Here's my basic reply to your questions.
1.how did you travel to Zhengding from Beijing? Train? Did you buy your ticket in advance? |
I took a taxi from the airport to the main train terminal (like 1 hour?), then took a train to Zhengding followed by another taxi.
They may offer to pick you up from the airport or something, but off memory it was significantly more expensive than taking the train yourself.
I bought the ticket in advance but actually stuffed it up. It was in 24 hour time and I didn't realize, so I ended up buying a morning ticket and not noticing until I got to the station to pick it up. That said, I just bought another ticket. You may struggle a little without any Chinese.
2. What was the standard of Accommodation and food? We will be there during winter and hope the room is heated |
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were provided, buffet style in the hotel. The accommodation was quite nice. I don't know how many stars it would be equivalent to, but it was cleaned daily and I had no problems with it. There was even a washing machine and a balcony to hang your clothes. There is air conditioning in the room, so I'm sure you could set it to warm.
3. Training - how many players in a group? Does the coach give you much feed back? Stroke correction, footwork correction? |
When I went, the 'men's' side was split into 2 groups. The "elite" and the "others" group with about 20 or so people in each group. Then you get assigned into pairs or a group of 3 and you go to your table and do drills. Half the session is dedicated to multiball and the other half single ball drills. A coach walked around giving some advice every now and then. There was some stroke correction, but not much footwork correction from what I saw. The coach didn't really say anything to me, but did a little to the other foreign player.
The girl's had a completely different practice area and coaches, so they did things a little differently.
If the coach is unable to speak English how do they communicate? Translator? |
They just use hand gestures. There were no translators in the practice hall. I can actually speak Mandarin conversationally, so I actually acted as a translator for the others quite often. If you can't, you probably won't be able to understand the fine details.
4. Are there many local players practicing too |
Nearly everyone is local. The training facility is part of a table tennis school. So all the non-foreigners there are students between 7 to 17ish. That also means they have classes in the morning, so official training doesn't start until after lunch. You're free to use the training hall (which the other foreigners did) in the morning.
5. Did you ask for any private coaching? |
Yeah, I did. I took like 3 or 4 lessons. I liked the private coaching lessons because they tell you things in more detail. But it's still worth noting that during regular training hours, the style of coaching and practice they do is largely based on spending A LOT of time practicing. You won't get a lot of specific advice.
6.Did you have to pay anything extra to the coach, to get a bit of extra coaching? |
Yeah, you have to pay for the private coaching. That said, during the second week I was there, they hired a coach to train with the foreigners in the morning every day. I didn't get to play with that coach and basically just acted as a translator for the others. That said, I was 26? then and the others were basically all <18.
7. If you had to go back again, how would you prepare yourself? |
Get better first haha. I think if you're an adult going like I am, you probably want to be at least decent, like USATT2000+. I was probably like USATT1600 or so when I went. That said, I wasn't the worst player as I could beat some of the bottom few players.
8.Apart from TT is there anything one can do in and around the training base? |
There are a lot of temples to see in the area. The area is kinda new. When I went there was a lot of development going on. There was also a huge stadium nearly that you can go running in, if that's your thing. For shopping, you'll need to take a taxi a little further.
9. Is it safe to walk around? |
Yeah, I found it quite safe.
10. Internet facilities ? |
Of course. Wireless in the building. That said, depending on your room, your signal could be a little weak.
Keep in mind that when I went, everything was under renovation. The girls were playing in like an old area. The little boys and girls were playing in some big temporary shed they put up, or off site in a kind of run down place. The guys were playing in the main hall that's part of the hotel.
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