Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets went to Beijing and Shanghai in October of 2004, and played Sacramento for a preseason exhibition game. Now since the NBA recognizes China as the second largest market for the organization, and in some aspects a bigger market for the sport than the United States, the NBA is planning some more preseason action for China in 2007. The NBA is even considering having these games be regular season games!! The reason for not having a game in China this year is because of "preparations for the world championship". The goal for China and the NBA is to have China host continuous competitions, including pre-seasons games, regular season, national competitions and perhaps even coaching clinics.
China-U.S. game tickets for the world championship, (played on Monday), are being sold for up to 3,800 Yuan (about 475 U.S. dollars), with even higher prices in the black market. This price corresponds to ticket prices for the Houston-Sacramento game in 2004. In 2005, the NBA Asia (the Asian division of the league) moved it s headquarters from Hong Kong to Beijing and even opened a branch office in Shanghai to explore the possibilities of the Chinese Market.
