Ping Pong Diplomacy 1971 – 40 Years Ago

It’s been 40 years since the legendary “match” between China and American ping pong players opened the door to diplomacy. (Remember the Forrest Gump ping pong scene?) The US team was in Japan and then was invited to go to China and guess what? They made friends. Imagine, in 1971, China was practically what North Korea is to us today. It was another place entirely, a country that was run by a dictator much like Kim Jong Il – but even larger: Mao Zedong. Just this week some of the team members got back together and played like old times. Nothing exciting about a 40 year reunion, but it’s just cool.