A game of table tennis started the ball rolling for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US in 1971. A team from the US came to Beijing to play a friendly match against the Chinese. The result was never revealed but it paved the way for the visit to China in 1972 of President Nixon. His meeting with Chairman Mao in the leader's compound in Zhongnanhai was a major turning point in Sino-US relations.
Last month, the former US secretary of state, Dr Henry Kissinger, who accompanied Mr Nixon on that historic visit, returned to Beijing to mark the 30th anniversary of what became known as "ping-pong" diplomacy. Little did Dr Kissinger think on his return trip three weeks ago that the process he helped start in 1971 would face its toughest test with the row over the mid-air collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet.
Both sides worked frantically behind the scenes all week to solve the impasse. But parallel to the intense diplomatic negotiations, another game of "pingpong" has been played out between the US and China over the airwaves on the satellite TV news channels.
At the flick of a remote control, I was able to watch a fascinating propaganda war unfolding from my armchair. When I switched to number 56 on my remote control, I had CCTV 9, the Chinese State English-language news service. Over on channel 35 I had CNN, the main US news channel.
CCTV 9 News is a slick operation and, ironically, borrows much of its presentation techniques from the US. With the polish and style of any Western TV news anchor, Xiu Lin and her fellow presenters churned out the news on the aircraft collision, the subsequent emergency landing of the US surveillance aircraft on Hainan Island, and the trading of demands between both sides.
The Chinese media are predictable in situations such as this and Westerners are quick to pour scorn on them for their biased content. After the Falun Gong immolations on Tiananmen Square in January, the state-controlled media played a major role in the government's anti-Falun Gong campaign.
While Western journalists were refused access, Chinese TV cameras were allowed into the hospital ward where the four Falun Gong practitioners, who had set themselves on fire, were being treated. It was heartbreaking to watch as one of the victims, bandaged from head to toe, had a microphone put in front of her as she spoke of her regret at what she had done.
Even the doctor treating the victims, who included a 12year-old girl who has since died, was used to get the party message across. He was interviewed from the bedside of a victim and criticised the Falun Gong leaders for duping members into thinking that by burning themselves they would pass on to a better life.
It was no surprise, therefore, that CCTV 9 followed the Chinese leadership's line carefully in its coverage of the spy plane standoff. On Tuesday evening, a burly military figure in the distinctive olive-green uniform of the People's Liberation Army was wheeled out, hands waving in the air, explaining how the US had caused the collision.
Great prominence was given to the foreign ministry news briefings in which spokesmen told assembled media representatives from all over the world that China was the "victim" and must have an apology.
On Wednesday, CCTV News headed for the streets of Beijing to sample the views of the Chinese public. All those interviewed sang from the same song sheet. Their words were translated into English and the expression "US hegemony" kept on cropping up. A number of academics also featured, again taking an enthusiastic pro-China line and calling on the US to apologise for the accident.
But a flick of the remote control and it was clear that CNN was being no slouch either when it came to playing the American card. One commentator at one point described Hainan as an "isolated island off the coast of China", giving the impression to millions of American viewers, who wouldn't know any better, that the 24 aircrew were castaways on a desert island. In fact, Hainan, with its palm trees, sandy beaches, and five-star hotels, is quickly becoming China's Hawaii.
The man in charge of the US military operation explained on CNN that the plane was "US sovereign territory" and therefore the Chinese had no right to go near it. Every Chinese person I spoke to this week laughed at the notion of moving territory.
While CCTV 9 ran emotive interviews with the wife of the missing Chinese pilot, CNN showed pictures of US citizens tying ribbons to the railings of the naval base where most of the crew members were based. This recalled memories of the Iran hostage crisis that haunted President Jimmy Carter 20 years ago.
The language of some CNN and indeed other international newscasts was strong at times, using words such as "interrogation", "prisoners" and "hostage".
The game of American-Chinese ping-pong was not confined to the airwaves. In the US, the Internet was used to take a poll showing that the majority of those surveyed blamed China for the crisis. In the Chinese Internet chat rooms, the messages were almost 100 per cent anti-American. "Teach the 24 pigs [the detained soldiers] a lesson" one message screamed.
After a few months in Beijing, I've become used to the propaganda dressed up as comment and analysis in the Chinese media. But it is not only in China that media organisations get carried away with patriotic fervour.