The Shanghai leg of the 55th anniversary of China-US Ping-Pong Diplomacy kicked off at Shanghai University of Sport on April 13, featuring a welcome ceremony and friendly matches.

As a key stop during the US table tennis team's historic 1971 visit to China, Shanghai captured the warmth of the two nations' early ice-breaking people-to-people exchanges through matches at Jiangwan Stadium and warm street welcomes.

Fifty-five years on, US side witnesses, including Judy Louise Hoarfrost, Jan Carol Berris, Connie Mae Sweeris, and her husband Dell Arthur Sweeris, joined Chinese veterans Yao Zhenxu and Xu Yinsheng, along with the US table tennis delegation, to revisit history, weaving a half-century of cultural and people-to-people ties through their personal stories.

Hoarfrost, then 15 and the youngest member of the US team, visited China in 1971, with Shanghai leaving an indelible impression. On her 10th trip to China, she said the city had changed dramatically, but the hospitality of the Chinese people remained unchanged.

She recalled that during their eight-day stay in 1971, the delegation visited the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, watched the ballets The Red Detachment of Women and Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, and toured Tsinghua University, the Shanghai industrial exhibition hall, and the Malu model commune.

"We didn't know that every little thing we did in China became big news back home. For example, my family told me that a photo of me with a buffalo in the commune was broadcast on national news in the US," Hoarfrost said.

The visit also included friendship matches in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, guided by the principle of "Friendship first, competition second".

"Although the Chinese players were the best in the world, they kindly allowed me to win three out of four matches," Hoarfrost said. "This was a gift of friendship."

Connie Mae Sweeris and her husband Dell Arthur Sweeris, both witnesses to the 1971 visit, cherished their memories of competing in Shanghai.

"The most precious legacy of ping-pong diplomacy is the fact that I personally made friends with the Chinese table tennis players, and that we've kept that relationship up through the years," Connie said.

She also compared bilateral ties to a marriage, stressing dialogue as essential.

"China-US relations are like a marriage—there will be ups and downs, but the key is to keep communication alive, break down barriers and promote understanding."

Dell, echoing his wife's focus on communication, underlined the ice-breaking role of the 1971 exchange. "Before 1971, there was no relationship between the US and China, and that broke the ice, and the nations began to have communication. That spirit of keeping the communication open is really important."

Looking to the future, Connie emphasized the importance of passing on the spirit of ping-pong diplomacy to the next generation: "I think the young generation needs to learn about the history of where ping-pong diplomacy started and these exchanges, and then carry that spirit forward into the new generations."

Berris, a veteran China-US exchange organizer with over 170 visits to China and a key coordinator of the 1972 Chinese team's US tour, reunited in Beijing with Liang Geliang and Shanghai native Zhang Lingjie.

"All of us had tears in our eyes, and it was a wonderful thing to be part of and to witness," she said.

Amid current bilateral tensions, Berris stressed that sports transcend politics as a unifying force.

"I'm very hopeful that the spirit that the team came with in 1971 can be rekindled through opportunities such as this to come together, not just through ping-pong but through a variety of sports because sports transcend politics."

Yao Zhenxu, who accompanied US player Glenn Cowan in 1971, recalled their unplanned visit to a Shanghai workers' residential building and a memorable home-cooked meal, a taste Yao remembers to this day.

"After the matches, it was all about friendship," he recalled.

As a participant in commemorative events over the decades, Yao witnessed the profound impact of grassroots exchanges.

"The value of people-to-people exchanges lies in fostering friendship among ordinary people, which in turn opposes war and pressures governments to move with the tide," Yao said.

He also noted that China sent more than 600 coaches to over 100 countries to promote the sport and friendship worldwide.

Xu Yinsheng, the honorary life chairman of the ITTF, said time had aged the witnesses, but the friendship endured. Despite the current international climate, Xu firmly believes that grassroots friendships should remain unaffected by political differences.

"Regardless of any disputes between the Chinese and US governments, grassroots activities must continue to uphold and pass on this friendship," Xu said.

This year's Shanghai events featured table tennis and flag football matches, plus tech innovations, including humanoid robots and smart table tennis serving robots.

Xu said that while communication was once limited to in-person meetings, phone calls and text messages, young people today connect in new and more effective ways.

"Technology will introduce exciting new elements to table tennis, and future modes of exchange will be far more diverse than before," he said.

The delegation will also visit the ITTF Museum, Yuyuan Garden and the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, retracing the 1971 journey.

"We are all ping-pong diplomats," said Hoarfrost. "Sports, culture, music and education exchanges all promote understanding between people."