At the invitation of Deng Xiaoping, the Washington Bullets, NBA championship in 1977/78 season, made a visit to China in 1979. They became the visiting sports delegation for the U.S. just after the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries.

Wes Unseld, captain of the team, was once enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988 and in 1996; he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time. But now, Washington Bullets has changed its name into Washington Wizards, and they will pay a visit to China from September 5 to 15. Wes Unseld is still a member of the Washington delegation after 30 years.

"I shall always remember the visit to China in 1979. Thirty years ago, there were few sports teams or Americans who visited China, we were the pioneers."

During the visit 30 years ago, Chinese people impressed me enormously. I remembered that all the Chinese people were very friendly and curious about us at Tian’anmen Square. We also taught Chinese players basketball skills and played with them. I still remember Mu Tiezhu, "Asia's No. 1 center," but unfortunately, he has passed away. Ma Shengqing as well, I still remembered him. I also played with Yao Zhiyuan, Yao Ming’s father, who played for Shanghai basketball team then.

I am an amateur photographer and I took many pictures of the Great Wall and Forbidden City during the last visit in Beijing. This time, my son will go with me. He is the vice coach of Washington Wizards now. He said that he anticipated the tour to China and he also wanted to see if there are great changes in China compared to the pictures in my home.

It is exciting that I could have a tour to China after 30 years. I know that China has undergone tremendous changes. Formerly there were many bicycles on the streets of Beijing and now there are many cars. The Beijing Olympic Games last year was too marvelous to believe. Mr. Adrian Fenty, mayor of Washington, DC told me that we could learn much from China after he watched the opening ceremony. He said that this time, as the representatives of Washington DC, the tour must to be exciting and unforgettable.

For me, it is indeed an extremely rare opportunity and a great honor. I firmly believe that sports can promote mutual exchanges and once the exchange begins, you may find that they may not be the same as what was originally imagined. Sports can enable people to come together and get along well with each other.

By People's Daily Online