China-U.S. pickleball event in Ganzhou builds youth ties

Wesley Gabrielson did not need a shared language to find rhythm with Chinese players Liu Mingyang and Tang Yutong. At the 2026 China-U.S. Friendship Pickleball Event in Shangyou County, Ganzhou City, the Oregon Friendship Pickleball men’s captain said the connection came fast, a reminder that one good rally can do what long introductions often cannot.

The event ran from May 8 to 11, with the core action in Shangyou County on May 9. Young players from Utah Tech University, the Oregon Friendship Pickleball Delegation and Chinese teams shared the courts at the Shangyou Ecological Pickleball Sports Center, a scenic venue described in Chinese coverage as sitting among mountains and rivers. For exchange trips and retreat-style gatherings, that setting mattered as much as the schedule: the court created a common space before conversation did.

Gabrielson said the trip was his first time in China, and that the warmth of the people and the scenery changed his impression of the country in a very positive way. Utah Tech University’s Ella Boydston gave the same message from a different angle, calling the sport a universal language and saying Ganzhou’s green mountains and trees made the experience unforgettable. The event showed how pickleball can compress social distance quickly, especially when the mix includes young players, a compact venue and immediate doubles play.

The Ganzhou program also sat inside a much longer friendship arc. In July 2025, Xi Jinping replied to the U.S. youth pickleball cultural exchange delegation from Montgomery County, Maryland, after 44 teachers and students from 13 U.S. schools visited Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing under the “50,000 in Five Years” initiative. Xi said he was pleased to see pickleball become a new bond for youth exchanges between China and the United States.

That followed an earlier 2025 friendship match at Beijing Academy, and it came after China launched the first China Pickleball Circuit in March 2024 through the Small Ball Sports Management Center under China’s General Administration of Sport and China’s Pickleball Sports Working Committee. Xinhua later linked the Ganzhou event to the 55th anniversary of China-U.S. Ping-Pong Diplomacy, but the point in Shangyou was simpler and more immediate: a paddle, a few hand gestures and a shared court were enough to start a relationship that felt bigger than the scoreline.