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CHANGING CURRENTS
20 YEARS of REFLECTIONS
BIRDS IN CHINA - PHOTOS
CYCLING to XANADU
THE CHINESE DREAM
CHINESE NEW YEAR ADS
The MEDIUM, the MESSAGE and the SAUSAGE DOG
ANYONE FOR TENNIS?
VIEWS FROM ABOARD THE CHINA EXPRESS:
1 Zola and Retail Marketing
2 Playing the Waiting Game
3 Beware the Ides of March
4 The county not on a map
5 Chinese Chess in Beijing
6 Build it and They'll Come
7 Riding the Water Dragon
8 The Best of Both Worlds
9 Storming the Great Wall
10 Welcome to the Wangba
11 The Catcher in the Rice
12 The Marriage Business
13 The Crouching Dragon
14 Counting the Numbers
15 A Century of Migration
16 Shooting for the Stars
17 Rise of Yorkshire Puds
18 Harry Potter in Beijing
19 Standing Out in China
20 Self-pandactualisation
21 Strolling on the Moon
22 Tea with the Brothers
23 Animated Guangzhou
24 Trouble on the Farms
25 Christmas in Haerbin
26 Dave pops into Tesco
27 A Breath of Fresh Air
28 The Boys from Brazil
29 Rolls-Royce on a roll
30 The Great Exhibition
31 Spreading the Word
32 On Top of the World
33 Moonlight Madness
34 Beijing's Wild West
35 Avatar vs Confucius
36 Brand Ambassadors
37 Inspiring Adventure
38 China's Sweet Spot
39 Spinning the Wheel
40 Winter Wonderland
41 The End of the Sky
42 Ticket to Ride High
43 Turning the Corner
44 Trouble in Toytown
45 Watch with Mother
46 Red-crowned Alert
47 In a Barbie World
48 Domestic Arrivals
49 Tale of Two Taxis
50 Land of Extremes
51 Of 'Mice' and Men
52 Tour of the South
53 Brooding Clouds?
54 The Nabang Test
55 Guanxi Building
56 Apple Blossoms
57 New Romantics
58 The Rose Seller
59 Rural Shanghai
60 Forbidden Fruit
61 Exotic Flavours
62 Picking up Pace
63 New Year, 2008
64 Shedding Tiers
65 Olympic Prince
66 London Calling
67 A Soulful Song
68 Paradise Lost?
69 Brandopolises
70 Red, red wine
71 Finding Nemo
72 Rogue Dealer
73 Juicy Carrots
74 Bad Air Days
75 Golden Week
76 Master Class
77 Noodle Wars
78 Yes We Can!
79 Mr Blue Sky
80 Keep Riding
81 Wise Words
82 Hair Today
83 Easy Rider
84 Aftershock
85 Bread vans
86 Pick a card
87 The 60th
88 Ox Tales
CHARTS
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2018
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2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2001 to 2007
BIRDING in CHINA
PORTS of CALL
FROM BEYOND THE WALL
ABOUT

Shooting for the Stars

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Kobe Bryant - more fans in China than the US? Photo courtesy of Richard Giles (click photo)

Basketball is big in China.  Several years ago, football was the favourite sport of China’s young people, then along came Yao Ming and the National Basketball Association (NBA).  The combination of a home grown world-class superhero and the NBA's unique ability to take the game (and Yao Ming) to grass roots level via their hugely popular televised games and their Chinese website resulted in an incredible upsurge of interest in basketball throughout the country.


  No matter where you go in China, you are sure to find Chinese young people playing the game and, if you visit one of the multitude of Internet cafés that have popped up in every town and city, you are likely to see the China NBA website displayed on numerous computer screens.


  The NBA’s first foray into China was in 1979, when they sent over the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) to play two games, one against the Chinese national team.  Interest was ignited again in 2004, when Yao Ming’s Houston Rockets played the Sacramento Kings in front of capacity crowds in Beijing and Shanghai (the photo below shows just how keen the Beijing crowd was to get into the arena). 

 

  Two more US teams toured last year; and this year the Milwaukee Bucks will play Golden State Warriors.  The first game tips off in Guangzhou tomorrow and, on Saturday, the show will move to Beijing, where the teams will play in front of more than 17,000 fans at the Olympic Basketball Arena, the scene of Team USA’s recent Olympic triumph, not to mention redemption.  

 

The NBA has set its sights on more than basketball, though.  It is working hard to establish itself as an important and responsible member of the “Chinese community”.  Hence, among other initiatives, its keenness to partner AEG in a long term arena-development project that will embrace China’s major cities.  AEG is perhaps best known for its management of London’s O2 arena – and is widely acknowledged to have masterminded the transformation of that venue, which used to be regarded as a white elephant of mammoth proportions. 

 

Appropriately, the press conference to announce the NBA and AEG China-collaboration was held at “The O2” on the occasion of an NBA game there.  According to the press release, the two organisations “have formed a joint venture to design, market, program and operate multi-purpose, NBA-style sports and entertainment arenas in major cities throughout Greater China”.

 

David Stern, the NBA’s Commissioner, said: "Together we will work with every level of government and the private sector to create NBA-style sports and entertainment facilities that will anchor communities and grow the sport of basketball throughout China."  The NBA says that “about 12” such arenas will be “designed and developed”.     

 

Good news, then, not just for the NBA and AEG, but also for millions of Chinese people who will be able to enjoy “NBA-style” world-class sports and entertainment venues on their doorstep.

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Yao Ming was the big draw at the Houston Rockets vs Sacramento Kings game in Beijing in 2004