Spice Girls announce new tour dates in China, US, Canada

LONDON - The Spice Girls announced new dates in China, the United States and Canada on Friday as part of a six-continent, 14-night reunion tour.

The British 1990s girl band, one of the most successful pop acts of all time, will now play in Shanghai in China, San Jose in California and Vancouver in Canada on the December 2007/January 2008 tour.

They have shelved plans to kick off the shows in Los Angeles, the adopted home city of band member Victoria Beckham, whose footballer husband David joined the LA Galaxy team earlier this month.

The first stop on the tour is now Vancouver on December 2.

It will then go to San Jose, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, London, Cologne, Madrid, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney and Cape Town before ending at Buenos Aires on January 24, 2008.

The Spice Girls sold over 50 million records worldwide and scored nine British number one singles, including "Wannabe" and "Spice Up Your Life".

They announced they were reforming for a comeback tour last month but have denied the move is financially motivated.

Some three million people have registered for a lottery for the chance to buy tickets, which promoters set up due to high demand.

"We have just found out that we've had over three million ticket requests on the website. As our own VB (Victoria Beckham) would say, that is 'major'!" the band said in a statement.

Fans can also vote for the band to come to their hometown on the website.