The first team squad completed their first training session in China this evening, and took a look at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium.

Arriving at around 5.30pm local time, the squad changed before emerging into the 80,000 capacity stadium, empty but for the scores of Chinese media allowed in to watch the action.

As already reported, missing were the injured pair of Didier Drogba and Claudio Pizarro, as well as Juliano Belletti and Tal Ben-Haim, who have not travelled to the Far East.

The stadium itself reminds slightly of Porto's Estadio do Dragao, with curved, elevated sides and lower ends. There is also a large distance between pitch and stands, due to the running track around the outside.

Played out in hot and humid conditions, it was a shorter than usual session, with an abundance of vest tops worn for training. The pitch appeared to cut up slightly during the session, despite being unusually dry.

The entire session focused on match practice after a short warm-up and games of keepy uppy, with the squad splitting into two 11-a-side teams, with a match played on half a pitch.

Typically, play was of a high standard with two notable highlights. The first was Hilario's low save when one-on-one with Frank Lampard, and the other a superb team goal finished off by Salomon Kalou.

That move involved Nicolas Anelka, Deco and Joe Cole before the Ivorian, who will be at the Beijing Olympics this summer, finished calmly beyond Petr Cech.

The session rounded off what has been a long couple of days for the squad, beginning with meeting at Cobham on Sunday morning in the UK, followed by a 12-hour flight and only limited rest time before the intense session.

Another one follows tomorrow evening before the big kick-off against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical on Wednesday, which you will be able to watch live on Chelsea TV.