Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant just completed a 5-day, 5-City tour for Nike billed as the Supernatural '07 tour. The tour has taken him to Manila, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai and concluded Sunday in Beijing. As I mentioned a few days ago, more and more companies like Nike are bringing their marquee endorsers to Asia for tours like this because the real battle for new consumers will be fought over here in the future - because of the 1.3 billion potential consumers. Its almost standard language in most marquee athlete contracts now that the athlete will tour the Asian market during the duration of his contract......sometimes several times as in the case of players like Kobe, LeBron James and adidas endorser Tracy McGrady.

Bryant is the most popular NBA player in China and has the league's top selling jersey, in large part because of his enormous jersey sales in China.

Since I'm in Beijing, I took some time to follow Kobe on Sunday. I first attended a press conference organized by Nike for the Beijing media. Bryant spent about 20 minutes each with two large groups of Beijing media answering their questions. The questions weren't very well thought out and were very different than the questions Kobe receives from the U.S. media. For instance the first question asked was why Kobe is always one step behind Michael Jordan. The reporter said that Kobe wears number 24 and Jordan wore number 23. He then said Kobe wears number 10 for Team USA and Jordan wore number 9. It was a bizarre question and not the best way to start the press conference....for Kobe or for the Beijing media.

Kobe did have an interesting exchange with a reporter though where he went in to great detail as to why he admires Batman more than Superman (he basically said Superman was born with his supernatural powers while Batman is just a man who had to get stronger and stronger over time to develop his skills as the "caped crusader"). OK. It was definitely the first time I had ever heard Kobe Bryant (or any athlete for that matter) comparing and contrasting Superman and Batman.

Kobe then made a brief appearance at the new Nike store in Wangfujing, one of the premiere shopping districts in Beijing.

But the main event was in the ultra-trendy 798 Art District in Beijing in a Building called 706 and rented by Nike. The space is basically  a big warehouse that has been transformed in to an inner city basketball court. Imagine Rucker Park in New York City.

And Nike knows how to throw a party (watch video of the setup prior to the party and how some of the Nike product was displayed here). I've done some work for Nike in the past and can tell you that they cut no corners when it comes to wowing people with their events and making their brand as chic as possible with consumers and key influencers. The 500 or so Beijing fans ate up every bite Nike and Kobe served them tonight at the event that had a "Hollywood" feel to it (check out all of the people taking pictures in the below video clip).

Everything was chereographed to a tee. From Kobe's grand entrance to his tossing Nike memorabilia to the adoring Chinese fans at the end of the hour long show. And Kobe's Nike Zoom Kobe II's were displayed just so, as were his Team USA and Lakers jerseys.

There was a DJ to spin hip hop records and keep the vibe at the party upbeat (watch video of Beijing musicians and dancers performing at the event here). Even the stoic Chinese security guards on hand showed they are big fans by diving for Kobe memorabilia when he tossed some items in to the crowd.

Kobe is huge in Beijing and may be the most popular U.S. athlete competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics by the time they arrive. LeBron James and Tracy McGrady are popular here, but Kobe seems to be King for now. The people in this part of the world don't seem to care about any of his past indiscretions, all they want to do is admire his basketball ability and wear his product. He's somewhat bullet proof in this market you might say.

Want to get a feel for the Kobe Bryant Nike "Supernatural '07" event this evening in Beijing? Check out some of the video I shot here (please keep in mind I am a radio broadcaster and not a seasoned videographer when you are watching the video):