Until this week, 70-year-old Southern California resident Bob Taylor had little knowledge of Ping-Pong Diplomacy.
That changed when he joined hundreds of students, teachers and families at La Salle College Preparatory High School on Monday to watch members of the Chinese National Table Tennis Team play exhibition matches with local students, commemorating the 55th anniversary of the historic exchanges that helped open a new chapter in relations between China and the United States.
Accompanied by his daughter and granddaughter, Taylor said the event reminded him that sports can bring together people from different backgrounds and generations.
"I am so glad to see all these young people can get together, not just our La Salle kids and Chinese kids, but all kids everywhere," Taylor said.
"That's what's great about sports. Everybody is having a great time and doing their best to compete. That's the way the young generation is going to run our country someday."
