| I had to listen to this every day when I was attending a local school in Shanghai. It drives you sick after a while. It was written during the Civil War against the Kuomintang by a bunch of peasants. It is basically a war march, done at a fairly quick pace. Not as solemn as the Russian one, but you can add just as much patriotic rhetoric to it (as seen in the 1960's with the Red Guards). Actually not a bad ditty. I find the American one rather plain. Who is that Jose anyways?
Here's the lyrics in Chinese and my translation. I think the title is "Arise!", but I'm not sure. Nobody refers to it by name any more, only as "the anthem".
Qilai!
Buyuanzuo nulide renmen!
Bawomende xierou, zhucheng women xinde changcheng!
Zhonghua minzu daole zuiweixiande shihou,
meigeren beipozhe fachu zuihoude housheng.
Qilai!
Qilai!
Qilai!
Women wanzhongyixing,
maozhe dirende paohuo qianjin!
Maozhe dirende paohuo qianjin!
Qianjin!
Qianjin!
Jin!
Arise!
Ye who refuse to be slaves;
With our very flesh and blood
Let us build our new Great Wall!
The people of China are at their most critical hour,
Everybody must roar their defiance.
Arise!
Arise!
Arise!
Millions of hearts with one cause,
Brave the enemy's gunfire,
March on! Brave the enemy's gunfire,
March on! March on!
March on, on!
Fiery heh? The Taiwanese used to make fun of it because the term for "on" in "march on" sounds suspiciously like the word for sex. But then again, the Taiwanese anthem is completely bland. | 
