--- description: Ping-pong friendship thrives across the decades title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Ping-pong friendship thrives across the decades image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4201f6a67c20bb5/6a1fca7eb60ceef78b3f3cab/1._Ping-pong_friendship_thrives_across_the_decades.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ping-pong friendship thrives across the decades  _Young people from China and the United States take a group photo during an event to mark the 55th anniversary of China-U.S. Ping-Pong Diplomacy in Beijing on April 10\. ZHAO WENYU / CHINA NEWS SERVICE_ By ZHANG YUNBI Deliah Autry, 30, is a member of the United States Women’s National Flag Football Team, a three-time world champion, and a doctor of physical therapy specializing in pediatrics. Last August, she made her first trip to China, attending the 12th World Games hosted by Chengdu in Sichuan province. The souvenirs that impressed her most included a Labubu doll and the games’ medals, she said. “The medal itself is so intricate and detailed, and has a little necklace. It is something that I would love to show my kids one day,” she said. The cultural events also impressed her. At the athletes’ village, Chinese college students helped them try immersive cultural activities. “We got to do arts and crafts, learn how to write our names in Mandarin. We got to try on traditional Chinese clothing, so it was just an awesome way for us to learn from them … a great experience and a way for us all to connect,” Autry said. She made her second trip to China in April. In Beijing, she took part in the commemoration to mark the 55th anniversary of China-U.S. Ping-Pong Diplomacy and the launch ceremony of the China-U.S. Youth Sports Exchange Events. Autry said she now has a better and deeper connection to and understanding of Chinese culture. “I am impressed by the people, how genuine and kind-hearted everybody is, and I think it is something that I have personally attached to you (China) because you see the true humanity and love, especially for sports,” she said. Autry said sporting events and exchanges are a great way to show young people how cultural differences and language barriers are just small things and “what the true purpose is in life, which is to find a deeper connection with other humans across the world.” Justin O’Jack, chief representative of the University of Virginia’s Pacific Asia Office, encourages young Americans to engage in more trips outside the U.S. “These kinds of trips, where students can travel abroad and spend time in a country like China, really have a transformative impact on a young person’s life,” he said in an interview. In 2023, President Xi Jinping proposed an initiative to invite 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study programs over a five-year span. O’Jack noted that the program has largely focused on high school and younger groups of students, and “that is important because the youth are our future.” Anders Ibsen, 40, who was sworn in as mayor of Tacoma in January, hosted a Chinese ping-pong delegation at Lincoln High School in the city. Ibsen said it is very important to “give young people an understanding about what it means to have greater partnerships, especially with our growing global economy.” “That’s the basis of shared prosperity as well as peace … in someone’s life. If they can understand that it’s a big world and that there are a lot of other different ideas out there, then we’re all better off,” he added. In April, Ibsen traveled to China with Tacoma high school students, his second visit to the country. “I first visited here in 2018\. I visited Fuzhou (in Fujian province), which is one of Tacoma’s four sister cities.” “To give you some reference, the city of Tacoma is a major port city on the west coast … About half of our total trade comes from China. As a result, we very strongly value the partnership,” he said. Chinese trade will continue to be very important to the port of Tacoma, as well as the investments it has seen in the local economy, Ibsen said. During the trip, Ibsen said the group was also able to learn more about innovative programs the government is working on. When asked about what impressed him most in China, he said it was “the people.” “We can just focus on what makes things better for people, what makes for a happier, more peaceful world. And that is the strength of cooperation. That’s why we’re here,” he said. The first U.S. table tennis delegation arrived in China in April 1971 for the icebreaking visit that helped boost the launch of bilateral diplomatic ties. What began with a small ping-pong ball — slowly at first, and then in leaps and bounds — grew into a “broad and eventually very deep” network of relations between the two countries in every profession, and every field imaginable that brought all levels in the two societies together, said Jan Berris, vice-president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a nonprofit organization and advisory body founded in 1966 to encourage understanding and cooperation between the two nations. The first exchanges and the visits of the two ping-pong teams, with the hundreds and thousands of exchanges that followed, “serve to help people from both countries humanize the other” side, she said. [](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) ## China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World Since its launch in 1981, China Daily has grown to become the nation’s leading English-language newspaper. With a combined print, online and mobile readership of more than 470 million, it serves a vital role in telling the world about China, providing valuable insight into the world’s second-largest economy. 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