China Meiguo

Just saw a story/press release about NBA superstar Kevin Garnett coming to China. No, not permanently - he isn't leaving the Boston and the Celtics for the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association). Instead, its just a short visit sponsored by one of his sponsors, Chinese sportswear company Anta which is headquartered in Fujian Province (my current home). Garnett blew off Addias (his former shoe sponsor) for Anta in 2010 and I assume that decision had at least as much to do with money as it did with shoe quality or preferences.

 

Kevin Garnett in Chinese Anta commercial with English subtitles

Surprisingly, one of the four cities Garnett is supposed to make a stop at is Zhengzhou, where I worked for a year before moving to my current home in Xiamen. Zhengzhou certainly isn't a well-known city to foreigners (or even to many Chinese) and isn't one of the nicest cities in China to spend time in - its a dirty, gloomy city, overpopulated city (like many in China) although I found the people to be very nice and it does have some interesting ancient history going back to the Shang Dynasty. Anyway basketball is huge in China so I'm sure KG will have no problem drawing humongous Chinese-sized crowds in Zhengzhou and any other cities he appears in.

Me in one of the scenic parts of Zhengzhou