SHANGHAI -- It's hard to imagine that Yao Ming, the former NBA all-star player, disliked basketball for eight to nine years when he was young.

"How did I manage to make basketball from my dislike to like? Devote yourself into it." said Yao, who was newly elected as president of Chinese Basketball Association, shared his experiences with some pupils in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Yao was the first speaker of the Soong Ching-ling Forum of the Soong Ching-ling School, funded by the China Welfare Institute and named after wife of Sun Yat-sen, one of the leaders of the 1911 revolution.

"I started to practice basketball when I was nine. Although I didn't like it, I put my heart and soul into it. When I was seventeen or eighteen, basketball became part of my life." Yao said.

"The voice of friction between sneakers and ground, the breeze whispering in my ears when I am running, shooting and hitting...I enjoy everything on the court when basketball became my interest." Yao said.

Everyone will meet dislikes in their lives. If you only refuse it, you will suffer more from it; If you listen from others and share your feelings, you can gradually make it as one of your interests, Yao said.

"Then, you will enjoy it." Yao added, "In this progress, you will forge a good character and benefit a lot from it."

"Uncle Yao gave us a great speech. I will put more energy into practicing piano and make it as my interest." said Zhang Tianyi, a pupil of Soong Ching-ling School.