Yao Ming gets in on Shanghai Auto Show hype
Wednesday, 20th April 2011 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Yao Ming made a surprise appearance at the 14th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition yesterday, to shill BMW's new models. Pictures and a brief account of Yao's appearance can be found in this Detroit Free Press blog post by Chrissie Thompson. Thompson, a Free Press business reporter and apparently a frequent visitor to auto shows, has an interesting perspective on one difference between shows in China and elsewhere in the world—a strong preference for hoopla in the form of celebrities, dancing girls and pop music:Western reporters often view too much hoopla or production during auto show reveals as distraction from good product. Just let us see the car, maybe after unveiling it in a short, dramatic fashion. Don't put a rock star in front of it. One set of dancers might be acceptable. More than one dance? We might start wondering whether the automaker is compensating for a lack of product.
Not in China. Here, automakers say, reporters and bystanders alike expect a show – and the bigger, the better."
Read the rest of Thompson's post and see her photos here.
Tags: cars, Shanghai, sports marketing, Yao Ming
Ningbo to hold second ultimate tournament in April
Tuesday, 9th March 2010 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (5)
by Dan Siekman
The second annual Ningbo Hat ultimate tournament will be held on the weekend of April 3-4 at the University of Nottingham Ningbo.
Ultimate, aka ultimate Frisbee, is a fast-paced and limited-contact sport that came out of the US in the 1970s and is growing in popularity worldwide. Only requiring a flying disc and an open field, the sport is beginning to take a hold in new parts of China.
Ningbo is one of three Chinese cities with two year old tournaments, the others being Kunming and Shenzhen. In China's more international cities of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tianjin, some ultimate clubs have been in existence since the late 1990s.
"Frisbee" is the original brand name of the plastic flying disc that is thrown between players in the sport. Most players now use discs that are manufactured by its competitor Discraft and in an attempt to cleanse their sport's name of the trademarked Frisbee name, they have taken to calling their sport "ultimate" and saying "disc" instead of Frisbee.
The object of the sport is to move the disc downfield by passing from teammate to teammate. The player in possession of the disc must pass within a ten-count. While in possession of the disc, the player cannot walk but is allowed to pivot on one foot. A point is scored when a player catches a pass in his/her opponent's end zone.
The word "hat" refers to a style of tournament in which players enter as individuals rather than teams and rank their own ability levels. Organizers then attempt to create a set of equally matched mixed gender teams that vie for the championship.
The term derives from formulating teams by choosing players' names at random out of a hat.
As is traditional for ultimate tournaments, the Ningbo tournament will have a themed party on Saturday night, with plenty of complimentary beer included in the tournament registration fee: the theme this year is "Star Wars." Players of both sexes and all ability levels are welcome to join.
For more information email: liyanguan (dot) forrest ( a t ) gmail (dot) com.
Image: Ningbo Ultimate
Tags: Beijing, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, ultimate, ultimate frisbee
Kobe to visit Shanghai, Chengdu on Asia tour
Wednesday, 8th July 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant is headed to Asia to "see the progress the kids have made since my last visit," according to Kix-files.com. Here is the schedule for the Kobe Bryant Asia Tour 2009:July 21, Manila
July 22, Singapore
July 23, Taipei
July 24, Hong Kong
July 25, Shanghai
July 26, Chengdu
We're bummed that he won't be stopping by either of our two favorite Chinese cities, Beijing and Kunming, but glad to see him stopping by Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. Though not as well known to the Western world as China's east coast cities, Chengdu gets its share of international sports activity. It hosted the women's soccer World Cup in 2007, and will host the Chengdu Open tennis tournament this fall. It's also one of several cities that Major League Baseball regularly targets for clinics and other events. Chengdu and its surroundings were also hit hard by the May 12 earthquake in 2008, and Bryant will no doubt be including some kind of charity event or appearance in his plans.
Tags: Chengdu, Kobe Bryant, NBA, Shanghai
The ABCs of the X Games
Friday, 1st May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The Kia X Games are underway in Shanghai. What do you need to know about them? CST and Shanghaiist contributor Geoff Ng has you covered with this stream-of-consciousness guide to one of the coolest things to do this holiday weekend.Andy McDonald: the only Skateboard Vert champ Shanghai's ever had
BMX: big boys on little bikes.
Chad Kagy: back-to-back and reigning champ chickened out. Who will step up?
Dinara Israliyeva: Kazakhstan's only contestant
Eito Yasutoko and little bro Takeshi: 6 of last 7 In-Line Vert titles…any challengers?
Five sports, eight categories, four days.
Garrett Reynolds: 17 year-old BMX wunderkind, defending champ
Hotline: hit it up at 962388 or 400-666-6699
In-Line: like roller skates. But, uh, not lame.
Jiangwan Stadium: no bigger skate park in the world.
Kawasaki, Ayumi: first female winner in In-Line Vert history?
Lukasz Swirk: Poland's great white sport climbing hope
Motocross: getting Big Air, but just a demonstration sport this year
Nakamura brothers Tomohiko and Takayuki: looking to push the Yasutokos
Online tix? Lvmama.com
Phuket, Thailand: birthplace of the Asian X Games
Qixin, Zhong: a quarter of the Chinese men's climbing crew
RISE UP: the X Games' official theme song
Sport Climbing: who can get it up the quickest?
