Pickleball, a sport originated in the United States and has become increasingly popular in China in recent years, is bringing students from both countries closer together as a group of American students began an exhilarating cultural exchange centered around the game in Shanghai.
American students from Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools arrived in Shanghai last Friday and met with students from Luwan Senior High School, and friendship quickly blossomed.
The pickleball competition opened on Sunday at a sports center at the iconic Shanghai Bund, with 30 student-athletes from each half competing in an exciting and friendly manner.
"It's more like not a competition, but it's like a communication with other countries," said Chinese student Zheng Quan.
"So, it's actually really amazing that even different sides of the world, we know exactly what we're talking about. And it's like we're one person. Like right now, we're like best friends, like it we know each other for years," said American student Sheraz Hassan Bashir.
Over the past few days, the visiting U.S. students have also enjoyed diverse activities, from city walks and hands-on experiences with traditional Chinese handicrafts to tours, including a trip to the China Table Tennis Museum.
"Decades ago, ping pong or table tennis was a sport that brought U.S. and China relations together and spearheaded positive relations. So, we see, pickleball is something in the present day now. And on this tour to shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, our delegation, our student athlete ambassadors, have an opportunity to bring our countries together," said Jeffrey Sullivan, director of systemwide athletics at Montgomery County Public Schools.
Born in the U.S. in 1965, pickleball, a paddle sport combining elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis, has exploded in popularity worldwide as a social sport, and China has been riding the wave since 2017.
Pickleball event unites youth from China, US in Shanghai
An evocative situational song and dance performance has vividly connected the Red Army's perilous crossing of a snow-capped mountain with a modern tunnel engineering marvel during a televised gala commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March on Thursday.
The Long March (1934-1936) was a defining military maneuver undertaken by the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, symbolizing endurance and perseverance which ultimately paved the way for the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Titled "Ode to the Long March," the five-part gala broadcast by the China Media Group (CMG) centers on key historical junctures of the arduous 12,500-kilometer journey.
One of these performance segments sought to bring to life the Red Army's strenuous crossing of a snow-topped peak during the epic military trek. It weaves together two eras -- the soldiers' desperate climb through the blizzards and the modern-day construction of a tunnel through the same mountain -- to show how the spirit of perseverance endures across generations.
Through poignant dialogue and an enchanting song, the piece shows soldiers supporting one another through a fierce snowstorm, culminating in a young soldier's dream of drilling a hole through the mountain once the revolution is won. This vision comes to life as the stage setting shifts to the present day, featuring a powerful exchange between a Red Army commander and a modern engineer, symbolizing their shared determination to conquer nature's barriers.
The segment depicts the Central Red Army's June 1935 crossing of the Jiajin Mountain in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the first major snow mountain they encountered on the Long March.
Decades later, over 600 workers labored for 45 months to build the Jiajin Mountain Tunnel of the G351 highway, an engineering marvel that has permanently ended the winter isolation of over 110,000 local residents.
Integrating music, dance, drama, and folk art, the performances at the Gala vividly recall the immense hardships the Red Army endured and showcase the firm beliefs held by the Communist Party of China (CPC), even in the face of sacrifice and suffering.
The broadcast followed a commemorative meeting held earlier on Thursday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech.
The Long March began in October 1934, when 86,000 poorly armed soldiers began a grueling 12,500-kilometer journey across some of the country's harshest terrain to establish a new revolutionary base. The march concluded in October 1936 when three main Red Army forces converged in northwestern China.
Gala performance bridges past, present with nod to Long March history, modern engineering
Gala performance bridges past, present with nod to Long March history, modern engineering
Gala performance bridges past, present with nod to Long March history, modern engineering
