From Eminem whiskey, to Obama "Blockberries," to Yao Ming Sanitary napkins, China's trademarking system makes it relatively easy for companies to use popular American brands to sell their products. more ›

Yao Ming and his wife Ye Li visited the Animals Asia Foundation China Bear Rescue Center near Chengdu, currently home to approximately 160 rescued moon bears. The bears, also known as Asiatic black bears, were rescued from bear bile farms generally notorious for cramped conditions and cruel treatment. Yao shook paws with one particularly lucky basketball-loving bear, who even received a manicure from the former 9-time All-Star center. more ›

What does the Yao deal tell us about China? That everything the wine industry has come to believe about tackling the Chinese market is on target. Brands matter. Prestige matters. Celebrity matters. Why do Lafite and Mouton still reign supreme there? Because they have the reputation. Artisanship (with all due apologies to that press release) is irrelevant. Terroir is irrelevant — although the overall brand power of Napa Valley certainly holds sway. more ›

We already knew Yao had a soft touch around the basket and middling math skills, but who knew he wanted to be a sommelier? The former 9-time NBA All-Star intends to sell his own wine in China, proving once again that he is the most interesting man in the world. more ›

In the pictures we shared a week back of Yao Ming's first day in class, we interpreted his face as an open book of frustration and WTF? Turns out we were right on the money, as Yao himself admitted in a press conference he was "totally lost." more ›

Yao Ming showed up to report for class at Shanghai Jiaotong University in Minhang district today, and had the misfortune of getting his picture taken while standing next to a Buick minivan. more ›

Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming will study in the prestigious Shanghai Jiaotong University from October, his agent Zhang Mingji said here on Monday. Zhang said that Yao has not decided his major but the university will choose special teachers and give the super star lessons on a one-to-one basis.

A few links to start off your day: more ›

It's all speculation at this point! Less than 24 hours after he announced his retirement, the Chinese media are going wild with rumors of what comes next. In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, when asked whether he'd consider going into business or politics like other retired athletes, Yao Ming responded: more ›

A good man may shed blood, but he should never shed tears, so the Chinese adage goes. At Yao Ming's retirement press conference yesterday, he was seen turning away from the glare of the media to shed a few tears. more ›

Make sure to tune in for the resolution and closure ceremony for Yao Ming's NBA career at 2pm today on CCTV-5. The press conference is being held at an undisclosed hotel in Pudong, with 300 reporters in attendance for the event. The program has the potential to be one of those work-stopping-gather-round-the-television moments that justifies having a TV in the first place. more ›

If there's ever a need for a Chinese neologism to express a frustrating state of affairs that doesn't meet expectations, we'd put forth Yao Ming's Left Foot (姚明左脚, as in '这个聚会太姚明左脚了') as our suggestion. The foot, who's status and health hundreds of millions of Chinese basketball devotees had clung to for years, will no longer be taking the shocks and pivots of a 7 foot 6 and 310 pound (141kg and 229cm) frame: Yao is reportedly retiring. The weight of an entire nation won't burden his metatarsals and phalanges anymore. more ›

Shanghai's favorite giant basketball playing son is back in Shanghai with his American citizen daughter! Now one, Amy was born in the U.S. (to no small amount of controversy) and is visiting her parents' home country for the first time. The family of three moved into a new apartment in the Hongkou area and have been careful to avoid media, so there are currently no pictures... except for this one: more ›

Last week, Yao Ming announced that he has begun legal proceedings against Wuhan-based Yunhe Sharks Sportswear Co. for trademark infringement. For years, the sportswear company had been using Yao Ming’s brand to sell sneakers. It is unknown how much in damages Yao Ming is looking for. more ›

After that huge debate over the citizenship of NBA star Yao Ming's daughter, we've finally got some shots of the little un whose birth was a matter of national interest. These photos here show Yao's 7 month old Amy being carried by grandma while wife Ye Li looks on. The whole family had come to watch the Houston Rockets v. Toronto Raptors game. more ›

Yao Ming has made it back into Hurun’s list of wealthy Chinese. With an estimated wealth of 1 billion RMB he joined 1,632 other Chinese who have a net worth of at least 1 billion RMB in the Hurun Rich List 2010. While Yao is adding to that bank account as he prepares for his 8th NBA season, his compatriots seem to be more concerned with their boxing and kung-fu skills. more ›

Guess who was in town today? Yao Ming, according to CNN Go. The 2.26 meter son of Shanghai was here to prepare for his much-publicized charity tour with the Yao Ming Foundation and also to check up on his team, the Shanghai Sharks before the upcoming Chinese Basketball Association. Best Yao quote from his trip here: "I can change my daughter's diaper with just my toe, can you believe that? When baby cries at night, I just kick my wife and everything is miraculously done." more ›

