以球会友，以心相交——谢锋大使在马里兰州青少年匹克球文化交流访华团来馆交流活动上的讲话

Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor,

Dr. Jeffrey Sullivan,

Director-General Yu Changxue,

Director Yang Jun,

Dear teachers, students and friends,

A big welcome to all of you to our Embassy!

尊敬的泰勒学监、沙利文博士、于长学主任、杨珺局长，

老师们、同学们、朋友们：

In April, 44 teachers and students from Montgomery County, Maryland embarked on a fascinating pickleball cultural exchange tour to China under the “50,000 in five years” Initiative. You travelled to three cities in 11 days, and returned home with new friendships and treasured memories.

欢迎大家来中国驻美国大使馆做客！今年4月，“美国青少年匹克球人文交流中国行”成功举行，来自马里兰州蒙哥马利郡的44名师生参加“5年5万”倡议赴华参访，11天里辗转三地，满载友情与收获归来。

Recently, President Xi Jinping replied to your letter, in which he congratulated you on your successful visit to China, expressed his pleasure to see pickleball becoming a new bond for youth exchanges between China and the United States, and voiced his hope that you will become a new generation of ambassadors for friendship between our two countries and make greater contributions to enhancing the friendship between our two peoples. 

I cheered for you when you were still in China, and interacted with Dr. Sullivan on X. It is my great delight to have you here today to relive that unforgettable trip, and also play pickleball together to create new bonds.

近日，习近平主席专门回复口信，祝贺你们访华取得成功，表示很高兴看到匹克球成为中美青少年交流的新纽带，希望大家做中美友好的新一代使者，为增进两国人民友谊作出更大贡献。大家在中国时，我就给你们点赞，还与沙利文博士在X上互动。今天我们欢聚一堂，就是要重温难忘旅程，挥拍再续情缘。

It was a journey of exchanges with pickleball as a bridge. The sport started in a backyard in Seattle, and has spread worldwide as it is easy to pick up and fun for all ages. Right opposite my residence is a pickleball court, and I can hear laughter with every swing of the rackets. Sport is a universal language. From pickleball friendship matches between Chinese and American teenagers, to Chinese basketball player Yang Hansen joining the NBA, and to the tickets of UFC Shanghai selling out under a minute, all these speak of our peoples’ shared love of sports and common expectation for reaching out to each other. Just as pickleball combines the competitiveness of tennis, the precision of ping pong and the agility of badminton, the world is large enough for all countries to prosper together and various civilizations to flourish side by side.

这是一次以球为媒的交流之旅。匹克球诞生于美国西雅图的家庭后院，凭借新手友好、老少咸宜风靡全球。我住所对面就有一座球场，每当匹克球拍挥动，总有欢声笑语飞扬。体育是超越国界的通用语言。从中美青少年在匹克球友谊赛切磋技艺，到中国球员杨瀚森加盟NBA，再到UFC上海站门票一分钟售罄，中美人民对体育的热爱是共同的，对交流的期待是相通的。正如匹克球将网球的对抗性、乒乓球的技术性、羽毛球的灵活性融于一身，世界容得下各国共同繁荣，不同文明完全可以交相辉映。

It was a journey of mutual understanding and friendship. On the court, Chinese and Americans teamed with and rooted for each other, sharing the passion and joy of sports. Off the court, you strolled along the Bund and climbed the Great Wall together, illustrating the Chinese poem that “True friends always feel close to each other, no matter the distance between them.” After returning from China, you wrote a letter to President Xi Jinping, expressing thanks for the remarkable opportunity for Chinese and American youths to deepen mutual understanding under the “50,000 in five years” Initiative. Some of you marveled that “Even across the globe we are all very similar.” 

这是一次相知相近的友谊之旅。赛场上，中美青少年默契配合、相互鼓劲，共享运动的激情与欢乐；赛场外，两国青少年一起走外滩、上长城，生动诠释了“相知无远近，万里尚为邻”。中国行结束后，大家向习近平主席致信，感谢“5年5万”倡议为中美青少年提供了加深了解的难得机遇，感叹“虽然隔着半个地球，但我们其实特别像”。

Pickleball has transcended language, cultural and geographic divides, and brought together young people who did not know each other before through high-fives, shared laughter and joined hands. I know all of you have come back with exciting stories to tell. Ryan has got a special souvenir — rackets with Chinese and English signatures. Ella is still talking to her Chinese friend on Wechat to this day. Isabella celebrated an amazing birthday during the trip, and called it the best moment she had there. All these are not only lifelong memories for you, but also give us hope for the future of China-U.S. relations.

匹克球超越语言、文化、地域的界限，让素不相识的青年在击掌、欢笑、合作中，建立心与心的连接。从瑞安珍藏的中英文签名球拍，到埃拉与中国朋友从春到夏的线上热聊，再到伊莎贝拉在中国度过的“最棒生日”……这些动人的故事，不仅是大家成长的宝贵记忆，更是两国关系未来的希望之光。

It was a journey that opened eyes and broadened horizons. For many of you, it was your first time abroad or in China. You immersed yourselves in traditional Chinese culture at the Yu Garden in Shanghai, and delved into thousands of years of history at the Great Wall. You danced alongside robots, and interacted with robot dogs. With your own eyes and firsthand experience, you have witnessed the youthful vigor of the ancient Chinese civilization, felt the warm hospitality of the Chinese people, broken the information cocoon, and discovered China as it really is.

