On July 25, the Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Chinese Basketball Association Bai Xilin and the Secretary of Party Committee and Director of the Tianjin Municipal Sports Bureau Li Kemin, on behalf of the Chinese Basketball Association and the Tianjin Municipal Sports Bureau respectively, signed a letter of intent about building a China Basketball Museum in Tianjin. The two parties will work together in the preparation and building of the museum, which is expected to open to the public in 2021.

The letter of intent was signed on the same day that Nankai University was celebrating its 100th anniversary, alongside a summit forum being held in which the founder of Nankai University and a great pioneer and founding father of modern sports in China, Mr. Zhang Boling, was commemorated and his philosophy discussed.

Tianjin is considered the birthplace of basketball in China. In 1895, just 4 years after the sport of basketball was invented, it was introduced to China via Tianjin. In 1914, Tianjin created the first indoor basketball stadium in China. Dong Shouyi, revered as the “Father of Chinese Basketball”, taught at Nankai schools in Tianjin and wrote China’s first book on basketball. In addition, many basketball legends rose to fame in Tianjin, including Bai Jinshen, Cheng Shichun, Li Hanting and Zhang Changlu therefore the building of the China Basketball Museum in Tianjin has historic meaning and significance.

The museum will be a non-profitable organization charged with the mission of researching, organizing, developing and passing down the history of Chinese basketball to the public, and through educational basketball events, it will help basketball fans, especial the younger generation of fans, form positive and healthy views on life and values.

Reference: Chinese Basketball Association

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick