"We have all the tools we need to work (here) just like in any other place," Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes told a press briefing here.

"It's a good place where we can work and get in shape for the season."

The Catalan giants who finished second in the Primera Liga last season are in Beijing for an exhibition match on Sunday against Chinese league team Beijing Guoan.

New recruit Thierry Henry, Brazil's Ronaldinho and Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto'o, all arrived safely in Beijing and were expected to play.

Asian fans will however not see Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, Brazilian midfielder Edmilson or defender Carles Puyol, who have all missed the trip due to injury.

Meanwhile, Argentina's Lionel Messi and Gabriel Milito, and Mexico's Rafael Marquez are on holiday after playing for their national teams in the Copa America tournament.

With stops also in Japan and Hong Kong before they return to Spain on August 11, the tour has drawn criticism from some key players who have argued it could impact on training ahead of the Spanish championship that starts on August 25.

"It would be better to stay in Barcelona to prepare for next season. It is not easy to prepare in such a distant place," defender Gianluca Zambrotta said earlier this week.

"It is not easy for the players, the constant travel, the jet lag," the 30-year-old former Juventus player added.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has downplayed the objections, saying a pre-season tour of Asia carried out two years ago did not stop the club from winning the Primera Liga and the Champions League.

The club went on a two-week pre-season tour of the United States and Mexico in August 2006, which was blamed by several players, including Ronaldinho, for their lack of peak fitness when the season began.

The club also defended itself prior to their departure from Spain Thursday.

"The tour gives the team a unique way to maintain contact with more than 100 million Barca fans on the continent," the club said in a statement on its website.

The number of Barcelona fans in China has gone up six-fold in the last three years and seven-fold in the same period in Japan, it said.