Pickleball Unites Youth from US, China in Cultural Exchange Held in Hebi City, Other Locations
Pickleball was once again at the centre of fostering cultural connections and bi-national understanding as a group of Chinese and US students took part in the 2026 US Youth Pickleball Cultural Exchange Trip to China. The event was held from 15 to 24 February 2026 in various parts of China.
The US Youth Pickleball Cultural Exchange Trip to China involved over 190 youth participants from the US and China. The participants engaged in inter-school exchanges, pickleball matches, and cultural visits in four locations, namely Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Shangyou in Jiangxi Province, Hebi in Henan Province, and Beijing.
One of the highlights of the multi-day exchange was the participants’ visit to Hebi’s Xunxian County on 20 February. Xunxian County is one of China’s oldest walled cities, and the participants got the chance to visit it while also participating in traditional activities such as stilt walking and lion dance to celebrate the Spring Festival.
“How, you know, we’re in a big crowd, we’re hootin’ and hollerin’, and then we step through this gate and it’s peace. It’s so amazing. It’s a sudden change that I’ve never experienced anywhere else, and for that, it’s beautiful,” US student Ryan Corkery told Bastille Post Global.
The participants also got to visit Hebi’s traditional workshops, where local artisans led them in exploring Spring Festival calligraphy and traditional clay sculpture. This allowed the students to see first-hand part of China’s cultural heritage crafts while also experiencing the country’s age-old traditions.
“Today in Hebi, wow, that’s all I can say. From the grand entrance to seeing the city, to coming and engaging in arts and crafts, having a lunch literally in town and enjoying the local cuisine. It just really allows us to understand the open-up and learn culture,” added Dr Jeffrey Sullivan, Director of Systemwide Athletics at Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.
Pickleball then took centre stage again on the last day of the exchange as a match took place on Saturday, 21 February, at a local sports centre in Hebi. The match was another opportunity for the participants to further cultivate mutual respect between Chinese and US students through friendly competition.
This isn’t the first time China has welcomed US students for a pickleball-focused cultural exchange as students from Montgomery County Public Schools also visited the Mainland for a similar trip last year.
