The 2013 U.S.- China Friendship Basketball Game

The 2013 U.S. - China Friendship Basketball Game, organized by Sino-American Friendship Association (SAFA), hosted by NMGSSBY Company and co-hosted by CHAMPION-DO DISSEMINATION CO.LTD, has been held in Hohhot Stadium in China at 7:30pm on October 3, 2013(GMT). The U.S. team was led by Rafer Alston, Jason Williams and Bonzi Wells. The Chinese team was the Jilin Northeastern Tiger, one of the CBA(Chinese men’s professional league) teams. The game ended up with 87:85 where the U.S. team took a lead.

When the stars of the U.S. team arrived at Hohhot Baita International Airport and got off the plane, they were warmly welcomed by local fans. As a tradition, girls dressed with traditional Inner Mongolia costumes presented the noble Hada and goat milk for the basketball players.

During the game,at first, the U.S. team got halftime lead. However, Jilin Northeastern Tiger started counterattacking at the beginning the Second Half. Thereafter, the scores maintained close, atmosphere in the stadium was quite intensive. Alston’s last-minute 3-point shooting boosted the morale of the U.S. team. With Jilin Northeastern Tiger’s passing error, the U.S. team won the game with score 87:85.After the game, Mr. Peter Zhang, president of SAFA, Mr. Shi Rong’en, secretary of Hohhot Sports Bureau, presented players from both teams with special gifts-Matouqin, one of the traditional Mongolian instruments.

Players from the U.S. team highly appreciated the opportunity to play with the Chinese team. “Luck helped us win the game.” said Bonzi Wells. They were impressed by Chinese players’ hard training and the spirit of never giving up. Players of Jilin Northeastern Tiger said that they also felt honored to play this game with former NBA basketball players, adding that the U.S. players offered not only a basketball game but also a cultural feast for Chinese basketball fans, as well as strengthened the friendship between the U.S. and China. Players and coaches of the two teams shook hands with each other.

Mr. Peter Zhang, president of SAFA (third from the left) and Mr. Shi Rong’en, secretary of Hohhot Sports Bureau (fourth from the left).

During the break time, Alston interacted with a little Chinese basketball fan. The beauties of ZERO cheerleaders also performed a passionate dance.

This U.S. - China Friendship Basketball Game was proposed by Li Li, vice president of SAFA. A charity event was also held with the game to support non-profit sport events and promote Chinese basketball. This game was a great opportunity for the relationship between China and U.S. in the field of culture and sports, with which at the same time, also a promotion of Inner Mongolia’s tourism industry. This game is also a big succeed in strengthening Chinese and U.S. relationship after An Evening of Chinese Culture which was held by SAFA in Citi Field (New York) on September 13, 2013.