On Sunday, June 19th in Beijing, Yao Ming and actress Zhang Ziyi (both Global Ambassadors for Special Olympics China) attended a send-off ceremony for the delegation that will soon be leaving for Athens for the 2011 Special Olympics Games. Pictured below are both of them answering questions from the press.

For more photos from the send-off ceremony, click here.

Yao Ming and Zhang Ziyi will also go to Athens for the opening ceremony of the Games. Yao told reporters he is excited, and is looking forward to seeing his old pal Dikembe Mutombo, who is also a Global Ambassador for the Special Olympics.

After the ceremony at the China Administration of Sports for Persons with Disabilities, Yao Ming went to greet the basketball team, and track and field team.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ziyi went to greet the gymnastics team.

For more photos of Yao Ming and Zhang Ziyi meeting the teams, click here.

Raymond reports in the forum that Yao has been keeping busy the past couple of days in China. You have to give Yao credit for not just sitting around — that’s just not in his DNA

On Thursday, June 9th (China time), Yao flew to Jiuquan City of Gansu from Shanghai via Xian. After 10 hours of travel, he went straight to the Jiuquan Municipal Sports Academy without any rest.

For more photos from Yao’s visit to the sports academy, click here.

Waiting at the sports academy were approximately 20 students with intellectual disabilities who attend the Jiuquan Nash – Yao Foundation Special Education School that Yao’s Foundation funded and built. Since Yao is a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics, he conducted a basketball clinic for the students there.

One of the students of the school, Chen Xiaorong, will be representing China in the upcoming 13th Special Olympics to be held in Athens in June. Yao specifically picked her out, gave her a pair of running shoes, and encouraged Chen to believe in herself and give her best performance in Athens.

On Friday, June 10th, Yao presided over the inauguration ceremony at the school, which had been open a few months already, but Yao was there to commemorate its opening.

For more photos of Yao at the school, click here.

This is the first special education school in the city of Jiuquan for physically and intellectually disabled children. It cost 7 million RMB to build, co-funded by the Shanghai Special Care Foundation, the Yao Ming Foundation, Youth Development Foundation of Gansu Province, and People’s Government of the Suzhou District of Jiuquan City. The Shanghai Special Care Foundation (of which Yao Ming is one of the founders) and Yao Ming Foundation contributed 2.5 million RMB for the undertaking.

After the ceremony, Yao toured the facilities with municipal leaders from Jiuquan City.

Yao said he wished the completion of the special education school will provide the handicapped children the facilities they need to improve intellectually and physically, and urged that more attention be placed on special education requirements in society. Yao thanked his team, as well as Steve Nash, for their contribution and help in the undertaking.

Hot off the presses here…

Raymond reports in the forum the following about Yao:

He arrived back in China on Thursday, May 26th after staying in Houston the past 3 weeks, and brought his wife Ye Li and baby daughter Amy Yao Qinlei.

Because it is the first time that Amy Yao has ever been in China, a large number of reporters gathered at the VIP entrance of the Shanghai Pudong International Airport (as well as Yao Ming’s home), trying to get a glimpse of the family.

However, they were unsuccessful since Yao and family left through a different airport exit, and didn’t return to their old home in the Xuhui District but to a new home somewhere else. But there was at least one photo taken of Yao at the airport with an immigrations official.

According to sources at the airport, daughter Amy Yao uses a U.S. passport, and is a little bit taller than most one year old babies her age (no surprise there).

Given the looming NBA lockout for next season, and the fact that he will be a free agent this summer with his future in NBA still pending, it seems that Yao is going to stay in China at least through the summer according to his representative Erik Zhang Mingii.

Some of the things that are on his current schedule are the following:

• Organize a birthday party in Shanghai for his daughter, who just celebrated her first birthday in Houston on May 21st.
• Meetings with Team Yao about the team he owns, the Shanghai MAXXIS Sharks.
• Continue to work out details of the 3rd Yao Ming Foundation Charity Game/Gala, which will be held in Shanghai in August.
• An inauguration ceremony in Ganxu in June for another Yao Foundation Project Hope primary school.
• Towards end of June, he will travel to Athens with the Chinese Special Olympics delegation to attend the opening ceremony of the 2011 Special Olympics in Athens (June 25 ~ July 4) since he is the Global Ambassador of the Special Olympics
• Basketball and other commercial related activities in July and August
• Continued rehabilitation on his ankle.

Yao visited an elementary school in Houston today to make good on a commitment he made for an auction from the Tux & Tennies Gala. Lucky first-grader Jackson Loyd’s parents won the auction to have Yao visit Jackson’s school today.

Click here and here for more photos from Yao’s visit at the school (courtesy Houston Chronicle).

Yao also told a Chronicle reporter today that he had a checkup on his ankle Wednesday, and the report is positive that the stress fracture is healing properly. Yao said he doesn’t know yet if he will be able to play next season, but will know more by August or September.

Currently, Yao said he is able to do some light jogging and weight lifting. If he can play next season, he would like to play in Houston.

“I’d like to be here. Nowhere else is better than Houston for me right now.”

Rockets’ owner Leslie Alexander and GM Daryl Morey have expressed an interest for Yao to return if he’s healthy.

In case you’re not subscribed to Yao’s Twitter feed or his Facebook page, here’s a link to lots of great photos of Yao in San Francisco last week where he attended the WildAid charity gala, as well as shot a public service announcement spot along the Embarcadero in San Francisco to reduce the consumption of shark fin soup.

In case you missed it, Yao Ming has returned from China and was in San Francisco yesterday to attend the first annual WildAid Charity Gala to recognize his efforts to reduce the consumption of shark fin soup. Here’s a story on it in the forum, and photos of Yao filming a public service announcement in San Francisco earlier in the day:

Here’s the PSA that Yao participated in a couple of years ago…

Hot off the press here.

Yao Ming has been back in China since late last week. He started off by attending the prestigious 2011 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, attended by major politicians and business leaders of various Asian countries.

He then held a basketball clinic at the Qionghai Sports Academy in Qionghai City of Hainan, where this photo was taken of an arena going crazy upon Yao’s appearance.

Yao will be in China for 2 to 3 weeks, then returning to Houston around early May.

You can checkout many more photos like this and all of the coverage of Yao in China in the forum, thanks to Raymond.

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