Beijing and they recognize his contributions on his own merit

 

[oatmella]

awww, sooo cute. I cannot write Chinese very well nowadays, I can only type them and with the help of google

Vincent is very cute, he wanted to speak Chinese if he realized that you are Chinese fans. I guess perhaps Karen is the same according to that Chinese TV interview.

not like Nathan, start the conversation with the bullet proof “我不会很多中国话，but”

'我不会说很多中国话, but' - Classic Nathan

Wonder why he says '中国话' instead of '中文' though - and this is easier

It would be nice if there was such a long interview/feature on Nathan like Vincent had - in any language !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3jdSerMBPc

 

[oatmella]

someone is not ready for goodbyes

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi7ce2Mha-a/?taken-by=karebearsk8

 

[yyyskate]

^^ Yea I know, just that China has never had a contender in single skating in the Olympics until Boyang and he did so well which bodes well for him for the next Olympics in his own country so I would think in that circumstance, there would be more overall support for him compared to the rest (like Russia and Canada do with their athletes)

@yyyskate well that’s unfortunate [emoji53] he should be liked because of what he’s achieving for single skating for China, not because of his friendship with someone else. Hope that changes for Beijing and they recognize his contributions on his own merit

well mostly is still Boyang's good result and his charming personality, but the friendship with Yuzuru absolutely helps.
the opposite example is Han Yan, he was brutally bashed in China by (some) because that clash with Yuzuru in warm-up.

So Nathan just be aware of the traffic in every warm-ups. love ya.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

There are plans to produce SOI shows in China. They staged their first show this past December. I'm guessing they will want to invite some overseas Chinese skaters like Nathan, Vincent, Karen, and Patrick to perform in the shows.
http://en.ytsports.cn/news-3550.html

They had some US skaters in it last year, like Abbott for example.

 

[heyheyhey]

Nathan can’t read Chinese so he probably wouldn’t know or care if he’s bashed for silly reasons [emoji23]

 

[oatmella]

From two years ago, Kobe Bryant was the most popular athlete in China: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...thlete-china-ahead-messi-ronaldo-lebron-james

'Rather, Kobe Bryant, who came in at No. 11 in the overall fame rankings, sits at No. 1, totally unshakable. Yes, the "Black Mamba" is the most popular athlete in China.
He has had the best-selling sports jersey in China for five years (2007-2010, 2012) since the NBA first released jersey sales rankings for China in 2005. And his career finale attracted more than 110 million people on Tencent, the exclusive digital partner of the NBA and ESPN in China.

Hundreds of loyal fans wait for him at airports, outside hotels and on every basketball court Bryant goes to during his routine summer visits to China.

But just how has Bryant elevated himself to such iconic status in China?' ...

'Active ambassador to Chinese fans

While he lives in Los Angeles, Bryant once said, "China is home away from home."

Bryant first visited China in 1998 to host a basketball camp. Three years later, he climbed the Great Wall and performed a slam dunk on it. Since 2006, Bryant has gone on a promotional tour every year, even in 2013 after suffering a torn Achilles.

To be sure, Bryant is not the only foreign player who visits to China. However, he has been the best in terms of giving back to his Chinese fans. In 2009, Bryant created the Kobe Bryant China Fund and donated 5 million yuan -- approximately $700,000 -- to Sichuan Province, which was rocked by a devastating earthquake.

And just last June, Bryant attended the news conference for his documentary "Kobe Bryant's Muse" in Shanghai. Bryant even made an exclusive commercial during which he gave a speech to his Chinese fans about how they shouldn't love him for being a decorated champion, but instead hate him for the way he pushed them to strive for greatness.'


IF Nathan is interested, I think he could learn some from Kobe's example - though not to compare popularity of figure skating to NBA. And a quote from another of Nathan's favorite basketball players:

"I thought I was famous until I got [to China] with Kobe."
LeBron James before the Beijing Olympics in 2008

 

[yyyskate]

They had some US skaters in it last year, like Abbott for example.

yes Jeremy Abbott had a great time performing in China, he has many dedicated Chinese fans.
also, SOI China was considering invite Gracie...

 

[yyyskate]

@oatmella
thank you for the article about Kobe's popularity in China,
but that is hardly Yuzuru's case at all..

but Kobe's model is applicable to Nathan. if they even wanted to market at all, my impression is that they are not very interested in marketing Nathan in China rn.

 

[heyheyhey]

Well China loves NBA so yea lol. There’s many former NBA players that weren’t even big in the NBA but play for China and gained massive popularity there. This reminds me of this one video where it asked random from Barcelona I think of all these big athletes in NBA and they literally didn’t know any big name outside of Michael Jordan but they knew every soccer player [emoji23]

Tbh though, I think it’s pretty clear Nathan isn’t really into the fame thing. Like even with his figure skating fame I don’t think he’s too comfortable with it (but getting better) but it’s atleast manageable and not crazy which is what he can handle. Being some super duper famous celebrity would probably his worst nightmare so I don’t wish that kind of fame on him because he clearly doesn’t want it. It takes effort for him to even do the little marketing of himself that he does now outside of obligations. I think marketing wise, he’ll never do much outside of what’s in his contract and he’ll go long periods of silence from communicating with fans. That’s just who he is.