Bettine Vriesekoop

Bettine Vriesekoop (b. 1961) was European table-tennis champion in 1982 and 1992. She ceased participating in high-level sport in 2002. Her many contacts with Chinese table-tennis players inspired her to study sinology at the University of Leiden, after which she became correspondent in China for NRC Handelsblad. She has written a number of books about her experiences in China, including Homesick for Peking *(1994) and *A Thousand Days in China (2011). She now writes books and articles and gives lectures on China.