James started playing table-tennis in China at the age of 8 as a hobby which is as common there as an American here taking up basketball as a hobby.  However, it soon became his life's focus.  He comes from the city of Mianyang in Sichuan Province in China.  Representing his city and province, his travels have taken him to countless competitions throughout China.  He has also been to Japan for a friendship tournament.  James has been men's doubles champion for Sichuan Province and has finished in the top 3 in men's singles for his province.  In a big junior national tournament in China, James finished in the seventh position.  The Mianyang city government paid him to come here as he is an employee of the city government.  He feels being able to come here a major accomplishment as there are very limited opportunities in China.  World-ranked #1 Wang Liqin is his favorite player because he is very devoted, serious, and a good sport.  In competition, James has defeated former India #1 and 3-time Olympian Chetan Baboor and Northern California players Barney Reed, Misha Kazantsev, Shashin Shodhan, and Freddie Gabriel.

   He found the table-tennis community here to be very enthusiastic about the sport and is happy to have received very good hospitality.  However, he admits that he does get tired from all the coaching and practice that he has to do and faces the difficulty of speaking English.  He hopes to keep improving his game and, with a laugh, says he wants to make more money!  His interesting US experience came when he went to the Nationals in Las Vegas.  He put in one quarter and got 14 back and ended up getting kicked out of the gambling area because he was too young!  For fun, he likes to hang out with friends and has learned how to play the guitar.