Covering PM John Key's Asia visit
Kate Chapman is a parliamentary reporter for NZPA. She received Asia:NZ media programme assistance to accompany the Prime Minister on his official visits to South Korea, China and Vietnam in July 2010 .
Being plucked out of the depths of a Wellington winter and thrown into the heat of Asia was always going to be a shock. More so when the first thing we saw after arriving in Seoul was the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that marks the border between North and South Korea.
Heat stroke aside, the culture shock was turned up a notch when the North Korean soldiers came down to the demarcation line to find out what was happening in the south. They stood with serious looks on their faces, hard helmets on their heads and binoculars to their eyes – despite us being less than a metre away. We were told not to point or we may end up on a North Korean propaganda poster.
South Korea was the first stop of our 10-day Asian tour following Prime Minister John Key. Seoul passed in a whirlwind of business breakfasts, meetings and roundtable events. There was also a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 45 New Zealand servicemen killed during the Korean War 60 years ago. A number of New Zealand grandchildren of servicemen who fought in the Korean War were present for the ceremony as part of a trip back to the country their grandfathers fought to defend. After three days in Seoul we were on our way to Beijing.
Mr Key's meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of the People was an interesting experience. Media were allowed into the meeting for the first five minutes and then waited outside before the signing ceremony. A red rope marked out where the media was to stand.
In Shanghai, the main focus was the World Expo. New Zealand's pavilion at the Expo has been talked about for the kapa haka performances outside, a giant piece of pounamu at the entrance and the rooftop garden. It really is a slice of Kiwiana in the middle of a sprawling Chinese city.
The Expo is an opportunity for countries to sell themselves and for the Chinese to experience cultures, food, dance and everyday life so distant from their own. From what I saw those who visited the New Zealand pavilion were enamoured.
I had not been back to Shanghai since my stint there as a journalist intern almost four years ago. I was surprised by how much I recognised. In Shanghai buildings come down and are replaced by new concrete and glass constructions overnight, so it was reassuring that even in one of the biggest and most rapidly changing cities in the world I could still find the same tea house I had frequented years before.
The final leg of the 10 day tour was Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam was completely different from the previous three cities. It seemed small - after being in cities of more than 20 million people, despite having a population of around seven million. It was hotter, things were less organised, although not for want of trying, and little thought had been given to how the media would fit into the various events.
The Vietnamese Government had asked Mr Key to visit ahead of their hosting of the East Asia Summit later this year and I think our visit will have given them food for thought when organising that event.
Overall the trip showed the diversity and reach of Asia and its importance to New Zealand both economically and as a regional partner.
Photos I took throughout the trip were used by New Zealand media, including the Dominion Post, New Zealand Herald, Otago Daily Times. They were also widely used on the Internet, including on TVNZ, TV3, Yahoo!Extra and the New Zealand Herald's websites. The stories were also carried widely on the Internet. Many also appeared in the New Zealand Herald and in regional papers around the country. I wrote a range of stories, not solely politics. There were business pieces, human interest stories, funnies and a feature on the Shanghai Expo.
