"Yi Jianlian will be far away when the Milwaukee Bucks touch down in Guangzhou to open a two-game exhibition trip to China in mid-October.

But the Bucks still are happy to play their part in the National Basketball Association's 2008 China Games, with a pair of contests scheduled against the Golden State Warriors.

The Bucks will play the Warriors in Guangzhou, where Yi once starred for the Guangdong Tigers, on Oct. 15. They will move on to Beijing for a second game on Oct. 18 at the Wukesong Arena, the venue for basketball in the recently concluded Olympic Games.

"It's an exciting start to our season, a world-class platform that we haven't had in 35 years," said Bucks vice president of business operations John Steinmiller.

"The country has followed the Bucks closely in the past year, and this is the NBA promoting its sport in China."

The Bucks drafted Yi with the sixth overall selection in the 2007 draft, and the 7-foot power forward started his first 48 games in a Milwaukee uniform. Injuries and fatigue took a toll toward the end of the season, but Yi still wound up with a respectable rookie season.

Yi was traded to the New Jersey Nets, along with forward Bobby Simmons, in a major deal that brought veteran small forward Richard Jefferson to the Bucks.

The Bucks and Warriors will meet at the 13,000-seat Guangzhou Gymnasium in the first NBA game to be played in that southern China city. The game will tip off at 7 a.m. Milwaukee time on Oct. 15, or 8 p.m. in China.

The game at the Wukesong Arena (capacity 17,173) is scheduled at 10:30 p.m. Oct. 17 (Milwaukee time), or 11:30 a.m. Oct. 18 in China.

A league source said there is a possibility the games will be telecast live in the United States on ESPN2, and they will be televised live in China.

The U.S. basketball team that won the gold medal with a victory over Spain on Sunday was embraced by Chinese fans throughout the Beijing Olympics.

"We had our best players and best style of play and teamwork on display," Steinmiller said of Team USA, which included Bucks star Michael Redd. "The Chinese fans saw NBA basketball at its best."

The trip to China marks the first time the Bucks will play a game outside the continental United States since they played an exhibition against the Phoenix Suns in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 24, 1972.

The Bucks and Warriors also will take part in the league's earthquake relief efforts through the NBA Cares program, supporting the rebuilding process in Sichuan Province, where a devastating earthquake hit earlier this year.

The NBA China Games are sponsored through the efforts of the NBA, the Chinese Basketball Association, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport and the Guangzhou Sports Bureau.

Milwaukee's remaining exhibition schedule also was released Wednesday, including six games in addition to the two in China. The Bucks will open on Oct. 6 against the Minnesota Timberwolves at