这是一次开拓视野的认知之旅。不少同学第一次走出国门、走进中国，在豫园感受文化底蕴、在长城触摸厚重历史，还与智能机器人共舞对话、与仿生机器狗亲密互动，亲眼见证文明古国面向未来的青春活力，亲身感受中国人民的热情好客，用真实见闻冲破“信息茧房”，用躬身实践打破“中国滤镜”。

You are not alone. Under the “First Time in China” topic on TikTok, many young Americans like you have shared their moments of “China Travel”: in the country, you can hang outside and enjoy barbecue at midnight feeling absolutely safe; ride a bullet train where you can literally stand a coin upright; and move around easily just with a mobile phone. There is a growing consensus that China is one of the safest and easiest countries to live in. More and more foreign tourists are coming to China and falling in love with China. In the first half of this year, foreign nationals made over 38 million trips to and from China, and the number of visa-free trips increased 54% year over year. Each of them is writing their own Travels of Marco Polo in the new era.

TikTok“我的首次中国行”话题下，无数美国青年记录下“中国游”火爆全球的“流量密码”：午夜街头撸串的安心、搭乘高铁的平稳、一部手机畅行无阻的便利，普遍认为中国是世界上最安全、最便捷的国家之一。越来越多外国游客来到中国、爱上中国，上半年外国人入出境超过3800万人次，免签入境外国人同比上升54%，不断续写新时代的马可·波罗游记。

Dear students,

Friends,

同学们、朋友们，

Over half a century ago, ping-pong diplomacy opened the door for exchanges between China and the U.S., an example of how the sincere hope of our two peoples helped our two countries break the ice. Today, pickleball has built a new bridge between us, witnessing how our peoples’ friendly interactions brought warmth to bilateral relations. As the China-U.S. relationship is again at a critical historical juncture, we need to move the “big ball” with more “small balls”, and count on our two peoples to build the future of this relationship.

半个多世纪前，“乒乓外交”叩开中美交往大门，两国人民的真诚愿望让中美打破坚冰。今天，匹克球运动架起中美交流新桥，两国人民的友好互动为中美关系再添暖意。中美关系又站在一个关键历史节点，这个“大球”仍需许多“小球”来推动，未来仍要由两国人民来创造。

Just as we need to play by the rules on the pickleball court, to coexist in peace on this planet, China and the U.S. should avoid crossing the red line on each other’s core interests. Just as we strive to create more scoring chances in matches, China and the U.S. also need to explore expanding areas of cooperation, and do more big and good things that benefit both our countries and the whole world.

就像在匹克球赛场上要遵守“比赛规则”，中美要在这个星球上和平共处，也不能在涉及彼此核心利益的问题上踩线越界；匹克球比赛要努力创造“得分机会”，中美也应当探索扩大合作领域，多办一些有利于两国和世界的大事好事。

The Chinese people often say, “Friendship first, competition second.” President Richard Nixon also said, despite there being winners and losers in their table tennis tournament, the real winner “will be the friendship between the people of the United States and the people of the People’s Republic of China”. 

中国人常讲，“友谊第一，比赛第二。”尼克松总统也说过，“乒乓球比赛会有输赢，但最大赢家是美中人民的友谊”。

Contact brings closeness, and exchange fosters understanding. I hope our two peoples will make more visits and contacts with each other, and be partners and friends, so as to provide fresh momentum for bilateral relations and jointly explore a right way for China and the U.S. to get along in the new era.   

唯有走动才能走近，唯有交流才能交心。希望中美人民多走动多交流、做伙伴做朋友，让中美关系的力量源泉涌动不息，共同探索新时期中美正确相处之道。

Youth is like early spring, the rising sun, and budding flowers. It is the most precious time of life. Young people will shape the tomorrow of our two countries and the future of our friendship. It is my expectation that young Chinese and Americans will take up the baton of the era, be champions of people-to-people exchanges, inheritors of China-U.S. friendship and promoters of peace and amity, inject constant impetus into the stable, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, and make your unique contribution to a better future of both our countries.

青年如初春，如朝日，如百卉之萌动，是人生最可宝贵的时期。青年是国家的明天，也是友好事业的未来。期待中美青少年接过时代赋予的接力棒，做人文交流的生力军、中美友谊的传承者、和平友好的促进者，为中美关系稳定健康可持续发展接续注入动力，为中美两国的美好未来贡献青春力量。

I hope you will enjoy the matches today, make more friends, and add a new chapter to your China story. And may the small pickleball continue to soar across the Pacific, build more platforms for China-U.S. exchanges, and witness more stories of goodwill between our two peoples!

祝愿大家在接下来的匹克球友谊赛中玩得开心，让中国之行美好延续，让友好情谊再次启航！希望小小的匹克球，继续带着友谊的温度，在太平洋上空划出更多美丽的弧线，搭建中美交流的新平台，续写人民友好的新篇章！

Thank you very much.

谢谢大家。