Ping-Pong Diplomacy chalks up 50 years

Another player at Saturday's event, Chris Miller, 30, from the Shanghai branch of the US-China Business Council, said he also had a table tennis table at home in Hawaii and played with family members and friends.

Miller said he initially did not plan to stay in Shanghai for long when he received a job offer, but later changed his mind.

"I enjoy both work and life in this vibrant city. Regarding the business environment, everything is very centralized and open here," he said.

Li Xinna, 22, one of the Chinese players taking part in the match on Saturday, who is a student at the China Table Tennis College, said preparations for the commemorative event began five weeks ago when participants from the two countries got together to train once a week.

"It was important for those paired together to spend time getting to know each other both personally and in terms of playing style," she said.

"Because each Chinese player was paired with an American player, we could share feelings of being nervous or happy together throughout the game."

Li was paired with Athena Messick, whose husband Owen is president of the China arm of doTERRA, an essential oils maker from the US.

Owen Messick, who has worked in Shanghai for 14 years, said it felt "great "to join the commemorative event.

"People in China and the US are always friendly to each other. All my friends from the US visiting me here love China and have very good impressions of the country and its people," he said.