For anyone who is unsure how to applaud at the Beijing Olympics, China’s chief of etiquette has the answer: try the Olympic Four Step.
A set of hand gestures and slogans designed by the Beijing Etiquette Academy has been approved officially by the ruling Communist Party and the Beijing Games organisers.
State-run newspapers published a cartoon yesterday of a sweet-faced, doe-eyed girl in sports clothes with a bare midriff demonstrating the four recommended gestures. State television ran a special with hundreds of cheering schoolchildren showing off the moves.
The four-step will be part of a nationwide campaign deemed necessary, officials said, to encourage traditionally restrained Chinese to take part in a more high-key, extrovert show of support.
Li Ning, head of the Etiquette Academy, explained