Legacy of Ping-Pong Diplomacy stands test of time
After 55 years, players see vast changes in US and China, while friendships endure
Time has had a significant impact over the past 55 years on many people, including the Chinese and United States table tennis players who took part in the groundbreaking Ping-Pong Diplomacy that started in 1971 and helped thaw the ice between the two countries.
"Please kindly speak slower as I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and I can't catch up if you speak too fast," Liang Geliang, 75, a former member of China's national table tennis team, told China Daily when recalling the historic events.
In April 1971, Liang was in the Japanese city of Nagoya for the World Table Tennis Championships.
Glenn Cowan, a player on the US team, missed the team bus back to the hotel following a practice session, and hopped in the Chinese team's bus. Zhuang Zedong, a Chinese team member, welcomed Cowan and invited him to go to the stadium together.
"I was 21 that year, it was my first time fighting for a World Table Tennis Championship, and Cowan was right there on our bus to the stadium. After we got off the bus, he said 'practice' in English to me as he made playing gestures, meaning that he wanted to give it a try," Liang said.
"So we young guys of similar ages practiced for over 10 minutes, and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We were all aware that this was not just about hitting the balls, this was about kicking off a friendship," he added.
A short time later, on April 10, 1971, a US table tennis delegation arrived in China — the first US delegation invited by Beijing and allowed to enter the country since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Players from both nations triggered a frenzy among Chinese fans as they participated in friendly matches in different cities, including one at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing.
