You can talk about multi-tasking, but there's only so much I can do at once. And, unfortunately, reflecting on the grandeur of the wall wasn't one of them.

CUSTOMS

I'm traveling with what must be 100 lbs. of audio, computer, and satellite equipment. Prior to arrival, I admit I was worried about what the Chinese customs officials would think of my luggage. Although I had already submitted a ridiculously detailed equipment list as part of my journalist's visa application, I had heard plenty of horror stories, including one by one of MPR's own engineers who helped setup Marketplace's Beijing bureau.

So I was relieved, to tell the truth, when I retreived my bags at the airport and strolled right through the "Nothing to Declare" line at customs. I dropped my bags at the luggage van for transport to the airport and hopped into the media bus set aside for Minnesota reporters traveling with the governor.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited -- and wondered where the other five reporters, photographers, and cameramen were. It turns out they were in customs; held up because a journalist (me) had somehow slipped through without getting the proper clearance. After many cellphone calls, they finally tracked me down and dragged me back into the airport. It's Chinese custom, I was told, to give incoming journalists a thorough screening.

I was worried the luggage van had already departed for the hotel, leaving me to explain to the customs officials what had become of my satellite phone (the type CNN had used to report on the detained U.S. air crew last year on Hainan Island -- a stunt the Chinese did not appreciate). But if the van had left, it was summoned back and unloaded to retrieve my bags. As it turns out the scrutiny wasn't quite so intense. They asked to see a number of the items on my equipment list, inquired about their functions, and then sent me and my tired, hungry, fellow journalists (who had been held up because of me) on our way.

THE GREAT WALL, PART I

The governor's first stop in China was the Great Wall, which makes sense since it's the largest tourist attraction in the world (in sheer size, for sure -- and I'm told in the number of visitors, as well). And on the day of his visit it rained. Reliable sources say it was the first day it had rained in the Beijing area in a month.

But forget about the rain for a second. We're talking about the GREAT WALL OF CHINA. I was standing on the GREAT WALL OF CHINA with Gov. Jesse Ventura. Odd, though, that I was so pre-occupied with Ventura and his entourage that I think I missed the wall.

When the governor arrived, there was a bit of media circus. It's tough, in those circumstances, to get close enough to catch the governor's comments with a microphone. Even tougher when my other hand is busy with a digital camera (well, where did you THINK those Web pictures came from?). Tougher yet walking backwards ahead of Ventura's gallery of aides and fans. And don't forget that's walking backwards up 600 unforgiving, steep, and uneven stone steps -- a rise of 400 feet it was estimated. Now throw in the rain and my desperate attempts to keep my equipment dry. You can talk about multi-tasking, but there's only so much I can do at once. And, unfortunately, reflecting on the grandeur of the wall wasn't one of them.

So, yes, I've been to the Great Wall of China. But I don't really remember it.

THE GREAT WALL, PART II

Back to keeping close enough to Ventura to record his comments -- I think, despite the obstacles, I did an okay job. The delegation photographer remarked, later, "This guy [me] is going to be in every picture." And I did record the governor panting for breath, didn't I?

	The governor's guide along the Great Wall was Mr. William Lindesay, originally of Liverpool, England. Lindesay has walked almost 1500 miles along the Ming Dynasty portion of the wall.

THE GREAT WALL, PART III

The governor's guide along the Great Wall was Mr. William Lindesay, originally of Liverpool, England. Lindesay has walked almost 1500 miles along the Ming Dynasty portion of the wall. He's a preservationist, a researcher, and the founder of International Friends of the Great Wall. You can visit him on the web at http://www.wildwall.com.

At the top of the climb, the governor stopped to catch his breath. Lindesay remarked that during Richard Nixon's visit to the wall the president said, "It really is a great wall," and that 30 years later George W. Bush said, "The wall's the same; the country's changed a lot." So Lindesay asked if the governor could offer an equally pithy quote. Ventura: "Well, don't mess with them [the Chinese] on horseback, anyway. I would say that for sure."

Okay, okay, who am I kidding? I couldn't have thought of anything better to say, either.