When we walked through the Forbidden City a few weeks ago, I think the most surprising thing I saw actually had nothing to do with the art, architecture, and history contained in the majestic compound. Rather, what shocked me most was that within its walls were was not one, not two, but three full outdoor basketball courts. Inside the Forbidden City!
Though this is still absolutely astonishing to me, now that we have spent almost two weeks living at Shanghai University it makes a little more sense. The Chinese youth love their bball. There is a large rec center on-campus with at least ten baskets, and every time we go there is a half-court game running on every hoop.
And they are good too! In general, they have solid ball handling, a great shot, and are very fast. They’re main disadvantage is that they tend to be a bit shorter than their American pick-up game player counterparts, and consequently don’t have much of a post presence, but we will still fairly often see players that are taller and faster than us.
Besides this, they are just fun to play the game with. At least the kids we’ve played with seem to understand that basketball is just that: a game; I cannot remember a single one getting legitimately upset after missing a shot or letting his man blow by him. They play with a light, yet competitive attitude and are friendly and respectful. Of course, there are some wildly competitive ballers somewhere around here—the Georgetown incident a few weeks ago certainly proved that. But in our experience so far, the pick-up game players have been large in number and reasonable in demeanor.
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