China, Expats Tune In for Obama’s Speech

Jason Leow and Sue Feng report on China’s reaction to the inauguration. In China, despite the speech’s inconvenient timing (it started after 1:00 a.m. local time), crowds of expatriates — and more than a few Chinese — packed into bars to watch CNN’s live broadcast via satellite. Bars wooed customers with inauguration specials: The Glamour Bar, on Shanghai’s historic Bund, offered a pre-ceremony performance by a seven-piece Dixieland band and a drink called the “Obamatini” (garnished with red, white and blue sugar cubes). At Rickshaw, a two-story watering hole in one of Beijing’s busiest entertainment districts, some among the roughly 200 patrons hissed when George W. Bush was shown on TV, then the entire crowd burst into applause the cameras turned to his successor, with some shouting “Go Obama!” Sophia Liu , a 35-year-old freelance art designer in Beijing, said she and many of her Chinese friends have big expectations for the new president and his ability to handle ... (link)