1. There's Only One Time Zone in China, and It's Exactly 12 Hours Ahead of New York
Chairman Mao didn't mean to make it easy to watch live coverage from his country; it just worked out that way.

2. It's a "Fast Pool"
To promote the breaking of swimming world records, the Chinese have optimized their Water Cube pool for speed by: (1) Keeping the water at 80.6 degrees, the temperature considered optimal for swimmers; (2) pumping "microbubbles" into the pool to break the water's surface tension; (3) building the pool to a depth of 42.7 feet, which prevents water-temperature interference; and (4) introducing a ventilation system that whisks chlorine fumes off the surface of the water, allowing theathletes to breathe clean air.

3. Why the Chinese Hold Their Paddles That Way
It's called the penhold grip, and it allows a player to unleash vicious topspin attacks from the forehand and consistent, though less forceful, blocks on the backhand. And since the penhold uses only one side of the paddle for both strokes, it's impossible to jam a shot into the body of a table-tennis (calling it Ping-Pong is picking a fight) player using it. While the Western shakehand grip is considered more versatile, the penhold has legions of often obsessive proponents. Break it out in casual play and watch the rumpus room go quiet.

4. Middle-School Gym Class Is an Olympic Sport
When medals are involved, though, it's called team handball. Now making its tenth Olympic appearance, the court game it enjoys curling's notoriety minus the beer jokes still can't be explained without real-sport references, like "water polo without water" or "lacrosse without sticks." We call it "a sport with scores but without a point." But that's only because our team sucks at it.

5. Logan Tom
If she doesn't win gold in beach volleyball, we probably won't know who did.

6. Not All Imports from China Are Tainted
To up our odds and add a bit of diplomatic drama the U.S. poached some top-shelf talent from the host nation. Women's volleyball coach Jenny "the Iron Hammer" Lang Ping was a key player for the Chinese juggernaut that won five world titles and Olympic gold in the 1980s. The Chinese now call the U.S. squad "Jenny's team." And the top two U.S. Ping-Pong yeah, we called it that players, Gao Jun and Wang Chen, won an Olympic medal and world title, respectively, before leaving the homeland. Basketball star Yao Ming, however, has been recalled.

7. Women Peak Later
Leading up to the Games, the press was fawning over 41-year-old, four-time swimming gold medalist Dara Torres, who was aiming for her fifth Olympics. Huzzah. But how about 49-year-old French cyclist Jeannie Longo, who's been dominating her sport since the early 1980s?

8. We've Got Federer's (Lucky) Number
Tennis champ Roger Federer suffered early-round exits at the last two Olympics. But numerology suggests his fortune will turn. The Swiss ace's birthday is August 8, as in 8/8/08; the hard-court tournament lasts eight days; and eight is considered a lucky number in China.