The story of “ping pong diplomacy,” and the people-to-people links which grew from it.
In 1971 a small group of U.S. table tennis players made history, by traveling to a then-isolated China. The first Americans to legally visit in more than 20 years, they opened up lines of communication that remain vital today, succeeding where diplomats had failed. The people-to-people links they established are being carried on today by a new generation of American and Chinese college students.
Aired 04/26/2025 | Expires 04/26/2028 | Rating TV-GYour Serve or Mine: The True Story of How Ping Pong Opened the Door to China
In 1971, few could’ve imagined that a sport often dismissed as “basement fun” would become the unlikely spark for one of the greatest diplomatic breakthroughs of the 20th century.
But that’s exactly what Your Serve or Mine reveals: a quiet revolution served across a table tennis net.
It All Started with a Missed Bus
The film opens in a time of global unrest.
America is reeling from Vietnam, torn by protest, rage, and confusion.
China, in the throes of the Cultural Revolution, is equally fractured—its youth turned against its elders, its people silenced by ideology.
And yet… in the midst of this geopolitical storm, nine American table tennis players board a plane to Nagoya, Japan for the World Championships.
None of them expect anything beyond a few competitive matches.
Then Glenn Cowan, the team’s free-spirited player—dressed in bell-bottoms and a purple shirt—misses his team bus.
So, he hops onto the next one.
It’s full of Chinese players.
An awkward silence. Then smiles.
And in that small, accidental moment, the first seeds of diplomacy are sown.
The Unthinkable Invitation
A handshake. A friendly exchange.
Photographers capture it all.
And behind closed doors, diplomats take notice.
Soon, the Chinese government sends an invitation:
Would the American team like to visit China for a series of “friendship matches”?
The players meet. Is it safe? Should we go?
Paddle Palace’s Judy Hoarfrost, and future US Table Tennis Hall of Famer, one of the team’s rising stars, remembers saying: “Yes. I want to go.”
But the path isn’t simple.
U.S. passports aren’t valid for China.
A consular officer takes a black marker and crosses out the restriction.
Improvisation becomes diplomacy.
And just like that, these young athletes walk across a bridge from Hong Kong into mainland China, unsure what awaits them.
More Than a Game
What they find is staggering.
Eighteen thousand fans pack stadiums in Beijing and Shanghai.
Everywhere they go, they’re mobbed by crowds—children, elders, soldiers—curious and warm.
They’re not just athletes.
They’re symbols.
And the Chinese players?
Polite. Brilliant. Gracious.
They seem to play not to win, but to build something bigger.
“Friendship first. Competition second.”
That phrase becomes the spirit of the tour.
From Players to Diplomats
Back home, news spreads fast.
Ping pong diplomacy is splashed across headlines.
The players write stories for Newsweek and Life.
Everyone wants to know what China is really like.
One year later, the Chinese team visits the U.S., greeted like celebrities.
In Detroit, they play at Cobo Hall—better known for rock concerts than table tennis.
Police escorts, media frenzy, massive crowds.
In the stands, a young high school student named Jeff Lehman watches in awe.
Years later, he would help build NYU Shanghai—still inspired by that moment.
Beyond the Table
But Your Serve or Mine doesn’t stop at 1971.
It follows the ripple effect:
- How the handshake led to Nixon’s historic trip to China.
- How U.S. universities began welcoming Chinese students again.
- How young Americans today are studying in Shanghai and Beijing, eager to understand the world beyond headlines.
We meet the Schwarzman Scholars—ambitious, curious, often conflicted—who travel China not just to earn a degree, but to experience difference firsthand.
We see them navigate cultural shocks, political tensions, and the limits of language.
But they stay. They learn. They grow.
The Power of Showing Up
The film closes with reflections—honest, unscripted.
One former player recalls how strange and wonderful China seemed in 1971, and how a small group of young people changed history simply by saying yes.
We see how student exchanges have slowed in recent years.
How mistrust has returned.
And yet—Your Serve or Mine doesn’t end in despair.
Instead, it leaves us with a challenge:
In a world that increasingly talks past each other, what might happen if we sat at the same table again?
