Ping-pong, or table tennis is very popular in China. It might seem like an ordinary game to play with friends or family. 1 it holds a special place in China-US relations, as it has helped both countries get along for the last 50 years. This has 2 "ping-pong diplomacy (乒乓外交)".
Judy Hoarfrost was just 15 years old when she 3 from the US to China as part of a nine-member table tennis team. The year was 1971, and for the previous (之前的) 20 years, relations between China and the US had been 4.
But as the team 5 around China, things started warming up. Hoarfrost even got to meet then-Premier Zhou Enlai. "The most memorable moment was that Zhou was shaking hands 6 me and looking into my eyes," Hoarfrost told China Daily. "You have opened a new page in Sino-US relationships," Zhou told the team.
Players from both countries believed strongly in the idea of 7 first, competition second. To this day, many of them remain friends. Hoarfrost thinks we should remember ping-pong diplomacy 8 understand the importance of people-to-people exchanges in establishing bonds, human bonds between peoples.
In the years that followed the historical visit, US president Richard Nixon (尼克松) made a landmark (里程碑) visit to China in 1972. Diplomatic relations 9 the US and China were fully established (建立) in 1979.
Seeing tension (紧张局面) between two of the world's biggest powers in recent years, Hoarfrost said China and the US 10 work together. "We have so much in common and we should improve our relations," she added.
