Flight LH 732 from Frankfurt arrived 40 minutes later than scheduled at Shanghai's gigantic airport. On board the plane were the Borussia Dortmund squad, who are set to spend the next nine days in the Middle Kingdom.

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Sporting Director Michael Zorc labelled the trip as a "healthy combination of training exercises, high-value matches and representative obligations". Despite the hot temperatures outside and the high level of air humidity, the team will encounter excellent training conditions in China. Four and a half hours after landing, at 14:00 CET, a public training session is set to take place in the Shanghai Stadium. At 21:00 CET coach Thomas Tuchel will have his charges back in action again, but this time on another pitch.

Up to and including Friday, when Borussia Dortmund play against Manchester United in the International Champions Cup (ICC), the Black and Yellows will continue living in the rhythm of Central European Time. Thereafter will follow a six-day wait until the second game against Manchester City, thus giving the squad enough time to adapt their body clocks. Up to and including Friday, the team is also free of representative obligations. "We will be focusing on the sporting aspect," emphasised Zorc upon departure.

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Following the 11-hour flight from Frankfurt to Shanghai, where over 1,000 fans offered a warm welcome at the airport, the team will now head to their hotel. Except for Marco Reus, who is set to return to team training in mid-August, and Neven Subotic, who needs an operation, the only other absentees are EURO 2016 participants Raphael Guerreiro, Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Julian Weigl. Matthias Ginter also had to pull out of the tour due to a gastrointestinal infection. Youth players Dzenis Burnic and Jacob Bruun Larsen (both U19s), as well as Marco Hober (U23s), are in the squad in China, having made a lasting impression in the previous four friendly matches.

In both International Champions Cup (ICC) venues – Shanghai and Shenzhen – there are a few PR activities on the agenda, though they will play a secondary role. "Taking part in this tournament is a one-off opportunity that we cannot miss out on," explained Borussia Dortmund's Director of Marketing, Carsten Cramer, who added: "We will be bringing the country and its people into contact with BVB." (br)