The Dong Bei Ren Song - Dong Bei Cup Inspiration

In the lead up to the Dong Bei Cup I feel it only fair to give you some background on the inspiration for the tournament's namesake. The term Dong Bei simply means the northeast and a Dong Bei Ren is a person from the northeast. However the DongBei Ren are reknowned in China for being a people that are tougher due to their ability to survive the often cold and harsh winters of the DongBei region. They are more apt to settle an argument with their fists rather than words, they can drink you under the table and their cuisine is more meat, stew and cabbage kind of dishes. In essence a DongBei Ren has a lot in common with the people of the Cariboo and northern interior of BC which may explain why I feel so at home here.

About 7 or 8 years ago the DongBei Ren were immortalized in a song by a Beijing singer that explains the virtues of the DongBei people. Posted below is a YouTube video showing a popular animation that accompanies the song (unfortunately it repeats many times). I copied a translation of the words and posted them below the video. Sing a long if you so desire.

This is what the Dong Bei Cup tournament is all about.

老张开车去东北， 撞了。	lao zhang kai che qu dong bei, zhuang le	Lao Zhang drove to Dongbei And had an accident
肇事司机耍流氓， 跑了。	zhao shi si ji shua3 liu2 mang2, pao3 le	The other driver was a thug And ran off
多亏一个东北人， 送到医院缝五针， 好了	duo kui1 yi ge dong bei ren, song dao yi yuan feng2 wu3 zhen1, hao le	Fortunately a Dongbeiren Sent him to the hospital He was fine after five stitches
老张请他吃顿饭， 喝得少了他不干， 他说：	lao zhang qing ta chi dun fan, he de shao le ta bu gan, ta shuo	Lao Zhang invited him to eat a dun And wouldn’t think of not drinking He said:
俺们那旮都是东北人，	an3 men2 na4 ga1 dou shi dong bei ren	“We are all Dongbeiren”
俺们那旮特产高丽参，	an men na ga te chan gao li4 shen1	“Our regional specialty is Gao Li ginseng”
俺们那旮猪肉炖粉条，	an men na ga zhu1 rou4 dun4 fen3 tiao2	“And pork dun with rice noodles”
俺们那旮都是活雷锋。	an men na ga dou shi huo2 lei2 feng1	“We aspire to live according to the principles of Lei Feng”
俺们那旮没有这种人，	an men na ga mei you zhe zhong ren	“We don’t have that kind of person”
撞了车了哪能不救人，	zhuang le che le na neng bu jiu4 ren2	“Who would cause an accident and not aid the other party”
俺们那旮山上有珍蘑，	an men na ga shan shang you zhen1 mo2	“On our mountains grow pearl mushrooms”
那个人他不是东北人。	na ge ren ta bu shi dong bei ren	“That man was no Dongbeiren!”