In China, most people play some kind of sport and often they will ask you to join them. The most popular sports are table tennis, badminton, soccer, tennis and basketball in no particular order.
When I first went to China, I had only ever played soccer out of these sports but relatively quickly I was being called upon by my Chinese and international friends to join them in playing various sports. I am quite frightened of balls in general so I never participated in soccer or tennis and only once in basketball, but I gradually became able to make returns and eventually play volleys in ping pong and badminton.
In badminton, I have a large advantage because I am not that short and neither are my arms, so I can avoid the usual running around and just stand in the middle of the court. In ping pong I have the same properties, but it turns out that they are a disadvantage in this sport. I am too tall, so getting low enough to really gauge the ball's movement is a little tough. As I was playing with my lab mates one day, one of them, Dr. Yao, insisted that I lower my stance and instantly I found I improved immeasurably. I went on to beat him once or twice as well as a number of the other people in the lab.
On another note badminton in Chinese is "yu mao qiu", which literally translates to "feather ball". I think that is a pretty nice name.
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