Courtesy of Connie Hwang, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection 中国乒乓球代表团在斯坦福大学的表演赛，1972年4月28日，Connie Hwang捐赠，美国华人博物馆（MOCA）馆藏
Ping pong was invented in England in the 1880s, but its association with Chinese athletics is undeniable. In the 1920s, Mao Tse-tung instituted it as a recreational activity for the People’s Liberation Army, after which it quickly became China’s most popular sport. The game played a crucial role in the thawing of relations between China and the U.S. in 1971 when a U.S. ping pong player, Glenn Cowan, accidentally boarded a Chinese team bus at the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan. Cowan was greeted by Zhuang Zedong of the Chinese team and the two had a conversation via translator. After learning of this exchange, Chairman Mao invited the U.S. team to visit tour China; President Nixon approved the trip, ending an over 20 year period of diplomatic silence between the two nations.
In February of the following year, President Nixon would visit China and meet with Chairman Mao and begin normalizing U.S.-China relations. April of that same year a Chinese delegation of ping pong players would tour America for two weeks; this exchange become known as “ping pong diplomacy.” On April 28th , 1972 the Chinese team would play an exhibition game at Stanford University’s Maples Pavilion.
乒乓球于19世纪80年代起源于英国，但它与中国体育的联系是不可否认的。在1920年代，毛泽东决定将其作为中国人民解放军的娱乐活动，之后迅速成为中国最受欢迎的运动。1971年，在日本名古屋举办的世界兵乓球锦标赛，因为美国乒乓球运动员格伦·考恩（Glenn Cowan）意外登上了一辆中国队的大巴，在中美关系解冻过程中发挥了至关重要作用。考恩受到了中国队庄则栋的欢迎，两人通过翻译进行了对话。在得知这次交流以后，毛主席邀请了美国乒乓球队访华，尼克松总统批准了这次访问，结束了两国20多年来的外交沉默。
第二年2月，尼克松总统访问中国，并会见了毛主席，开始了中美关系正常化进程。同年4月，中国乒乓球代表团在美国进行了为期两周的访问；这种交流被称为“乒乓外交”。1972年4月28日，中国乒乓球队在斯坦福大学的枫树馆（Maples Pavilion）进行了一场表演赛。
Countdown to the TCS NYC Marathon on November 3, 2019: 216 Days.
2019年是美国第一条横贯大陆铁路建成150周年，为了纪念第一批华人来美建设这条铁路所做出的巨大贡献， MOCA将其2019 TCS NYC Marathon的活动命名为 MOCA Spike 150 – Running Forward With Our Stories！ 鼓励大家通过马拉松公益跑，全国线上接力，以及一天一个故事的方式讲述150个华人的历史故事，敬请大家持续关注， 讲出华人自己的故事，回顾过去，立足现在，展望未来，共同书写美国历史，使之更加充实完整。