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Ruth Riley took the time out to visit The Great Wall of China during her trip to the 2004 China Games.
(Shock photo)
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A Letter From the 2003 WNBA Finals MVP
Ruth Riley at the 2004 China Games
Dear Shock fans,
I know you are as disappointed as we are about our early exit in the playoffs, but rest assured that we are going to be ready to go next year. We were taught a tough lesson in a matter of 0.6 seconds.
I’ve spent the last eight days with the NBA at the China games. I’m going to give you a little summary of what a remarkable experience it was. There were two preseason games between the Houston Rockets (Yao Ming) and the Sacramento Kings. The first one took place in Shanghai and the second one was in Beijing. I was joined by Alana Beard (Washington Mystics), Diana Tarausi (Phoenix Mercury), and Kara Lawson (Sacramento) from the WNBA.
After traveling the entire day before, I decided I would go for a run this morning to work out a few kinks. I know this must have been quite a sight, watching a 6’5” white girl race, okay, jog down the streets of Shanghai!!!! We went on a few tours while we were in Shanghai: to the Bund (waterfront area), the Shanghai Museum, the silk factory (where we got to see the whole process of silk starting with the worms it comes from), and the market place. Diana and I had a Read-to-Achieve event at Yao Ming’s elementary school, which was a lot of fun. The little kids were so cute, and they completely adore Yao. The game was on October 14th, and then afterwards we were off to Beijing.
Touring in Beijing consisted of a private viewing of Emperor Mao’s body that is in a glass case for people to see as they walk by, this building is located across from Tiananmen Square, which is a huge city square where 30,000+ people gather together every morning at 6:00 a.m. to watch the flag being raised. The Forbidden City was the place where the emperor lived, and it was titled so—because the common people were forbidden to enter into it in the past. The highlight of the trip for me was going to the Great Wall of China. After taking cable cars up to a certain level, we were able to walk up a little higher. It was simply beautiful, 4,000+ miles of wall stretching across the countryside, weaving in and out of mountains. One can only imagine what the construction process was like.
The people of China were extremely excited about the games that were being played. The arenas were packed both nights and tickets were hard to come by. Yao has redefined all levels of stardom for the Chinese athlete—everywhere he turned there were people desperately wanting a picture, autograph, or simply just to touch him. Billboards of his endorsements were on every street corner, and you could feel the pride this country has for him.
Of all the trips I have taken through basketball, this has truly been one of the most memorable ones. Although I did get quite a few stares, the people were friendly and excited to have us there. The NBA did a wonderful job with the production of the games, and gave the people of China a true NBA experience!
~Ruth Riley
I know you are as disappointed as we are about our early exit in the playoffs, but rest assured that we are going to be ready to go next year. We were taught a tough lesson in a matter of 0.6 seconds.
I’ve spent the last eight days with the NBA at the China games. I’m going to give you a little summary of what a remarkable experience it was. There were two preseason games between the Houston Rockets (Yao Ming) and the Sacramento Kings. The first one took place in Shanghai and the second one was in Beijing. I was joined by Alana Beard (Washington Mystics), Diana Tarausi (Phoenix Mercury), and Kara Lawson (Sacramento) from the WNBA.
After traveling the entire day before, I decided I would go for a run this morning to work out a few kinks. I know this must have been quite a sight, watching a 6’5” white girl race, okay, jog down the streets of Shanghai!!!! We went on a few tours while we were in Shanghai: to the Bund (waterfront area), the Shanghai Museum, the silk factory (where we got to see the whole process of silk starting with the worms it comes from), and the market place. Diana and I had a Read-to-Achieve event at Yao Ming’s elementary school, which was a lot of fun. The little kids were so cute, and they completely adore Yao. The game was on October 14th, and then afterwards we were off to Beijing.
Touring in Beijing consisted of a private viewing of Emperor Mao’s body that is in a glass case for people to see as they walk by, this building is located across from Tiananmen Square, which is a huge city square where 30,000+ people gather together every morning at 6:00 a.m. to watch the flag being raised. The Forbidden City was the place where the emperor lived, and it was titled so—because the common people were forbidden to enter into it in the past. The highlight of the trip for me was going to the Great Wall of China. After taking cable cars up to a certain level, we were able to walk up a little higher. It was simply beautiful, 4,000+ miles of wall stretching across the countryside, weaving in and out of mountains. One can only imagine what the construction process was like.
The people of China were extremely excited about the games that were being played. The arenas were packed both nights and tickets were hard to come by. Yao has redefined all levels of stardom for the Chinese athlete—everywhere he turned there were people desperately wanting a picture, autograph, or simply just to touch him. Billboards of his endorsements were on every street corner, and you could feel the pride this country has for him.
Of all the trips I have taken through basketball, this has truly been one of the most memorable ones. Although I did get quite a few stares, the people were friendly and excited to have us there. The NBA did a wonderful job with the production of the games, and gave the people of China a true NBA experience!
~Ruth Riley