Jiangsu, Nanjing, Yixing

More information from Ann Strother about her time in China.

* Jiangsu is owned by a steel company in Nanjing. The Jiangsu games are played in Yixing. According to Strother, there is a big training center in Nanjing where all of the athletes live in dorms. They spend most of their year there and train all year round for these four months of WCBA competition. Due to China's "one child" policy, most of these girls are very close to each other (having no sisters or brothers at home).

* Britney Spears's star may have dimmed somewhat in the U. S., but she's still very big in China...at least in Karaoke.

* One time, Strother went to practice with her court and the practice court dimensions were in the middle of a large gym surrounded by badminton courts. In addition to practice, Strother had to dodge badminton birdies every now and then. (I'm sure the badminton players had to deal with loose basketballs as well.)

More to come.