The Communist China of the 1950s

Matthew Syed is a former Olympic table tennis player for Great Britain. As Matthew travelled in China, competing against some of the world’s greatest players, he realised that ping pong is a game that has played a huge and fascinating role in the rise of a great power, taking us from the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 to the sporting ambitions of the country today.

Matthew begins this three-part mini series from Sideways, with the story of the rise and tragic death of Rong Guotuan - an extraordinary player and China's first world champion in any sport.

Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai were keen ping pong players, and in the early years of the PRC the sport was a way of cementing national pride. And where better to showcase a new China and its sporting prowess than at the 1961 Beijing World Table Tennis Championships? But hidden behind the veneer of a newly built stadium and comforts for the visiting teams from all over the world, was a much darker experience for the people of China - an avoidable famine that's estimated by 1961 to have killed at least 36 million.

Presented by Matthew Syed Producer: Pippa Smith Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Script consultation: Dr Olivia Cheung, SOAS, University of London Sound Design and mix: Rob Speight Archival research: Nadia Mehdi With thanks to Zhijie Shao from the BBC World Service and to the International Table Tennis Federation

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4