table tennis; ping-pong
HSK level
乒乓球 is written with 23 strokes (乒: 6, 乓: 6, 球: 11). The animation replays automatically.
乒乓球 (pīngpāngqiú) is a noun meaning both the sport of table tennis (ping-pong) and the small ball used to play it — context tells you which.
It is China's unofficial national sport, so the word carries cultural weight far beyond a casual pastime; 国球 (guóqiú, 'national ball') is a nickname for it. Two features delight learners. First, the name is onomatopoeic: 乒 (pīng) and 乓 (pāng) imitate the pock-pock sound of the ball bouncing, and the two characters are near-mirror images built from 兵 (soldier).
Second, unlike English where 'table tennis' and 'ping-pong' can differ in formality, 乒乓球 covers both registers. To say 'play table tennis,' pair it with 打 (dǎ): 打乒乓球. The place you play is 乒乓球台 (the table) or 乒乓球馆 (the hall).
Character by character
Memory hook: 乒 and 乓 are 兵 (soldier) with one leg kicked out each way — two mirror-image characters that literally sound like 'ping-pong.'
我们下午去打乒乓球吧。
Wǒmen xiàwǔ qù dǎ pīngpāngqiú ba.
Let's go play table tennis this afternoon.
spoken
乒乓球是中国的国球。
Pīngpāngqiú shì Zhōngguó de guóqiú.
Table tennis is China's national sport.
neutral
他从小就喜欢打乒乓球。
Tā cóngxiǎo jiù xǐhuan dǎ pīngpāngqiú.
He has loved playing ping-pong since he was little.
neutral
乒乓球比赛下周开始。
Pīngpāngqiú bǐsài xià zhōu kāishǐ.
The table tennis tournament starts next week.
written
羽毛球 is badminton (played with a feathered shuttlecock and a net). 乒乓球 is table tennis. Both are popular in China but are different sports.
网球 is tennis, played on a full court. 乒乓球 is the miniature table version. Easy to mix up in English translation ('table tennis' vs 'tennis').
Acquire it by listening
Fluentide turns real news into Chinese listening at your exact level, so words like 乒乓球 show up again and again in natural sentences — with pinyin and translation every time. No flashcards. Free to start.
