In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the historic journey to meet Chinese leader Mao Zedong in part paved by a U.S. pingpong delegation that traveled to Beijing a year earlier.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the historic journey to meet Chinese leader Mao Zedong in part paved by a U.S. pingpong delegation that traveled to Beijing a year earlier.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the historic journey to meet Chinese leader Mao Zedong in part paved by a U.S. pingpong delegation that traveled to Beijing a year earlier.

Richard Nixon (2nd from right) with Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong (center), Premier Zhou Enlai (left) and Henry Kissinger (right). Getty Images ...

Richard Nixon was alone in his hotel room in Beijing, uncertain and on edge. He had traveled halfway around the world, and he still didn't know if he would meet China’s leader, Mao Zedong.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the historic journey to meet Chinese leader Mao Zedong in part paved by a U.S. pingpong delegation that traveled to Beijing a year earlier.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the historic journey to meet Chinese leader Mao Zedong in part paved by a U.S. pingpong delegation that traveled to Beijing a year earlier.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the historic journey to meet Chinese leader Mao Zedong in part paved by a U.S. pingpong delegation that traveled to Beijing a year earlier.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made the historic journey to meet Chinese leader Mao Zedong in part paved by a U.S. pingpong delegation that traveled to Beijing a year earlier.