Chinese star center Yao Ming is excited about making a homecoming with his NBA teammates next week when he and the Houston Rockets play two exhibitions against Sacramento.

The NBA clubs are set to arrive Tuesday in China and play Thursday in Shanghai and Sunday in Beijing.

They will be the first NBA games in China, the first games here by any American sports league in fact, and the first Chinese appearance by an NBA club since Washington played China's national team here in 1979.

A quarter-century later, China boasts its own superstar in 2.26m center Yao, who appeared  promoting a new biography and said he hopes his NBA teammates will enjoy their reception.

"I hope they can feel the passion of the Chinese fans," Yao said in an NBA Web site posting. "The days leading up to the games will be crazy."

Yao said he feels the responsibility of social pressures as well as sporting ones by being China's first sports superstar in a global league.

"There's a lot of pressure in that, so I just try my best to do what I'm supposed to do," Yao said.

Yao will take part in an event at the Chinese primary school where he once attended classes as a child.

The Rockets feature a new spark with Tracy McGrady, the NBA's top scorer in each of the past two seasons, joining the backcourt.

(Shenzhen Daily October 11, 2004)