The American table tennis team visits the Great Wall, 1971The American table tennis team visits the Great Wall, 1971
Beijing
Photograph by Norman Webster
Courtesy of the National Archives at College Park, MD, Still Picture Unit, 306-PSD-169-S-71-592
The Chinese table tennis team being interviewed on U.S. high school television station, 1972The Chinese table tennis team being interviewed on U.S. high school television station, 1972
Bethesda, Maryland
Photograph by Warren K. Leffler
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-U9-25765-11A
In 1971, Chairman Mao Zedong invited to China the U.S. table tennis team, which was in Nagoya, Japan, for the 31st World Table Tennis Championships. Premier Zhou Enlai welcomed the athletes as the first official American guests in the Chinese capital since 1949. The following year, the Chinese team traveled to the United States for a goodwill tour and shared their “Friendship First, Competition Second” motto with Americans.