Superbowl XLVIII champion Russell Wilson and his Grammy award-winning wife Ciara were in China last week, hitting up all the touristy spots in Shanghai and Beijing.
Wilson arrived in Shanghai to teach football techniques to Chinese youth, as well as college athletes.
The Seattle Seahawks quarterback commenced his 2017 China Tour at the Alisports office, where he worked with children on football techniques, answered questions from his fans and trained outdoors with children and college athletes.
Kids, all of them sporting his jersey of course, got the opportunity to play and learn from Wilson, participating in games like 'musical football' and throwing the pigskin around. He also taught them techniques, such as where to place your fingers along the strings of the ball.
When asked what are the most important techniques to teach children who want to play football, Wilson said, "Every kid is different. Some kids can run really fast, some kids are taller, bigger, smaller - every kid is different. You teach to the kid, you teach to the indivdual. I think that is what every great coach does in the sense of teaching."
When asked if he planned to continue to travel internationally to teach kids about American football, he said, "I definitely plan on coming back here every year."
Said Wilson:
"It will be my goal to come every year to China, to get to know you guys culturally and to experience what it means to teach guys football, and learn from you all as well. That is the plan with Alibaba, Nike and everything else. China is at the forefront of my mind, and maybe Mexico. London also wants me to go over there, so I might go over there at some point, but I definitely think coming to China a bunch because its actually not that far for me. It's been exciting to be here, how could I not come back here a bunch? I love it here, it's amazing, the culture here is really remarkable. It's an amazing experience."
Some lucky fans we even able to get Wilson's autograph after he finished training with the players.
Both Wilson and Ciara also made the trek over to Shanghai Disneyland with the singer's son, Future Zahir.
Following the stop in Shanghai, the family headed up to Beijing, where Russell was spotted practicing some drills on the Great Wall of China. As you do.
He and Ciara also posed for some photos on the Mutianyu section of the Wall before riding toboggans back down.
Later on, the two were spotted shopping in the hutongs of Nanluoguxiang:
Photos by Allison Bew, Chris Giles from Dragon Media, Ciara and Russell Wilson
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