AFTER a 12-hour flight from London, former Chinese basketball player and 1948 Olympian Wu Chengzhang arrived home in Shanghai yesterday, with wonderful memories of his time at the 2012 Olympics.

Wu was delighted to have retraced the steps of his trip 64 years ago, when he represented China in the 14th Olympic Games in the British capital, including a game against the hosts.

"This trip to the Olympics Games in London was really wonderful, beyond all my expectations. I would give 98 out of 100 for the whole trip - and I'm only deducting the two points because eight days was not enough," Wu said, after he got off the plane at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

In 1948, when the young Shanghai basketball player traveled to London for the Games, he had little inkling that 64 years later he would return to the British capital and watch China again take on Great Britain at Olympic basketball, he told Shanghai Daily.

"I was only 24 when I went to London for the Olympics - it was a player's highest honor to represent his country and attend the Games, not to mention that it was only China's third time sending athletes," 88-year-old Wu said, before he left on his trip.

On arrival in London, Wu noted how the city had changed over the years.

"I went to Tower Bridge again and noticed many new buildings on both sides of the River Thames," he told reporters.

"London is more beautiful and developed than it was in 1948."

The former forward watched the game between China and Great Britain on Monday, which China lost 58-90.

"I think my arrival brought luck to Team GB. They won six gold medals on Saturday," joked Wu.

"I would like the friendship between China and Great Britain to last forever," he added.

Wu is one of just two Chinese athletes still alive who competed in the 1948 London Olympics. The other, 96-year-old Li Zhenzhong - Wu's captain in the basketball team - also lives in Shanghai.

The 1948 Chinese Olympics team defeated the UK 54-25, and while the class of 2012 could not emulate their achievements, Wu was still upbeat about the prospects of basketball in China. "Following the retirement of NBA star Yao Ming, China is experiencing some hard times, but I think they'll get better with new leader Yi Jianlian," Wu said.

A day earlier, Wu had met an old Olympic adversary, 85-year-old Lionel Price, who played basketball for the UK in 1948. "There is a Chinese saying that when you have a friend and come from far away to meet him, it can be the most pleasant moment," Wu said.

Price was equally delighted to meet his fellow Olympian from all those years ago. "Yes, I remember losing to China. In fact, we lost five out of our six games in that Olympics. But 64 years later, I'm really overjoyed to meet Wu Chengzhang. He's a lovely chap," Price said.

Staged in the aftermath of World War II, against a backdrop of shattered economies and post-war rationing, the 1948 Olympics were dubbed the "Austerity Games."

"The 1948 Games truly were the Austerity Games," said Price. "I remember that the Chinese players were better kitted out than we were. We had one team vest, one pair of shorts, one tracksuit and one blazer. I swapped my beret for a magnificent Panama hat worn by an American swimmer. We paid for everything else."

The Olympics that Wu attended 64 years ago were a far cry from today's Games, where athletes' comforts are attended to. For him, the Olympics were not only defined by honor, but by frugal living conditions.

China sent 33 athletes to the 1948 London Games, competing in basketball, football, track and field, swimming and cycling. Of these, 10 Olympians were basketball players.

"That year, Shanghai was the national champion and five of the team were from Shanghai," Wu said. "The others were two living in the Philippines, one living in Singapore, one from the army and one marine."

The Kuomintang government in power at the time showed little support and funding for the Chinese Olympic team, he said. "We didn't have enough money for the trip, so the basketball team had to raise funds by playing games in Shanghai, Hong Kong and southeast Asia a month before the games," he said.

"I was so glad to represent my country to attend the Games, but the government at that time didn't show the kind of support that the government today provides."

In keeping with the tone of the "Austerity Games," the welcome for the Chinese athletes was decidedly low-key. "When we entered the Olympic Village, no one welcomed us and no one even talked to us," Wu said.

"Every country had a flag-raising ceremony while entering the village. The US had the biggest one. They even brought an orchestra for the national anthem. But when we raised our flag, no one came."

Unable to afford the living fees at the Olympic Village, the Chinese athletes moved out after two days, relocating in a vocational school in the suburbs.

In a further bid to keep costs down, they dined on rice, salted fish and pickles they had brought from China.

"We cooked for ourselves and took a shuttle bus to our matches," Wu said.

While now hard of hearing and with a tremble in his hands, Wu still vividly recalls every game of his Olympics.

In the qualifiers, China faced Chile, Belgium, South Korea, the Philippines and Iraq. To Wu, the last game against Iraq, in which he scored 32 points, seems like only yesterday.

"We beat Iraq 125-25 and we all believed that we would qualify for the next round. China had three wins and two defeats," he said.

However, the group was very close with all the teams except Iraq having two wins and two losses going into their final game. In the end, South Korea and Belgium - both of whom China had beaten - qualified on points difference.

Even today, Wu still can't hide his disappointment, and ponders what might have been. "It would have been a totally different result if the team were better organized and prepared," he said. "We definitely had the ability to go through to the next round."

"All of us were celebrating after beating Iraq as we thought we had qualified," Wu recalled. "But our coach, who went for the draw for the next round, came back and broke the news."

Their Olympic adventure over, the Chinese athletes did not have enough money for air tickets home and were effectively stranded in London.

In the end the head of the delegation raised more cash to fund the trip home, Wu recalled.

Once home, Wu devoted his working life to basketball, becoming a coach.

A talent for the sport runs in the family and Wu's eldest son, Wu Xinshui, also became a famous basketball player, regarded as China's best point guard in the 1970s.

Even in his later years, Wu continued his association with the game, establishing a team for over-60s.

"I played until I was 76 and then had a second retirement," Wu joked.

Still with a competitive spirit, bridge is Wu's game of choice these days.

For Wu, the 1948 Games left him with the regret that he did not achieve his potential in the competition, and he always wanted to return to the city where he was an Olympian.

Now Wu can look back with satisfaction at having slam-dunked that piece of unfinished business.