Tickets: Get 'em for 120RMB; 50RMB for students
USD $130,000 in prizes. Straight cash, homey.
Vert vs. Street? Vert goes on the ramp, street goes on the street.
Wanitsakul, Kiattichai: Asia's only entry in the BMX Freestyle Vert
X. What else needs to be said?
Tags: events, Geoff Ng, Jiangwan Stadium, Shanghai, X Games
Weekend Results: Volvo China Open and F1 Chinese Grand Prix
Tuesday, 21st April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Scott Strange won the China Volvo Open (a European Tour event) at Beijing CBD International Golf Course, with a final-round score of 68. Liang Wenchong was the top Chinese player, shooting one over par and finishing in a five-way tie for 25th place (results from Sky Sports). Colin Montogomerie, next year's captain for Europe's Ryder Cup team, got frustrated and made a bit of a scene over some etiquette issues.
F1 Chinese Grand Prix
Red Bull won the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, but only 70 percent of tickets were sold for China's only Formula One race. F1 president and CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that selling sponsorships has been difficult, but he will continue to bring the event to China. F1's deal with the Shanghai government ends in 2010.
Scott Strange image: Volvo China Open
Tags: Beijing CBD International Golf Course, Chinese Grand Prix, F1, Formula One, golf, Shanghai
Weekend Events, January 10-11
Friday, 9th January 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
What: Competition featuring 24 riders, including four locals. In addition to competing for $25,000 USD in prize money, top performers at this event will earn global ranking points on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. The event also includes a DJ on Saturday, and live band on Sunday. Admission is 20 yuan.
Where: Beijing's Quiksilver Nanshan Mellow Park, 40 kilometers northeast of the Beijing Airport (map)
When: January 10-11, with competition beginning at 11:00 both days. Finals start at 11:00 on Sunday. View the whole schedule here.
(Related story from World Snowboard Guide: Nanshan Open gets TTR status.)
Ice hockey: China Sharks vs. Nippon Paper Cranes (link)
What: The China Sharks and Nippon Paper Cranes (Japan) meet in an Asian Hockey League match. The Sharks' roster includes five players provided by the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL), and Chinese-Canadian Kevin Du.
Where: Shanghai's Songjiang University Student Sports Center (2000 Wenxiang Road)
When: January 10, 7:05 p.m.
Martial arts: Ultimate Combat Championships
What: 16 fighters from five countries face off in Sanda, Muay Thai, sambo, judo, jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. The fights will also air on Shanxi television, channel 7.
When: January 11, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Xi'an Jiatong University Gymnasium
Image: Mellow Parks China
Tags: Beijing, ice hockey, martial arts, Shanghai, snowboarding, Xi'an
NBA to build arenas across China
Wednesday, 15th October 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Among the challenges the NBA faces in holding games in China, or otherwise taking advantage of the league's huge popularity here, is a lack of venues equipped to host NBA events. As has been expected, the league is making big moves to remedy that situation, with a joint venture with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to develop a dozen arenas in China.Early reports and conventional wisdom suggest that the first site developed will be in Shanghai, with an 18,000-seat arena completed in time for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The second site, Guangzhou, is expected to be announced at Wednesday's NBA preseason game at Guangzhou Gymnasium.
"Our largest market outside the United States is going to be here in China," said Heidi Ueberroth, president of NBA global marketing partnerships and international business operations. Tim Chen, CEO of NBA China, said that the NBA and AEG will have a $28 million stake in the Shanghai project and that the total project cost will be $277 million. By contrast, the Ford Center, a similarly sized arena that will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle Supersonics), cost $89 million to build.
NBA commissioner David Stern indicated that construction wouldn't start right away and that the league hadn't chose all of the locations for arenas, which could also be in "Greater China" cities like Taipei, Macao and Hong Kong.. "We weren't going to start construction in the next couple of weeks," he said at a news conference with AEG in London. "We anticipate that in a relatively short order we will have laid out a road map of a dozen buildings or so throughout China." He added that decisions would be made over the next several months about where to put arenas.
AEG president and CEO Timothy J. Leiweke said he considered it a 20-year project, and that most of the new venues will be "built and designed from the ground up."
The arenas will be part of multiuse entertainment complexes, according to a statement from the NBA: "Where feasible, the arenas will be developed in conjunction with surrounding cultural and entertainment districts potentially comprised of restaurants, retail outlets, cinemas, hotels, residential areas, sports training facilities and smaller live entertainment venues."
The announcement comes just days before the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors play a pair of pre-season games in China. They will play at Guangzhou Gymnasium October 15 and on October 18 at Wukesong Arena in Beijing, the Olympic basketball venue developed by the NBA.
Related: Bucks and Warriors to play in China in 2008
Basketball's China Game Plan
Tags: basketball, Beijing, Guangzhou, NBA, Shanghai, Wukesong
BMW Asian Open in Shanghai
Saturday, 26th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The third round of the BMW Asian Open tees of in Shanghai today, at Tomson Golf Club in Pudong. For a good roundup of the event so far and some Chinese players to watch, check out Dan Washburn's post on the event on Shanghaiist.Tags: golf, Shanghai, Tomson Golf Club