Berris, a veteran China-US exchange organizer with over 170 visits to China and a key coordinator of the 1972 Chinese team's US tour, reunited in Beijing with Liang Geliang and Shanghai native Zhang Lingjie.

"All of us had tears in our eyes, and it was a wonderful thing to be part of and to witness," she said.

Amid current bilateral tensions, Berris stressed that sports transcend politics as a unifying force.

"I'm very hopeful that the spirit that the team came with in 1971 can be rekindled through opportunities such as this to come together, not just through ping-pong but through a variety of sports because sports transcend politics."

Yao Zhenxu, who accompanied US player Glenn Cowan in 1971, recalled their unplanned visit to a Shanghai workers' residential building and a memorable home-cooked meal, a taste Yao remembers to this day.

"After the matches, it was all about friendship," he recalled.