Here are a few ultimate truths I've learned so far in travelling half way around the world.

First, China is a LONG way from home. I know you understand that in the big picture, but it takes on another meaning entirely in the twelve and a half hours it takes just to fly from Detroit to Tokyo.

In other terms, that's enough time to watch Spiderman III, Shrek III, The Ex, The Rise of the Silver Surfer and several episodes of The Office. All of which I did.

Then it's another three hours to Beijing where we stayed overnight then in the morning flew another hour to Jinan, about another an hour away from Zibo.

Here's another truth.

The world isn't built for people my size. Whether it's the airplane seat or the shower stall or the ceiling height, it's clear that I'm 10 pounds of potatoes and the world is an 8 pound sack.
(Note to self: When we get home, lose a couple pounds of potatoes).

But at least we're here.

Tomorrow starts a lot of official pomp and circumstance and tours of the state's television facilities as well as several museums and Zibo's world class china operations.

Be sure to check out our stories on WSEE every night at six and I'll give you more behind the scenes stuff right here!

One of the biggest fears for delegation members heading to China was over food.
The Chinese palate has a flair for the exotic, at least to Westerners, and there was real concern that we would not be able to find anything we considered edible.
Most of the delegation members had carry on luggage full of trail mix and granola bars and beef jerky.
Just in case.
We were also given shots to protect against food borne illness.
Just in case.

Turns out nothing could be further from the truth. The food has been great so far, and every dinner has different offerings.
We've been told that the menu was "Westernized" a bit and doesn't really carry the local flavor.

Maybe we'll head out on the town later on this week to find out what the locals eat.
Maybe I'll just hang around the hotel.

When you're in a country ruled completely by the government, being a politician isn't a bad thing.
And when you're the lead politician of a group, that makes you the big dog.
And like they say, if you're not the lead dog, the view's all the same.

The Chinese are paying special attention to the American delegation this week, and since Mayor Joe Sinnott is our leader, he is getting special attention too.
Every move he makes is photographed or videotaped by someone.
When we were picked up at the airport, there was a police escort followed by a private car for the Mayor, and then a bus for everyone else.
It's led to some ribbing asking the Mayor how the other half lives.

When we visit someplace, the leaders come out and stand on the steps to welcome us, always directing their attention toward Sinnott.
It's his party and we're just guests in the background.
The police even shut down traffic (no small feat in a town of 4.2 million) to make sure the Mayor gets to his next stop on time.
I asked him if he wants that treatment when he returns home.
He says he likes things just the way they are.

I don't know what linquists would say, but for my money Chinese has to be one of the most inaccessable languages on the planet.
When we travelled to Europe last year, there were at least clues in the words that could relate to the English language.
For instance, in Germany, the request for uncarbonated water is "still vasser" (still water).
But with people here it is a completely foreign alphabet, read right to left, with four vocal inflections that can change the meaning of words.

We would be completely lost without Linda, who is our interpreter, our guide and our mother hen.
We're kept on a very tight schedule, and Linda keeps us always moving forward.
Linda's not her name by the way, but she says it's easier to call her that than her real name.
From what I've seen so far, I'm betting she's right.

Depsite the language barrier, the Chinese people usually go out of their way to be helpful.
News Director John Christianson went inside a tiny store to ask directions and learned quickly through some meaningless hand gestures that no one spoke English.
When he finally made his request known, one of the young workers not only walked us outside, but walked several blocks with us to take us exactly to the store she was describing.
Now that's service.

We've watched a lot of Chinese workers while we've been here, and I can tell you, they work hard and for very little money.
The average Chinese worker makes about 200 dollars a month
Artisans can spend weeks working on a single piece, the results can be whimsical like my Buddha friend here, or they can be downright stunning.

Either way, it's clear that we just can not mass produce products more cheaply than the Chinese can. The same way we have lake water in abundance, they have people, and that many people wanting jobs will keep wages low, even with China's current boom which is creating a new level of middle class.

Let's face it, the Chinese have been making goods out of metal and wood and clay for thousands of years. We visited a commerce street in the Old City of Zibo that was 3400 years old! America's last birthday was 231!

What we're learning though, is that American companies can partner here to strengthen the bottom line on items that make sense to mass produce, and we have to be smarter at home to develop business that uses specialty technologies or emerging science that the Chinese don't have.
It won't be easy, but we don't have 3400 years to figure it out, either.

