An Aussie hooper's life in China with Alice Kunek

• Angel Reese on fashion, fame and finding purpose
• How Alicia Froling felt 'seen' by Shannon Seebohm
• 'The female Luka Doncic': Seebohm's praise for Courtney Woods

Temperatures as low as minus-20, two-a-day training sessions - life as a professional basketballer in China has definitely been a "culture shock" for former Australian Opal Alice Kunek.

But for her, nothing beats the experiences of playing the sport she loves all around the world.

The 35-year-old - who has played in the WNBL as well as in leagues in France, Poland, Hungary and Turkey - is now in her second season in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association and spoke to her good friend and former Southside Flyers teammate Bec Cole about the experiences on the latest edition of It's a Cole World.

Kunek recalled joining Inner Mongolia in the WCBA after a stint with the Flyers in 2024.

"Last year, we were playing for Southside together and probably wasn't the best season and I had the opportunity to go either play in Europe or to go play, well I actually had an opportunity to go play in Prague," she said on the basketball.com.au podcast.

"I was literally about to sign the dotted line to go play in Prague and then my agent came through and just said there's an offer in China. He had a client in the same team Kalani Brown. The team is actually called Inner Mongolia. So, it's still in China and still in the WCBA, but it's like really up north.

"So, I was like 'yeah, sure, that sounds like a fun time, let's do it'. Reality check. No, I'm kidding. I landed. It was like minus-20 degrees and I was like, 'oh god, this is not Melbourne summer'. But super grateful for the opportunity, I went into just a really great situation, the club were amazing, we had Chinese coaches, but spoke really good English, we had a Spanish coach that looked after us really well, so, it was just a really really great opportunity.

"We didn't make the the grand final series, but we had a really good playoff series. I was lucky enough to play well while I was over in China, and I guess that kind of put me in steadfast to come back here."

Kunek, who won a WNBL championship with the Bulleen Boomers in 2011, didn't know if she'd be back in the WCBA after signing to play in Turkey but then a door opened up to return to China.

"I was playing in Turkey, where I did break my finger, but then when I came back playing, Beijing reached out to my agent and just said 'look, we we want to buy her out'," she said.

"So they bought me out of my contract and I was on a plane on December 31st to Beijing and here I am."

Used to playing in Australia and Europe, Kunek spoke about the "culture shock" and high expectations put on you as an overseas player in the WCBA.

"(Coming to play in China) definitely was a culture shock. I have been lucky enough to play all around the world and I visited China and Japan many times with the national team, so I guess I understood China but coming to visit China compared to just coming for a two-week tour is very very different. But to be honest I was honestly really surprised in just the most beautiful way," she said.

"I will say though it was quite it was quite funny. So basically I had to make the cut off date to basically be cleared to play, so I went to Hong Kong had to get my visa, I had two days in Hong Kong and then at like 9pm at night, my agent was like 'we've got to get on a flight tonight to Beijing'.

"I was like 'OK but what's happening next' and he said 'we're going to get you on a flight to Beijing tonight from Hong Kong and then we're going to drive through the night to get to Inner Mongolia' and it was like a six-hour drive.

"I still clearly remember I had like my big Nike jacket on top of me and I remember as we got more north, more north, it just kept getting colder and colder, and I have played in Russia, so I know what the cold is like in Russia.

"And I literally like this is just wild. But anyway, they looked after me so well. Honestly, I couldn't be more delighted and just grateful for how the Chinese culture is. They really look after you, they'll do anything. They'll go any any way out of their way to make your life easier.

"Yes, it is a really tough league, they expect results here, you train hard. We're doing double practices three hours a day at the moment.

"But they they expect results and they and they make you work hard, but at the same time, they really do look after you and I felt nothing but love from the WCBA and the teams that I played for.

"Inner Mongolia honestly I'm still friends with all the coaches and every time I played some of the girls this season, I've just been met with just the biggest hugs and they take me out for dinner and I've had some really good teammates in in the Guongdong team that I've caught up with while I've been there last year and this year and it's just been really a beautiful beautiful experience for me."