The Chelsea players rested in their hotel on Monday afternoon ahead of their first training session in China, but club officials were at large as the Asia tour gathered momentum.

Adjacent to Guangzhou where the team are staying and playing a match is Foshan, a continuation of the urban landscape but distinct to the extent that the police escort leading the visiting Chelsea delegation was swapped for another at the 'city limits'.

It was here in Foshan that the Grand Opening Ceremony for Wednesday's match between Chelsea and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical was held. There was more to the visit too with a sports hall full of eager Chinese Chelsea supporters waiting to discover if they would win a memorable prize.

Those who weren't one of six lucky fans drawn to visit the players' hotel were still the first to hear Peter Kenyon publicly announce that Brazilian international Robinho is the one player more the club would like to sign this summer.

The city of Foshan is the focal point for China's ceramics industry - both in manufacture and retail; a craft going back 2,000 years that currently extends an export umbrella over Europe, with Spain and Italy both customers.

The company of Kito, one of the top five ceramic manufacturers in the country, is the sponsor for the Chelsea China Challenge Game that opens the pre-season match action.

Kito invited Kenyon to their headquarters, accompanied by other staff involved in organising the tour plus Graeme Le Saux, accompanying the team in his role as ambassador for the club's corporate social responsibility programme.

At the opening ceremony, presentations followed a welcoming talk by Mai Jie Hua (pictured right), deputy mayor of Foshan. The Chelsea chief executive received a beautiful guilded paper picture and a ceramic statue, traditionally titled 'Conquer the World,' with wishes from the deputy mayor that just such a feat will be achieved in a football sense.

Both items will soon be making their way to the newly-refurbished museum at Stamford Bridge.

Autographed Chelsea shirts were presented to the deputy major and Yeung Zhun Fu, Foshan's minister for sports administration.

Minutes later, the Chelsea delegation arrived at the Football Fan Meeting where the draw was made for the hotel visit prize, with Le Saux and Kenyon meeting in person many of the supporters who had gathered.

'We are delighted to bring our top stars here to China for the first time to play a game on Wednesday,' Kenyon told them.

'We'd like to say thank you for your very warm welcome.

'We've brought two players into our squad this season who are both with us, José Bosingwa and Deco. We are hoping that we can sign one more player before the closing of the transfer window and we are in talks with Real Mardid with regards to Robinho.'

Le Saux added: 'Chelsea have a manager many clubs in many countries would want and I think this is going to be an incredibly exciting season for the football club - and so should the game on Wednesday with the new players on show plus many other great players.'