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What echoes in your memory when it comes to table tennis? A sport born in Britain has been deeply embedded in the spiritual core of Shanghai.

Is it the crisp "ping" of the ball hitting street court tables or the deafening cheers of thousands of spectators packing stadiums? Among those cheers, how many legendary players can you still recall?

Right now, the "2026 Shanghai Table Tennis Carnival" has kicked off. At the opening ceremony more than a dozen world champions gathered together. Xu Yinsheng, Li Furong, Zhang Xielin, Cao Yanhua, Xu Xin, and others. Known by citizens as the "Hu Chao" this event runs through spring to summer and covers the whole city.

Why did Shanghai take the lead in launching this table tennis carnival?

Although table tennis originated in Britain, China's table tennis story began in Shanghai in the 1910s and 1920s. It is said that a Shanghai stationery merchant saw people hitting a ball back and forth across a table overseas, making a "ping-pong" sound. Amused he brought the game to Shanghai from where it spread across China.

Today Shanghai boasts "18 table tennis world champions" who have collectively won 69 Olympic, World Table Tennis Championships and World Cup titles. Shanghai once took "the first baton" that propelled Chinese table tennis onto the world stage.

This year also marks the 55th anniversary of the landmark Sino-US Ping-Pong Diplomacy. Fifty-five years ago "a small ball moved the big globe". Fifty-five years later veterans of the historic Ping-Pong Diplomacy reunited in Shanghai, a day after the carnival's opening, Xu Yinsheng, Yan Sen joined American guests to rally the paddle and kick off a commemorative match as past and present converge in this dynamic city.

Beyond the competitions themselves, the event also features cultural and sports markets, consumption promotions and themed pop-up exhibitions.

It is truly a citywide carnival built around table tennis.

The next chapter of China's table tennis legacy is set to continue its journey from Shanghai.

你記憶里，上海的乒乓聲音是怎樣的？

是弄堂水泥臺子上的“乓乓響”，還是萬體館里的萬人齊呼。那些歡呼聲里，你還記得多少個名字？

眼下，2026上海乒乓球嘉年華開幕了。開幕式上，徐寅生、李富榮、張燮林、曹燕華、許昕……十幾位世界冠軍齊聚。這場被市民稱為“滬超”的全民賽事，貫穿春夏，覆蓋全城。

為什么這是上海發(fā)起的狂歡？

雖說乒乓球起源于英國，但中國的乒乓故事，始于上世紀一二十年代的上海。據(jù)說當時上海有個經(jīng)營文具的商人在海外看到有人在桌子兩邊打球，發(fā)出“乒乓”的聲音，覺得有趣，于是帶到上海。此后傳遍全國。到現(xiàn)在，上海擁有“18位乒乓球世界冠軍”，他們共獲得69次奧運會、世乒賽、世界杯冠軍。

從徐寅生“十二大板”，到張燮林“海底撈月”，從曹燕華、王勵勤到許昕，再到樊振東——四代冠軍薪火相傳。上海，曾擎起中國乒乓走向世界的“第一棒”。

今年恰逢中美“乒乓外交”55周年。55年前“小球轉動大球”；55年后，就在嘉年華開幕第二天，“乒乓外交”親歷者再聚上海，徐寅生、閻森與美方嘉賓共同揮拍開球。歷史在此交匯。

不僅如此，此次賽事之外，還有文體市集、消費聯(lián)動、主題臨展?？梢哉f是乒乓搭臺，全城狂歡。

一場賽事，不只是對決。它是弄堂里的回聲，是萬體館的記憶，是“小球轉動大球”的佳話，更是無數(shù)孩子拿起球拍的起點。

中國乒乓的“下一棒”，將繼續(xù)從這里出發(fā)。

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Reported by Su Nan, Wang Shujun, Li Xiaokang

Edited by Chen Yiting

Reviewed by Wang Tingting, Xue Weikan