Coming to China was the easy part; making meaningful connections with Chinese people and their culture has proven much trickier. This is partly a universal phenomenon and partly a specifically Chinese conundrum. Forgive the cynicism, but it often seems as if an outgoing Chinese person has only one of two motivations in mind: to sell you something or to speak a little English. Perhaps that is what is so refreshing about engaging in a game of pickup basketball. It's a hackneyed observation that sport can bring out the best in us, but in such a foreign land, there is a strange satisfaction in hearing a praising Chinese teammate holler "hao qiu!" (nice play) at the top of his lungs. Call me crazy or simply uncoordinated, but I have never been much for racquet sports-or paddles for that matter-so da lanqiu (playing basketball) is pretty much it in terms of mutual athletic interests. And for a foreigner, it admittedly takes a little time to get acclimated to Chinese playground rules-no checking, standing in a circle and spinning the ball on an open palm to choose teams, and playing zone defense just to name a few, which often result in unbalanced teams and lackluster defense. But witnessing the Chinese take on an essentially foreign sport is half the fun, and who really cares about winning (besides me, that is)?

The point is that it only takes a basketball and some high-top shoes to bring people together, differences in language and culture notwithstanding. In my experience, young Chinese are both enthusiastic about the game and excited to play it with foreigners, if for no other reason than to compare their skills with those of players of different nationalities. Never underestimate the Yao Ming effect, even if he would stand a half-meter taller than anyone on the neighborhood court. The biggest basketball and cultural phenomenon since Michael Jordan, he has single-handedly made every Chinese basketball fan believe that they belong, not only on the local basketball courts but also on the global stage. Upon arriving in Beijing to study, I was surprised to find the abundance of concrete courts in a city that is so starved for space, and an over-abundance of fellow students who wanted to play. In truth, it was inspiring to see players of all ability levels-the majority of which were out-of-control novices-reveling in the game. This is a credit to the Chinese playground planners who opted for quantity over quality, allowing upwards of 20 half-court games to be going on at the same time, rather than a couple of games of highly skilled players with everybody else watching from the sidelines. Participation is the name of the game, beckoning foreigners and locals alike to take part.