This ad actually ran in the Wall Street Journal in the U.S.! In it, Chinese (nation-wise, not team-wise) basket ballers Zhu Fangyu, Wang Zhizhi, Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian and - of course - Yao Ming, hold up an American entrepreneur. The ad is for GMC, a Chinese manufacturer, and was part of a special Chinese advertising page in the first section of the paper, according to Copyranter. more ›

Earlier this month, we told you about a WildAid public service announcement starring Chinese basketballer Yao Ming that discouraged people from eating shark's fin soup. We weren't able to find a Youku video for you then but here it finally is (English version on Youtube here). Yao has been an ambassador against the shark's fin trade for a few years now since his public pledge in 2006 never to eat shark's fin soup again. In 2007, a small ruckus erupted prior to Yao's wedding dinner in Shanghai when the media reported that shark's fin would be served as the opening dish of the lavish 12-course dinner -- those rumours turned out to be untrue. Yao Ming's role as the anti-shark's fin guy makes great marketing sense because once upon a time, he used to play for a basketball club called the Shanghai Sharks. Last year he purchased his former club and saved it from financial ruin. Now he's doing all he can to ensure his club isn't named after an extinct animal.
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• Sure, everyone and their mothers have visited the Nanxiang Xiaolongbao store in Yu Gardens by now - but Gary Soup's delightful tone helps make the experience seem new again. And it gives you a little history on the side! [Asian Art]
• Oh ho! For the first time ever (or at least in the last three decades), our city's economy exceeded the size of Hong Kong's. Our boost? Stimulus spending. [Business Week]
• Want to know how to become the best lil' bargain hunter? CNNGo has got some tips for you for the next time you head to Qipu Lu. [CNNGo]

Yesterday, in a taxi, I came across a commercial for WildAid playing on one of those TouchMedia taxi screens. It starred Yao Ming and was about how, if people could see what really happened to sharks for their sharks fin soup, maybe they wouldn't order it next time. I'm not sure if that actually would impact the majority of people who order sharks fin - Chinese people tend to be pretty sanguine about the slaughtering and butchering of animals - but it was a decent commercial nevertheless. So here it is. more ›

• Cityweekend invites you to get as Shanghainese as your lily white ass possibly can: eat like them, act like them and drink like them? Ugh, we'll pass on the green tea whiskey, thanks. [Cityweekend]
• Congratulations! Shanghai sports poster child Yao Ming is going to have his own lil' Yao this summer. Somebody break out the cigars! [All Headline News]
• When a listener implored him to stop speaking Shanghainese, Radio host Xiao Jun said "this audience member, please roll yourself into a balland then roll yourself out of this city you so hate or the presence of of these people you so hate." Hilarious! [Chinasmack]

Woman's thought bubble: "I've heard you can contract AIDS from holding hands or eating with an infected person." Man's thought bubble: "I believe I could get AIDS from a mosquito bite." Voice over guy: "Actually mosquito bites and and holding hands, eating with infected persons can not cause you to contract AIDS. Don't misunderstand AIDS. And even more, don't discriminate against AIDS carriers." "Good friends are friends, whether they have AIDS or not. Let our world not have misunderstanding or discrimination." - Yao Ming. more ›

Happy World AIDS Day! China's golden boy and long-time Houston Rockets player Yao Ming has agreed to join the United Nation's push to address discrimination among Chinese people towards those infected with HIV. The new awareness campaign follows the release of the first UNAIDS HIV/AIDS report in China last month, the results of which demonstrated the significant stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS in China's medical field as well as the general population. more ›

Oh no, it looks like Yao Ming hasn’t bought the Shanghai Sharks after all. Instead, all they’ve signed on to be is an “entrusted investor” for the next five years. Despite agreeing in July to transfer stakes in the Sharks to Yao, it seems that those stakes will now be sold on the open market. But those who worry that this just means even more disappointments for Sharks fans needn’t: Yao has said that even though he’s not the owner, he’ll be doing everything he can to improve the team’s performance. more ›

Yeeha used to be a great place to go (at least for drinks, if not food). They had cheap beers, they had friendly service, and they had a frickin' awesome mechanical bull. Then something changed hands and the beers got more expensive, the service more apathetic, and the mechanical bull disappeared. And now so has the rest of the restaurant, to the surprise, it seems, of many of its employees. China Daily has the scoop about how much the restaurant (which incidentally doesn't even belong in any way to Yao, except that his friend started it) owes the many many people it hasn't paid in months. We're just disappointed that whoever owned the place didn't go back to making Yeeha worthy of the Yao name. more ›