By Ariel Hsing

Part 1: Beijing ShiChaHai Sports School – July 11 to August 15

My dad was very excited when we arrived at Beijing, China on July 11, 2006 for Table Tennis training. He heard the food there was excellent and had been hungry all the way in the airplane. After a dinner that lasted forever in a restaurant called "Nine Headed Bird" we finally checked in ShiChaHai School at 10 PM. I was trained here last summer and couldn’t wait to see my friends and coaches the next day.

I was disappointed to find out that most of my friends had already gone. Luckily, Coach Kong was still there and gave me a warm welcome. She introduced me to Coach Tao and Coach Zhu and told them at age ten I was the youngest US cadet team member and had just won the US Open Girls U11, U13, and U15. She immediately wanted me to show her what I learned the past year. After I lost the first practice match, she explained to others that I was jetlagged. After I lost the second match, she said I just didn’t know how to play against pips. Then my games just picked up. At end of the day she was very happy with my progress and assigned me to play with the top group.

The regular training hour for me was from 8 AM – 10 AM, then 1 PM – 3 PM. Coach Li trained the boy team, and he sometimes let me practiced with them from 3 PM – 5 PM. My dad told coach Li that he was a coach himself, and was shocked when they asked him to play a match. He got killed by a boy the first game, then got killed the second game, then he was trailing 7-1 in the third game. Magically he came back and won the match. So we have to hear this story over and over again until this day.

I discovered a special talent at the school – catching minnow. My friends and I would spend all of our free time at a pond to catching those little things. I was the one always caught the most fish. It was so much fun!

During my last week at ShiChaHai, my good friend and neighbor Sheena Tsang joined me for training. Together we ate a lot of ice cream. My favorite kind was called "Green Tongue" – it’s green and wiggled like a tongue.

Then it’s time to leave ShiChaHai to join the US teams for the training camp.

Part 2: Chinese National Training Center – August 16 to August 30

I arrived at Zheng Ding Chinese National Training Center on August 16. I would train with the US team for two weeks then play the "China Junior Open – ITTF WJC" from August 31 to September 4.

There were 27 people from US in this training camp: Coach Lily, Coach Masaaki, US Boys and Girls teams, and some players from New Jersey. Training here was very intense. We trained average 6 hours a day with partners from all over the world. This place was remote and not that much fun. I couldn’t buy anything in the school because they couldn’t break 100 yuan (about $13.) Luckily, Atha Fong had some Chinese money. She had 72 yuan and lent me 36, so I could buy some ice cream. Atha is so beautiful and smart. She is going to Stanford this year. By the way, I was not stingy either and lent Trevor Ruyan 100 yuan.

There were quite a few blackouts in Zheng Ding. Justen Yao didn’t show up one morning for practice. I went to his room to wake up him and told him he had missed the training. He asked "what training?" then literally screamed and jumped out of his bed.

At end of the camp we had a small tournament. I finished 4th place and got a Ping-Pong mouse as reward. I was very happy.

Part 3: China Junior Open – August 30 to September 4

Finally, it was time to go to the China Junior Open in Taiyuan. When people were boarding the bus, Coach Lily realized I was missing and found me still sleeping in bed. Thanks, Coach Lily.

Day One:
We played the team event first and I was paired with Olena Sowers. We played Sri Lanka and won them 3-2. Yay! This was my first "international" win! We then played team China and lost 3-0. Oh well, it was still a very good day.

Day Two:
We played the Korean tem and lost 3-1. But I was happy with my one good win over a Korean girl.

Day Three:
This was our day off since we didn’t advance out of our round robin. At this point I started to realize I might not be a very good double player (we lost all the doubles!) and felt sorry for Olena. Olena, Atha, Stephanie Shih, and Judy Hugh went out shopping and brought me back KFC. It was so delicious. Thank You Girls!

Day Four:
Singles began today, and I played the U12 event. There were two Chinese and one Sri Lanka girl in my group. I won my first match 3-0 against a Chinese player, and then lost 3-1 to the other Chinese girl. I had to win the last match in order to advance out of my group, and I won it 3-0. I was extremely happy! We went to KFC fro dinner. I bought 60 yuan worth of chicken and ate it all. It had been a good day.

Day Five:
We woke up late and missed our bus. Atha was done with the tournament, but she ran with me trying to get a taxi. It was raining-we were nervous-no taxi would stop-I was going to miss my match. Finally, we caught a taxi and made it to the tournament site in time (Whew!) I won the second match against a Chinese girl 4-0. My next match was against another 12 years old Chinese girl. She was just too good for me and beat me 4-0.

Riding the bus back to the Chinese National Training Center was another journey. The bus driver was scary, or a little crazy may I say. We sometimes drove in the wrong direction; we sometimes pass every car like nothing; many times I thought we were just going to crash into something. I was assigned to sit by the driver at dinner time. I wanted to switch seat with Olena. That was the first time in the whole trip she told me "NO WAY!"

We finally got back to the training center after 11 hours of bus ride. The next day I flew back to the US with my Grandma. It has been a fun and exciting Ping-Pong vacation.