On Saturday night in Shanghai, Yao got a hero’s welcome from the fans as he appeared as team owner for the Shanghai Sharks season opener.

Yao spoke to the crowd before the game pledging he would try his hardest to bring the team back to the top of Chinese basketball.

Click here for lots more photos of Yao and details of the game.

The Sharks almost won the game, led by former Houston Rocket John Lucas III in his first game with Shanghai. Lucas scored 30 points on 13-of-22 shooting, but wasn’t able to hit a shot at the end of overtime that could have won the game.

Although Lucas didn’t have that illustrious of an NBA career, he must be thrilled he is “the man” in Shanghai and will be treated like royalty there. And who knows, if he keeps this up, he could get another crack at the NBA. It also doesn’t hurt that Yao would probably put in a good word for him, even if it meant Shanghai may not be as good without him.

It was a busy day for Yao on Friday in Shanghai where he took part in two press conferences.

The first one was with the Shanghai Sharks — the team he owns — where they announced they have a new sponsor, the Cheng Shin-Toyo Tire & Rubber Company, which is the 11th largest tire manufacturer in the world and the top bicycle tire manufacturer. They have a brand of tires called MAXXIS, so the official name of the team will now be the Shanghai Oriental MAXXIS Sharks.

The company employs over 15,000 people and operates in nine countries: Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. They have even been a sponsor of the Houston Rockets.

For more photos from this press conference, click here.

Later, Yao took part in another press conference, this time for the International Wildlife Conservation Organization.

Yao has been the Global Image Spokesperson since 2006 for the Active Conservation Awareness Programme Wild (ACAP WildAid). At the press conference, a new public service announcement video featuring Yao was shown in both English and Mandarin.

Yao joked at the press conference that since he is the owner of the Shanghai Sharks, he obviously he cannot eat shark fin soup. But seriously, as the video demonstrates, he made the vow not to eat the soup and asked that everyone else refrain from doing the same. During the press conference, his players pledged not to eat it as well.

If you notice in the photo below, former Houston Rocket John Lucas III is now a member of the Sharks (4th from the left).

For close-up photos of Lucas, Yao, and the Shanghai Sharks team, click here.

Raymond reports that Yao and his wife Ye Li arrived in Shanghai on Thursday.

Click here for more photos in the forum of Yao’s arrival in Shanghai.

On Friday, Yao will be attending a press conference to introduce a major financial sponsor for the team he owns, the Shanghai Sharks. It’s rumored to be a major car tire company.

He will attend another press conference for the International Wildlife Conservation Organization. Yao Ming has been the Global Image Spokesperson of the Active Conservation Awareness Programme WildAid (ACAP WildAid) since 2006. ACAP WildAid has shot another new public service announcement featuring Yao, which will be released tomorrow.

Yesterday Yao went to Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston to visit some of the sick children there and to hand out Christmas gifts.

Click here for more photos of Yao visiting with the kids at the hospital.

On a different note, Jonathan Feigen wrote a piece in the Houston Chronicle today about the latest with Yao’s rehab efforts, and the work he has been doing as the new owner of the Shanghai Sharks. One interesting tidbit from the article is that the Sharks signed John Lucas III, his former teammate.

Raymond has translated an interview in the forum that Yao gave recently to Titan Sports.

In the interview, we learn about Yao’s recent rehab activity, which includes walking in a machine that reduces the gravity on Yao’s feet (one such machine is pictured below):

In the translation, we learn more about the following:

– Yao’s daily training regimen
– The issues he went through this past summer
– His aspirations for the Shanghai Sharks team
– Background on the Sharks’ new head coach he selected
– and much more

Click here for Raymond’s complete translation.

Here’s an interesting video with Yao and Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was in Houston for the Cavaliers-Rockets game Wednesday night.

Zydrunas has provided good moral support to Yao ever since Yao learned he was going to have the same surgery on his foot that Zydrunas had, and Yao is obviously thankful. In the video, Big Z tells a little bit of what may be in store for Yao as he gets back to playing in the NBA.

Jonathan Feigen of the Chronicle also recapped the similarity between Zydrunas’ and Yao’s surgery in this story.

Today Yao’s interview with Esquire Magazine was published online. Check it out by clicking here. Very insightful stuff.

It’s been a little quiet on the Yao front the past couple of weeks, but earlier this week Yao showed up at Toyota Center for the Rockets’ holiday party thrown for season ticket holders. Since he’s still wearing a boot on his foot, Yao mainly stayed seated in one position.

Here are some cute photos of Yao putting VIP tags on the wrists of some of the kids…

Click here for photos of other Rockets players at the holiday party.

Raymond has posted some good stuff in the forum about an announcement made Friday of Yao’s involvement in a campaign in China to combat discrimination and stigmatization against people with HIV and AIDS.

The campaign involves the distribution of more than 200,000 posters throughout China, a mini-documentary, the development of a resource kit and other projects.

Yao will be also be participating in a video campaign that will be shown on 22 giant outdoor screens in 12 major cities across China, with the main events timed to coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1, UNAIDS said.

There are also links in the forum of two Chinese PSA videos that have been created with Yao’s image included.

Check out the forum for more info about the problems Yao is trying to help address through this campaign.

Here’s a nice two-minute video where Yao made the announcement last Tuesday that he will host a charity gala in Houston on Jan. 30th to benefit the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston) as well as to help rebuild structures damaged by Hurricane Ike.

I like how Yao says he loves the city of Houston.

Video courtesy Fox Sports Houston