International sports competitions are an opportunity for countries to showcase their best to the world. For a moment, political issues can be put aside for the global community to celebrate some of the highest levels of athletic competition. 

For example, when the 2008 Summer Olympics opened in Beijing, the controversies surrounding the event dissipated, and the world was dazzled by China, for that moment. 

A witness to that memorable day, Chinese table tennis player Deng Yaping, recounts how proud she felt on that day.

"My second supervisor at Cambridge is a Chinese... after the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, she went to the supermarket, and a lady asked her if she was Chinese. When she said, 'yes,' the woman suddenly told her how proud she was of her and what a wonderful opening ceremony it was...my supervisor later said to me, 'I have studied abroad for almost 20 years, no one has ever told me they were proud of China and proud of the Chinese," recounted Deng. 

Since 2008, there has been tremendous growth in the number of Chinese getting involved in sports.

"During these 11 years, I can see a lot of people pay attention to their own health own participation in sports rather than just watching just looking, so I think sports for all is really booming now," Deng said.

Now, China has ambitious plans for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. After hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing will be the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Games. Deng said that what we should do now is educating the public.

"...We are quite familiar with all the sports and events in the Summer Games, but the Winter Games are very different, the general public they don't know many of the sports games and events," Deng said.