Meadow Brook Visit
On Thursday April 13th, 1972, after an enjoyable tour of a Chrysler auto plant in Detroit which included a friendly match against some of the factory's workers, the Chinese ping pong team made their way to Oakland University to attend a banquet hosted at Meadow Brook Hall.
It is clear that much work went into the preparation for hosting the banquet at Meadow Brook Hall. Here you can see some pictures of food being prepared and last minute discussions being held between the Chinese delegation and US hosts.
The reception began with a "cocktail hour" where the Chinese ping pong team, US hosts, and other guests could mingle with one another. Guests were offered choices of wine or fruit punch and passed hors d'ouvres during this time.
After having the opportunity to greet other guests and enjoy the offered refreshments during the cocktail hour, the dinner buffet was opened to the guests. In addition to photos of the buffet you can see the full menu of what the guests were offered. Some of the buffet's selections included shrimp, roast prime rib, and tossed greens.
Guests enjoying their meals.
Following the dinner, the Chinese ping pong team and other guests listened to speeches made by OU President Donald O'Dowd and Alexander Eckstein, Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan and expert in Chinese economics. At this time, the Chinese team members and delegation were also given a folder that contained some gifts of stationary and stamps as well as some documents containing information on Oakland University and Meadow Brook Hall.
Here you can see pictures of the speeches as they were given, as well as the documents that were given to the Chinese guests. Feel free to click on each document to view more, as some contain multiple pages.
