CHINA BY JUNKET.docVIP

CHINA BY JUNKET 　　Ever the dutiful employee， this summer I went on a Chinese state-run media junket under the banner “China through the Eyes of Foreigners” sponsored by China Daily， where I work as a videographer and English editor. Over the course of 16 days I traveled to Gansu， Shaanxi， and Zhejiang provinces as well as Tianjin with a group of photo journalists from Thailand， India， Philippines， Nepal， Indonesia， South Korea and Malaysia. These trips can be grueling since you never stop moving， and each day can last as long as 16 hours， all without a day off. The days would begin early， often at a hotel that either doesn’t have coffee or that serves something barely resembling it， and breakfast feels like a version of what you had for dinner the night before. The days often conclude with a dinner disguised as a baijiu drinking contest with local offi cials， which， frankly， I enjoy. Since moving to China， four years ago， I’ve been on a handful of these trips， and whenever I’m asked to participate， I always say， “Yes.” 　　 GANSU PROVINCE 　　Minqin County （民勤县）， about 230 miles north of Lanzhou in Gansu Province， is big on sunfl ower farming. Large tracts of land fi lled with sunfl owers bigger than dinner plates cover 90 percent of the county， a Van Gogh heaven. Sunfl owers require little water， so， with the surrounding acreage desert， the province leads the nation in sunfl ower oil production. Once out of those parched surroundings， the trip led to Hongyashan Reservoir （红崖山水库 H5ngy1sh`n Shu@k） in Minqin， the largest desert reservoir in Asia； it provides fresh water to about 300，000 people and farms throughout the county. 　　It was rather fi tting that the fi rst night―after a day of desert―ended with downing shots of baijiu with the local offi cials. Drinking with the locals is part of the job for these trips， and refusing to do so can be perceived as a sign of disrespect. 　　The next day―my head in no mood for sightseeing―we went to Tiger Pass （老虎口 L2oh^k6u），