Chinese NBA star Yao Ming and his girlfriend Ye Li, rarely showing up together at public occasions, attend at a commercial promotion event in Beijing July 26, 2006. The 2.29-meter (7-foot-6-inch) Houston Rockets center is Beijing preparing for the upcoming World Championships in Japan in August. Yao and Ye were helping promote a Chinese mobile phone service operator. [newsphoto]

Chinese NBA star Yao Ming looks at his girlfriend Ye Li at a commercial promotion event in Beijing July 26, 2006. The 2.29-meter (7-foot-6-inch) Houston Rockets center is Beijing preparing for the upcoming World Championships in Japan in August. Yao and Ye were helping promote a Chinese mobile phone service operator. [newsphoto]