CRI听力:Midnight Soccer Fans

Dominic: I'm in the bar district of central Beijing. It's around about midnight on a weekday evening. A time when most Chinese partygoers are thinking about going home. But for some, the night's just starting.

"My name's Chen, I'm a student at the University of Miami.

Dominic: Why did you come here this evening?

Chen: To watch the football game with my friend.

Dominic: why do you like watching football?

Chen: I like watching my favourite players like Christian Ronaldo and Philipp Lahm.

Euro 2012 is underway. Denmark is playing Portugal. Later Germany takes on Holland. That match will start around 3am. And many fans here are prepared to stay up to watch it.

Dominic:why are you here tonight?

Fuxinwei: Because I'm a fan of Germany, I came to watch the football game of Germany.

Dominic: So, you're here because you're a fan of football. Not because of your boyfriend?

Fuxinwei: Also because of him, yes.

Dominic: So, you like football so much, you're going to stay up all night to watch the game.

Fuxinwei: Yes.

My name is Feng Jiaming. I'm a freelancer.

I come here to relax. And I love soccer, especially the European championships. This includes some of the best football in the world.

I do have time to rest. We can watch the football at night and still sleep a few hours before daytime.

The street's lined with bars, all of them showing the football on outside video screens. Ji Shan works at one of them as a waiter.

"Why are we showing the football? Chinese people love watching football. Every family watches at home. The number of Chinese football fans is huge."

He's not wrong. The domestic league in China pulls in an average of 35 thousand fans per game. And the ones watching this match seem to place more importance on football than sleep… and other attractions.

Dominic: So we're sitting outside a bar and there's a big screen showing the football in front of us. But just next to your table there's a large window. And inside the bar I can see two girls with very long legs dancing on stage. But you're watching the football, not the girls!

Nobs: Yes, yes, I'm watching the game, not the girls! I think outside so many people watch the football games… I can enjoy this game with other people, I can share their feelings."

It may be taking place 4,000 miles away but fans here are following this tournament just as closely as those that have the luxury of watching without losing sleep.

For CRI, I'm Dominic Swire.