Despite appearances, this is not a picture of the Mayor partying while out of town.
It's the Mayor doing his job, and when you're being hosted by the Chinese, doing a few drinks is part of the daily grind.
The Chinese are world class toasters and I don't mean that they turn bread brown for breakfast.

Visitors are met by the highest ranking party or government official who welcomes them to sit down to eat.
Then that leader stands up and offers the first toast of the night, usually with some really good locally made Chinese wine, about a third of the glass.
Then, as young women scurry around trying to refill the glasses, the leader of the visiting party
(aka the Mayor) must toast to the expectations of the meet and greet.
Then anyone who's anyone stands up and gives a toast to the group, which usually happens
before the host walks around and personally does a toast to each and every delegation member.
And if you don't think the Chinese have game, just consider that there are 16 members of the Erie group.
It would be one thing if you could just sip your toast, but the Chinese have an answer to that, too.
I don't know the Chinese spelling of the word but it sounds like "Gum-Bay!" It means "bottoms up" and you must empty your glass and then show the glass to the host so he knows you're serious.
You really have to watch your "Gum-Bays" or you could be "Gum-Bye-Bye" by the salad course.
The Chinese don't do business with strangers.
But to be their friend risks never making it to dessert, which is just as well since the Chinese don't end meals with sweets.

One of the overwhelming first impressions for delegation members looking to drum up business in China is the air quality.
More specifically, the lack of air quality in China's industrialized cities.
There is a palpable smog here, not the kind that creates purple sunsets, but the kind where seeing the next building becomes difficult.

We've also been noticing a dryness in the throat and a dirty film that covers cars parked in one place too long.
It seems clear that China's environmental law is not keeping pace with her explosive growth.

I asked one of the district governors in Zibo about infrastructure, if China was able to keep up the roads and sewers and water supplies needed for all the new companies.
But either the question got lost in the language or he was clearly looking for a place to address the air quality issue.
'We are focused on environmental protection," he assured us through an interpreter.
"We are focused on improving the lives of our workers,"
They may need to hurry. Delegation members visited an abrasives plant where sand and silicate were being ground into fine powder for machining parts. The workers wore no
breathing protection.
China will have to work quickly, or all of the citizens may need help breathing soon.

We couldn't go all the way to China and back without spending one day as Ugly American Tourists.
The next few entries will show you some of that.

Going to Beijing and not seeing the Great Wall of China would be like coming to Erie and not seeing any water.
More than a million people died building what is ultimately the granddaddy of all neighborhood fence disputes.
Longer than the United States is wide, the Great Wall was the Emperor's way of keeping China together and keeping the hordes out.

Contrary to popular belief, a Chinese astronaut recently confirmed that you can NOT see the Great Wall (or any other man made structure) from outer space, kicking off a Great Debate among Chinese educators about whether all of the text books should be changed.
I don't know if these pictures convey just how steep this wall is in places, I mean it is straight up and down, and the steps are not evenly spaced.
More than a few delegation members complained of leg aches and pains the next morning, but we simply could not visit this place without standing where sentries did hundreds of years ago, one long testament to the grit and determination of a people we have yet to fully understand.

I don't know what sense of pride or belonging the Chinese people get out of walking the pavement of Tiananmen Square.
I do know that it is a focal point for Chinese tourists and often a destination point for pilgrimages from around the country.
Able to hold one million people at the same time, the square was part of the area where visiting
dignitaries could pitch camp while waiting for an audience with the Chinese Emperor.
Since the visitors travelled far and usually sought money, it made no sense to go home empty handed so sometimes they would wait for months for a few minutes of time.

But for me, and I suspect many Americans, there is a chilling sensation when walking the ground where a group of kids in 1989 stood up to the machine, literally, in protesting for democratic reform by risking their lives by standing in front of government tanks.
This Associated Press picture culled from an Internet library remains one of the defining images of freedom from the end of the last century.

That brings me to Mike, our tour guide, a tall and affable 25-year old Chinese student who taught himself English and practices words with his tour groups.
Mike (a name he uses to spare visitors the real pronunciation) knew an awful lot about Chinese history in general and the history of the Square in particular.
Until delegation members asked him about the 1989 uprising.

Then his face went blank.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said in perfect honesty.
The people were never told.
Complain about the media all you want. A lot of the criticism is justified.
But sometimes it takes going half a world away, to realize the price of the alternative.