ONE IN A BILLION

Journey Toward Freedom - The Story of A Pro Basketball Player In China

By Kai Chen

STORY OUTLINE
 

Kai and his mother were sitting on an Air China 747 in San Francisco International Airport, waiting impatiently for take-off. Kai’s father had passed away a year before in the spring of 1988. He was taking his mother home to visit his elder brother in China. The take-off had been delayed because one of the Chinese passengers failed to show up even though he had already checked his luggage. He had decided to remain in the US illegally. This incident took Kai back in time to his own painful and courageous decisions.

…. A 12 year old Kai was sitting on the train waiting to leave Beijing for Manchuria. Young Kai was confused about why he was leaving, not knowing he and his brothers were being forced to join their exiled parents in the small city of Tonghua. He had spent the past five years with an abusive grandmother and Big Brother in Beijing. Life in Tonghua wasn’t any easier for Kai who grew into a teenager with a different accent and a unique physical appearance - 6’7” by the age 15. But the most mind-boggling torment for Kai and his family was still to come. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution began. With half of his relatives in Taiwan, Kai and his family endured political persecution and discrimination. He and his brothers were again forced to leave the city to go to the countryside.

Kai set out to overcome these obstacles. He used his basketball skills to land a job in a Liuhe grain depot while playing for the depot’s team. Soon after, with China’s return to professional sports, two basketball coaches from the National Sports and Athletics Commission recruited him for the National Basketball Team’s training camp in Beijing. At the camp, Kai met his best friend Xiao, a track team member, who was later expelled because his father had worked for Kuomintang’s army. Kai remained a little longer and then was also expelled for the similar reason. Determined not to return to the isolation of the small town factory, he escaped to Canton. He was caught and then forced back to Beijing, placed in solitary confinement and put under investigation. The authorities suspected him of trying to defect to Hong Kong. Little do they understand, his goal was not to escape the country, but to escape the shackles of the Big Family, that undefined “everyone” that represents generations of tradition. He was nevertheless escorted back to the Liuhe grain depot.

After yet another attempt to escape, Kai was drafted by the Shenyang army team and sent to a combat unit for reeducation. The harsh conditions weakened him and, near collapse, he learned that Xiao had died, alone and in desperation. Kai was hospitalized. Struggling to pick himself up and begin again, Kai returned to the team and worked on his game. He joined the country’s top military team - the August 1st Team - and made his first trip abroad, defying the prediction that he would never be allowed to represent China abroad because he had relatives in Taiwan. He helped his team win several national titles. Yet, the National Team still rejected him. While on the August 1st Team, Kai witnessed various traps the Big Family set to control individuals. Before long he found himself at the first Tiananmen Square Incident in 1976 and was punished by the authorities. Not to be denied, Kai became the best forward in the country. Remaining an outsider, he soared to win the most important game of his life. He was unanimously selected by the recruiters for the National Team in 1978 for China’s first entry in the World Basketball Championships and the tour of USA. He had the last laugh as he had promised to Xiao and to himself - he defeated the Big Family.

Yet, the struggle did not end. Searching for happiness, Kai had his first sexual encounter with a Chinese volleyball player. He retired at the peak of his professional career. He entered college and met an American exchange student. He finally tasted true happiness. They married and he left for America.

…. Back in 1989, Kai again stepped into Tiananmen Square, amid a student protest and hunger strike. Martial law was declared, road blocks were erected. The first truck of soldiers arrived and the tanks rolled in. The emblem of the PLA - a red star with the character “August 1st “ in the middle - swam in front Kai’s eyes. He left the Square quietly, as he had during the first Tiananmen Square Incident, as he had when he left China.

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