The preliminary fixture list for the upcoming season of the Chinese Super League has been announced. Beijing Guoan are scheduled to start with a home game against Guangzhou Fuli on the weekend of March 10/11 and then follow it up with an early season grudge match against Shanghai Shenhua on March 16. It doesn't really get any better than Friday nights watching Beijing take on Shanghai under the floodlights - and with their new signings including the likes of Nicolas Anelka and Guoan's Joel Griffiths there's added spice. Come on you greens.

Below are some big games to look out for and Wild East Football have started to list the the full season here. Bear in mind that this is preliminary and subject to change. One factor that will certainly affect it is Beijing's AFC Champions' League progress (or not, based on previous campaigns).

The Wall Street Journal's China Real Time Report sent Loretta Chao to meet the coolest man in Beijing this week. Subway-riding, Weibo-loving shoe peddler Stephon Marbury allowed the reporter into his home. You can watch the interview below but don't go expecting anything like MTV Cribs. In fact, don't go expecting anything by way of excitement. We're pretty sure the WSJ would take the fun out of any interview, but the Beijing Duck comes across fairly well.

It's harvest time and you know what that means: Farmers' Games. A whole crop of them. Last week we told you how Shenzhen came out smelling of roses by refusing to participate but it's not such a positive tale this week. Shanghai held its Seventh Annual Farmers' Games and the tournament was rocked by a scandal. The ping pong competition was discovered to be a hotbed of deception. The champion was found to be ... not a farmer at all but a professional ping pong player who had faked his agricultural credentials. Disgusting enough on its own but this was just one of seven pro players who had smuggled their way into the top level of Shanghai-based agrarian community sporting competition. 

Gosh, it seems a long while since we last had a sports update on TheBeijinger.com. Heck, it seems nearly as long ago as when Li Na won the French Open. We all know that she’s not hit those heights since. We can now add the first round of the China Open to the list of recent failures. Luckily for Li, the head of the WTA thinks she’ll be fine.

For those that want to know who did win the China Open, it was Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the women’s singles and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the men’s singles. Shanghai tennis fans have been enjoying the likes of Rafael Nadal at the Shanghai Masters. This doesn’t really seem fair to us. Nadal’s crashed out now so I guess it serves those southerners right.

Beijing Guoan crushed opponents Henan Construction 3-0 in front of a very lively crowd of 38,000 supporters at Worker’s Stadium Saturday [Sep 24] night.  It was a night for the supporters, and some of the players said so much, a bit of revenge for the long night the fans experienced in Zhengzhou four months ago (more on that here).

Manager Jamie Pacheco made only a few slight changes from the midweek lineup; one was Walter Martinez coming on for Ladji Keita and made an instant impact coming close to scoring twice before finally heading in a Wang Xiaolong cross in the 20th minute.

After a long international break, Beijing Guoan was back in action Saturday night at Worker’s Stadium as they faced off against Liaoning Whowin in an important late season match.  While Guoan no longer has a chance at the title, with only eight matches left in the season, they are fighting to keep hold of second place, giving them entry in next year’s Asian Champions League. 

Last night, Beijing Guoan continued its unbeaten streak by crushing the Chengdu Blades 3-1 at Workers' Stadium.  The win pretty much solidifies their spot in the Asian Champions League next season.

The first half was a disappointing affair for fans of the Men in Green, one of the worst they’ve played this season.  It was hard to tell which side was second in the table and which side was in last place.

Beijing Guoan faced off against newly promoted side Nanchang on Saturday night and sleepwalked their way to a 1-0 victory at Worker’s Stadium.  It was great to finally see the Men in Green in the wins column after 3 straight draws.

Guoan’s goal came halfway through the first half when good passing freed up Joel Griffiths on the wing, he made a good, low cross to Wang Changqing in the middle who one touched it into the back of the net.  Wang’s not been given a lot of starts this season, but when he gets in the lineup he’s maximized his time with 3 goals and multiple assists.

Despite playing a side just above the relegation zone, Guoan failed to find the net again on the night.  The Beijingers produced countless opportunities, but much like in other matches as of late, the side simply couldn’t finish.

It could be said that the 2011 CSL season came down to last night's match between Beijing and Guangzhou.  The Beijingers went into the match 9 points behind Guangzhou with 13 games remaining, a daunting deficit to make up.  Unfortunately, a 1-1 draw means they didn’t make up any ground. The fans of both sides made it a special atmosphere: Close to 55,000 Guoan supporters showed up clad in green, with around 200 Guangzhou supporters making the long trip north for this one.

The first half came and went without much more than a couple half-chances for either side. Guangzhou kept the ball for much of the half, but Guoan still looked the better side.  This continued in the second half when manager Jamie Pacheco made some tactical changes in an attempt to grab all 3 points.

Beijing Guoan’s unbeaten streak reached 13 games last night as Xu Liang’s pair of goals led the capital side to a 2-1 victory over Jiangsu Sainty. It was another night of quality football in front of a very passionate Workers' Stadium crowd. "Passionate" can be taken literally: Gongti has become a popular destination to propose, with at least three proposals in the stands last night.