Jai alai In the 1970s and early 1980s Orbea's Jai-Alai in Hialeah featured four indoor courts. Two of the courts played with hard rubber balls ("pelota de goma") were shorter than a standard court (75' / 90') & used for training players and amateur leagues. There were also two courts played with the regulation pelota (hardball / "pelota dura"), one short in length (115') and one regulation length (150'). Orbea's also sold equipment such as cestas and helmets. Retired players visited and played as well as highly skilled amateurs, pros from Miami Jai-Alai and various other professional frontons operating at the time.
Alai (author) presented as a great advance for the Tibetan peasantry). "Red Poppies" was selected as a finalist for the Kiriyama Prize in 2002 and won the 5th Mao Dun Literary Prize in 2005. In 2013, he participated in the International Writing Program's Fall Residency at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA. Alai (author) Alai (; ; born 1959 in Sichuan province) is a Chinese poet and novelist of Rgyalrong Tibetan descendent. He was also editor of "Science Fiction World". Alai's notable novel "Red Poppies" ("The Dust Settles - Chen'ai Luoding"), published in 1998, follows a family of Tibetan chieftains,