One of the most highly-anticipated US season openers will be staged in Shanghai for the third consecutive year, when UCLA meet Georgia Tech in the Pacific-12 Conference China Game on Saturday. 

This annual event is part of an initiative to increase cultural exchanges between universities, sports organizations and people in the two countries. 

Wednesday's introductory press conference will take place at the Shanghai Disney Resort. The University of California - Los Angeles is hoping to have a "beary" good time, and not get "stung" by the Georgia Institute of Technology. 

Opening remarks were made by Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, along with officials from the Federation of University Sports of China and the contest's presenting sponsor Alibaba, which recently signed a deal to distribute the league's sporting events on media platforms across this country. 

Coaches and players from the Pac-12's UCLA Bruins and the Atlantic Coast Conference's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets would then discuss this weekend's game, as well as the larger impact of starting their season on the opposite side of the globe. 

"It's a little different kind of opener for both of us. To be playing this kind of caliber team on a neutral site as an opener is very challenging and both teams have a lot of young players, so it could be a very interesting game," said UCLA coach Steve Alford. 

"I think just being able to absorb a new culture, because this is probably something I've... you know maybe possibly a once in a lifetime thing, maybe only a couple of times to like go and experience a culture that's completely different than mine. So just be able to like understand what it’s really like here and what the people are like and how everything works and kind of compare it to the US and be able to kind of like gain the best of both experiences," said Georgia Tech center Ben Lammers.