Li Na Begrudgingly Accepts 800,000 RMB

Li Na Begrudgingly Accepts 800,000 RMB
Feb 08, 2014 By eChinacities.com

Li Na recently became the first Chinese tennis player to win the Australian Open. Upon her return to her home province of Hubei, she was greeted by the Communist Party Chief of Hubei, Li Hongzhong, who handed her a check worth 800,000 RMB. The official photo of her accepting the check, which went viral on January 24, shows the star without a hint of a smile. This may have something to do with her beleaguered past with the homeland.

Li Na was entered into a national tennis program at the age of nine and groomed to become a great player; much like Olympians in China as well as basketball mega star Yao Ming. Though in 2008 she split from the national sports program to go it alone, due to disagreement with how the program was run as well as a desire to choose her own coaching staff. This meant that she could now keep more of her winnings but had to bear the costs of the (expensive) lifestyle of a tennis player on the world circuit.

Thus when Li returned to China and the Communist Party officials made a big show of her, she bore a facial expression that shows her acceptance, but not approval, of the government claiming her as their own trophy.

Source: http://www.iask.ca/news/china/2014/0129/246782.html

Warning:The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: check worth 800 facial expression 000 RMB Li Na

9 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

instantkarma

How much money would it take to make her smile? Sorry just joking, I admire her greatly for not smiling if it's a form of protest. But be careful folks, it just might be a "bad" picture and they took another. BTW the first prize for in the Aus Open for women & men is $2.65 million presumably in $A which is worth about 89c US dollars. source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1919573-australian-open-2014-prize-money-complete-purse-and-earnings-from-melbourne

Feb 15, 2014 17:31 Report Abuse

samisbah

take it girl. lucky you

Feb 11, 2014 14:48 Report Abuse

Laowei

She should be happy she is not a US citizen. American gold medal winners in the Sochi Olympics get taxed up to $10,000 for the medal and winnings.

Feb 11, 2014 08:30 Report Abuse

webdude

Wuhan is a good place to be FROM; how bad is the place where you are to make Wuhan a place to move TO? Yet some people - about 10 million or so - seem to like it enough not to have left. Wuhan is the most populous city in central-east China - big whoop. The U.S. has a lot of "fly-over" states. I've only been through Wuhan once, but I saw nothing to make me want to look around. Anyone of a different opinion, or is Wuhan really a fly-over/drive through area?

Feb 10, 2014 02:30 Report Abuse

davidiom

I've lived in Wuhan for a year now, and I am happy with the place. I do not live in the city centre as it is overcrowded and dirty, but otherwise I enjoy life. The people are great, and I have never seen dog on any menu.

Feb 10, 2014 14:22 Report Abuse

royceH

Belatedly escaping the system here has been the making of Li Na and congratulations to her for having the gumption to do so. Who knows what her career would have been like had she done so years sooner? I note from official records that her home remains in Wuhan but surely it's only a matter of time before she finds a better place to live. Retirement might be the catalyst. She's incredibly popular, and respected, in Australia so I wouldn't be surprised to see her finish up there. She'd be a fantastic boon to the promotion of tennis in that country. Whatever she decides to do I wish her well. I reckon she's a little ripper!

Feb 09, 2014 12:50 Report Abuse

carlstar

she so doesn't seem to care. Wuhan is an awful place and could it be the dustiest dive that is not near a desert. Put the money into some sort of anti dust thing.... On a side note.. Great place if you have wanted to eat dog, I saw many dog restaurants when there. Never went but I'm sure it tasted like soy sauce.

Feb 08, 2014 21:16 Report Abuse

sharkies

The old fart handing over the check wouldn't even know what tennis is.

Feb 08, 2014 20:59 Report Abuse

louischuahm

Where I come from, our government will pay her RMB10 million. RMB800k? You can't even buy a house!

Feb 08, 2014 17:55 Report Abuse