He admitted that there are many things the CBA needs to learn from the NBA as a league.

The fan experience was central to that for the fan favourite centre, who was voted All-Star starter as a rookie when the fan ballots were offered in Chinese for the first time in 2003.

That is a clue about how far ahead the NBA was even as long as 15 years ago – Yao Ming is a massive draw in China, so let’s engage those Chinese fans, the NBA quickly realised.

Not so much rocket science as Rockets savvy but proved right over the years, never more so than when Yao broke the record for All-Star votes previously held by Michael Jordan.

Even that simple online interaction is way beyond what passes for a fan experience in the CBA, and the NBA has turned on the style over the years both at home and for Chinese fans, as evidenced by the annual Lunar New Year advertising campaigns.

It’s at the stadium fan experience where China really lags.

China’s venues are way behind the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which will host the Super Bowl next month. What’s notable is the stadium’s commitment to prices staying the same no matter what’s on, whether that’s the Super Bowl, an Atlanta Falcons NFL game, a concert or MLS champions Atlanta United.

This is part of the reason the Falcons have been rated No 1 for food and drink by NFL and MLS fans. Never mind the Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s 1,264 beer taps – you can’t get a beer at most Chinese sporting events.

No club shops and nothing more than the most rudimentary food outlets are the norm for Chinese fans. Entertainment and music are hardly abundant either although the CBA has made the best fist of this. Their cheerleaders show something has been learned from the NBA already (and the heavily promoted slide shows on Sina Sports show someone is noticing).

There’s more to go, as Yao said, and with the number of overseas leagues staging games in China every year, there should be an increased expectation from fans when they get the Western production experience on their own doorstep.

Similarly, it’s notable many European football clubs such as Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United are pushing purpose-built fan experience centres in Chinese cities.

The country’s basketball fans will see when China hosts the FIBA World Cup in August.

Yao Ming might only be able to solve basketball’s ills but they could be a cure for all the rest of Chinese sport for that matter. While there is an active press, social media interaction and engagement varies wildly from side-to-side and, as Yao says, the CBA are chasing youngsters.

“From many old fans, to the ‘post-2000’ and ‘after 2010’ births, we want to make them all followers of the CBA league,” he said. Getting new fans in is as vital in China as it is anywhere.

That’s what is driving Major League Baseball club the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that has more fans through the gates than any other in sport. They know they need to stay in front.

Dodgers owner Peter Guber has tasked newly appointed business enterprise boss Tucker Kain with engaging the Snapchat and Fortnite generation. “If you don’t grow new tomatoes, you’re not going to have much marinara sauce in the future,” he told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

It’s a metaphor that might not hold as much weight for China where the fruit is not as ubiquitous as in Italian cuisine, but the spirit is right, even if when it comes to the fan, Yao is all about tradition: “In the process of learning from others, we have to find our own DNA,” he said in Qingdao.

“Every club should also have the DNA of the city to which the club belongs. For example, the DNA of Qingdao is different from that of Taiyuan. Taiyuan is different from Beijing and Guangzhou.

“In this way, a diversified league can meet the emotional sustenance of local fans.”

Fan culture with Chinese characteristics sounds like just the revolution a recipient of an Opening Up and Reform medal can deliver.