China: Official Olympic Cheers -- and Choreography

China now has issued some official cheers you can use during the upcoming Olympics. A little official sporting propaganda?

I found this little bit really amusing:

A cartoon issued to provide extra guidance on top of the "Olympic cheering practice" sessions that have been held for workers around Beijing for the last year shows a young girl in the approved postures.

In the first frame she is beginning to clap; in the second, doing a thumbs-up gesture; in the third, clapping again; and in the fourth, holding both arms up in the air.

In time, she also chants: "Aoyun! Jia You! Zhongguo! Jia You!" - meaning "Olympics! Add petrol! China! Add petrol!"

"Add petrol!", the nation’s favourite sporting chant, is more usually translated as "Go, Go!"

The cartoon is the joint product of the Communist Party’s spiritual civilisation bureau, the ministry of education, the Beijing Olympics organising committee, and state television, which has begun showing clips of schoolchildren showing how it is done.

Goodness, practice your cheering. Why does this sound so much like standard Communist look-at-me lockstep performance? Hmmmm. Still, no matter how silly the choreography, I'm sure it's still better than the Macarena.

The "add petrol" line is a funny little expression that just doesn't translate very well. We have that too in Taiwanese. Heck, I've heard my parents tell me that during exam-time at school!

I am feeling mischievous. Gentle reader, feel free to suggest your own Olympic cheers in Comments.