MY TRIP TO CHINA-ATHA FONG

ATHA FONG HAS BEEN PAN AMERICAN CADET GIRLS CHAMPION AND IS ONE OF THE RISING STARS IN US WOMEN'S TABLE-TENNIS.

On July 6, 2005, the Wednesday after the U.S. Open, I left my home sweet home in California to train in the capitol of Sichuan, China, Chengdu. I met with my coach, Dennis Davis; Jackie Lee; and David Rudisel in the San Francisco International Airport, as we were all on the same flight to Shanghai. Dennis was the organizer of the trip, and the participants were Jackie Lee, David Rudisel, Joseph and Melody Wang, Lily Zhang, and I.

Thirteen hours later, we arrived in the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on time only to find that our domestic flight to Chengdu had been delayed – we were to arrive in Chengdu at 2 a.m. instead of our original 11 p.m. arrival time. Tired and groggy, we four waited for our flight in a half-dazed stupor. We eventually boarded the flight and arrived in Chengdu at 2 a.m. Friday morning.

Having arrived so late, our group did not train in the morning session on Friday but did manage to wake up in time for the afternoon session. We trained with the women on the city team of Chengdu. Their level ranged from 2100 to 2400. Each training session was two and a half hours long, and each person was paired with another, with whom he or she would play for the rest of the session. Each person chose his or her own drills.

The Chengdu City Training Center is quite impressive. The training hall consists of three levels – the first level is for the top-level men players, the second level is for the top-level women players, and the third level is for the children. Luckily for us, the living quarters, as well as the training facility, were well air-conditioned. Thus, we were saved from the 90% humidity and hot temperatures for which Chengdu is famous. The food prepared for us in Chengdu, although greasy, was not as bad as I imagined.

During our three-week stay, we participated in a four-day tournament He Shan, which is located about five or six hours from Chengdu by bus. The bus ride through the countryside of Sichuan, dubbed “the death ride through China” by David, was, to say the least, interesting. We basically spent five hours getting jostled around inside a bus as we journeyed along and through, up and down the dirt roads of rural China. We managed to survive even as our bus driver tried to drive along a one-lane road as oncoming traffic approached. New York drivers don’t have anything on Chinese drivers. Finally, we arrived in He Shan, a small city that was not as modern as Chengdu. It was incredibly hot in the city – my shirt was soaked after a five-minute walk to the playing center – and was even hotter inside the playing hall, where there was no air conditioning. Most of the participants were from China, but there were teams from Taiwan and Singapore. Our team from America was one of the big deals of the tournament, but I think they were surprised to find that only one out of the six Americans, David, was actually Caucasian. Our teams lost in the round robin that determined who would advance to the next round. After the tournament, we drove to Chongqing, a large city near He Shan, and trained there for a day and a half. We treated ourselves to McDonald’s in Chongqing and had a nice Western meal in the city’s Hilton. As much as I enjoy Chinese food, the change in diet was extremely welcome. We then returned to Chengdu and continued our training. Throughout the weeks, we did physical training and played round-robin matches with the city team players.

The trip to China really allowed me to focus on the problems in my game, which I believe have improved. In addition, I am grateful that I was able to make new friendship. Most importantly, though, I now appreciate the opportunities that are available to me in the United States. My trip to China was truly an unforgettable experience.