lán qiú
basketball
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我喜欢打篮球。
wǒ xǐhuān dǎ lánqiú.
I like playing basketball.
我们学校有一个篮球场。
wǒmen xuéxiào yǒu yīgè lánqiúchǎng.
Our school has a basketball court.
姚明是中国著名的篮球运动员。
yáomíng shì zhōngguó zhùmíng de lánqiú yùndòngyuán.
Yao Ming is a famous Chinese basketball player.
篮子球 (lánziqiú)
basketball
圆球 (yuánqiú)
ball
足球 (zúqiú)
soccer
排球 (páiqiú)
volleyball
The Chinese word for basketball, 篮球 (lánqiú), is a compound of two characters: 篮 (lán), meaning "basket", and 球 (qiú), meaning "ball". The term "basketball" was first introduced to China in the late 19th century by American missionaries, who brought the sport with them as a form of physical education. The Chinese characters for basketball were chosen to reflect the nature of the sport, with 篮 representing the basket into which the ball is thrown, and 球 representing the ball itself. The term 篮球 has been in use in China ever since, and is now the standard way to refer to the sport in Chinese.
