Bayern Munich have announced plans to tour China this season, with the intention of playing three games in three cities in the world's most populous country.
Keen to promote the Bayern brand on a global scale and repeat the success of last summer's tour of the United States, the Bundesliga champions will set off for China on 16th July and spend the next eight days in the vast country.
Named the Audi Summer Tour, Bayern will face Valencia in Beijing's world famous Bird's Nest Stadium on the 18th July, before travelling to Shanghai to meet Inter Milan three days later.
They will then compete against Guangzhou Evergrande on the 23rd July, a side currently managed by Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, and will return home in plenty of time for the new Bundesliga season kick-off on the 14th August.
Guangzhou have won the Chinese Super League title every year since 2010 and added the AFC Champions League title to their collection in 2013 - only the second ever Chinese team to win a competition that has been dominated by South Korean clubs in the last 10 years.
Speaking about the upcoming tour, Bayern board member Jörg Wacker, in charge of international strategy, understandably had very positive things to say.
"It is a great opportunity for FC Bayern to stage the China Tour together with our long term partner Audi,"
"The Audi Summer Tour in China is another further step in our international orientation, where the clear focus is on the USA and China. FC Bayern has nearly 90 million followers in China, who will have the opportunity to see one of the best teams in the world right up close during the tour."
We hope, Audi in South East Asia can look at the opportunity in the future to plan an Audi Summer tour for Bayern in three main cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok. Last Bayern visited Malaysia was in 1994 for a mini tournament during the oppening event of Stadium Shah Alam.