Video of the Day: Yao Ming PSA about shark fin soup

We recently covered the controversy over shark fin soup, so no need to rehash that. However, we were interested in this video staring Yao Ming, arguably the most famous – and popular – Chinese national in the world. In the ad, diners decline to eat shark fin soup after witnessing just how inhumane it is.

Yao, of course, is the dominant center on the NBA’s Houston Rockets. That’s when he’s not nursing the injuries that caused him to miss 77 of 82 games last season. In fact, he’s missed 168 games over the last five seasons. Perhaps he could have used some of the shark fin’s alleged medicinal and virility-enhancing properties. What? Too soon?

Chinese Tourists Try to Copy Superstar’s Honeymoon

If tourism in Europe soared to all-time highs in August, they have Yao Ming and his new bride, Ye Li, to blame. The Chinese superstar basketball player married Li, also a basketball player, in China in August and promptly whisked his new wife to Europe for the honeymoon. The result was many adoring fans trying to book a trip similar trip to Europe, hoping to bump into the new couple or at least copy a piece of their seemingly ideal life. Here’s the thing though: no one knows exactly where the couple went. Many flocked to Europe nonetheless.

The same thing happened after Brad and Angelina inadvertently boosted tourism to Namibia just by virtue of being there, but I for one don’t understand the desire to travel somewhere just because a celebrity has gone there.