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Mark O'Neill

In the 1960s and 1970s, China's poster boys wore grey suits and caps with little red stars. They toiled in fields and carried heavy machinery, extolling the virtues of Mao Zedong thought. In the 1980s and 1990s, they were replaced in the national consciousness by dark-suited businessmen who followed Deng Xiaoping's exhortations and got gloriously rich.

Today, China's hero comes in the shape of a 2.26 metre (that's 7ft 6 in old speak) 22-year-old basketballer who stood up to - and triumphed over - an American superstar on Friday night.

In the United States, he's a basketball sensation known as The Ming Thing. In China, he's fast becoming the legend of Yao Ming.

On the third floor of Beijing's biggest sports goods store, saleswoman Liang Xiuli stands beneath a photograph of China's hottest sports star as she casually confirms the hype.

'All the teenagers are watching Yao Ming nowadays,' she says. 'They want to play basketball, not soccer. He has become a hero to young people.'

There is no denying that the towering, fresh-faced Yao has become the most popular personality in the Chinese media since he started playing for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association (NBA) last October.

Millions of Chinese follow his games on television, admiring how quickly he has adapted to the world's toughest league.

Even American fans can't get enough of him, having selected Yao in a vote for the All-Star game ahead of the legendary Shaquille O'Neal, who ran into the 'Great Wall' at the weekend as the Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers.

But in China, Yao is more than a sports star. And when he blocked the mammoth O'Neal's first attempt to score, sending him sprawling, it was much more than a sporting gesture for his patriotic followers back home.

'Yao Ming is China's biggest single export,' said Ma Yu, an economist at the Research Institute on Multinationals. 'His success has encouraged many people to watch the sport and inspired children to learn basketball, in the hope of imitating him and becoming rich.'

Mu Di, 13, a Beijing secondary school student, is one such fan. 'I was not interested in the NBA before because I knew nothing about the players. My classmates told me about Yao Ming, so I started to watch. Because he is Chinese and we know about him, I enjoy seeing him. He has done well to settle in quickly among all the American players,' he said.

Di's father, Mu Guomin, a private businessman, said that the inspiration Yao was providing to Chinese people ran deeper, however. Even though Yao is paid millions of dollars a year, he is seen more as a symbol of someone who has succeeded in the US than as someone who has made a fortune.

'For many poor people in the US, sport is the only way they can become rich. But we have other opportunities to advance,' Mr Mu said.

The NBA is certainly not fussed about whatever the motivations are for Chinese people to be following their national hero; it sees enormous commercial potential in his performance.

Michael Denzel, managing director of the NBA in Asia, said audiences in China for NBA games had doubled in the past year to an average of 15 million a game on state television's sports channel, five million for the live game in the morning and 10 million for the repeat in the evening.

Newspapers and magazines also give wide coverage to Yao, with reports and photographs of the games and his life in the US.

He is a regular in the Rockets' line-up and has a four-year contract worth US$17.8 million (HK$139 million) -  money that is only a dream on the mainland where the average annual urban wage last year was HK$6,630.

Yet as Mr Mu suggests, Yao's significance clearly goes beyond his army of admirers. He has become a symbol for China abroad, presenting a face that counters images of police dragging Falun Gong members into mini-vans, or criminals with placards round their necks being taken to the execution ground.

'We cannot consider Yao just from the sporting point of view,' said Ren Hai, of the science research division of the National Bureau of Sports. 'His value and importance is rising in China, the US and the whole world.'

Wealth and fame seem to rest lightly on the shoulders of the giant Yao. In an interview with San Lian Sheng Huo  magazine, he appeared mostly overwhelmed by his sudden rise to fame and fortune. Asked about his salary, Yao was modest, saying that he was happy he was able to buy a personal computer and a digital camera.

'Every day I eat twice as much as the ordinary person, but not too much. I have no idea of the money. I do not know how to answer as to how I feel about the size of my salary,' he said.

Still, the glamorous lifestyles of American professional athletes appears to be having some impact.

'I always liked Mercedes-Benz, although I do not understand much about cars. I like BMWs too but a Benz suits me best. While I am in the US, I will certainly buy a Benz, preferably black or silver,' he said. 'I also like electronic games and go swimming often. I like chatting to friends.'

Conversation is very important, he says. 'I have a good temperament and do not lose my temper with people. But I get very agitated on the court and hate losing. Then I want to throw the ball away.'

Life as a millionaire superstar is not as easy as it looks, either. Yao says he suffers under the constant attention of the media. He uses an interpreter to deal with the press and his English-speaking coach.

He has, however, been careful to maintain good relations with the Chinese Basketball Association and his former team, the Shanghai Sharks, giving them about half of his salary.

Yao's salary is just the start of his potential earnings, as he is attracting commercial deals which will pay him handsomely. Nike signed a sponsorship agreement with him in China and this month he signed an endorsement deal with Sorrent Inc, a California-based gaming company that plans to create an interactive game named after him. A Yao Ming Basketball will be available on the mainland this year.

Yao Ming might not be quite the symbol envisaged by Mr Jiang when he was crafting his 'Theory of the Three Representatives', but if The Ming Thing continues to sweep the nation at this rate, people are likely to tell their grandchildren one day about the time that China stood up. And swatted Shaq.



From Mao to Yao: a new people's hero to look up to