Shouts and laughter break up the tension on the field as the game rages on in the twelfth annual baseball tournament between primary students from Nakano District of Tokyo and Xicheng District of Beijing, which became sister districts in 1986.

Sixteen boys from Tokyo arrived in Beijing on August 10 to meet 16 local baseball players from Damucang Primary School. Today, after five days of sports and sightseeing and lots of good-natured cross-culture goofing around, they reluctantly boarded their plane for home.

Before their first game, each Japanese boy was presented with a large chocolate bar; in return, every Beijing kid got a green bag stuffed with goodies like squirt guns and stopwatches.

As the time came for Bian Di, the catcher from the Chinese team, to enter the field, he couldn't find his catcher's mask. Just as he squatted down without any facial protection, a Japanese kid peeled off his mask and gave it to Bian. The opponents grinned at each other.

"His mask is too big for me, but still I am very grateful," Bian said later at a get-together.

Amid the boys' smiles and their parents' cheers, three games have been played in the past five days. Each team has won one game, and no scores were recorded in the third game to demonstrate the prevailing spirit of friendship.

Dubbed as a sport for nobles, baseball is as popular in Beijing as in Japan. The majority of the parents of the Beijing kids found it difficult to understand the rules. And language and cultural barriers have left few opportunities for the children to communicate. But that hasn't stopped them from trying to figure each other out.

"Their first pitcher is quite funny. He always murmurs to himself," said Yoshifumi Sato, "I wonder what he is saying!"

Susumu Shimazaki, his coach, said the kids from both Japan and China have the same vivacity and curiosity.

"Japanese boys usually enjoy more financial superiority, but Chinese kids are more focused once they have decided to do something," he said.

Tang Fei, a 10-year-old pitcher, said he was too excited to muse about Japanese kids before the match. Now, he is impressed by Yuki Uehara, player number "6."

"He is very funny," Tang said.

On the Monday banquet in Quanjude Restaurant, third baseman Li Yao was so occupied with the "diplomatic mission" of teaching his Japanese peers how to eat Beijing Roast Duck that he didn't get much dinner for himself.

Zhang Guannan said he wanted to take Japanese friends to the Beijing Zoo and the Chinese folk-custom park. But Bian Di argued that the best choice would be to see Peking Opera, which will show the characters Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang, two heroic figures in China's history.

"Zhang Fei is brave, while Zhuge Liang is resourceful. When it comes to baseball playing, you'd better have both skills," explained Bian.

This is the Japanese kids' first visit to Beijing. Their parents sent them off with the usual stuff about safety and strangers, and reminded them to bring home souvenirs -- comments that the Japanese boys now mimic with wicked precision.

"Safety is no problem," said Susumu Shimazaki who has been to China three times. "The public order of Beijing is sound, and the roads are clean. We can watch TV programs of NHK (Japanese television station) in our hotel. Life here is not much different from in Tokyo."

Besides baseball matches, boys also shopped around in Beijing and visited the Great Wall and the Summer Palace.

"If not for the baseball games, these children speaking different languages might feel strange about each other's life or dreams," said Zhang Yanfeng, an organizer of the game. "Their joy is a sign of the future."

According to Emi Nagamine, a member of the Japanese team's entourage, the kids came to China at their own expense.

"Their parents have to pay 14,000-15,000 yuan. As the economy of Japan has become sluggish in these years, any average family has to think it over before they pay such a bill," she said.

Players and parents alike agreed that the memories of China and their new Chinese friends -- and even those baseball games -- will last a lifetime.

Reiko Watanabe, who accompanied her son Kenta Watanabe to Beijing, said, "The scores of the baseball games do not matter that much. I'm just glad my son got to know these boys in China, and I hope they keep in touch in the future."

(Xinhua News Agency 08/15/2001)