TPT went to China to cover Gov. Jesse Ventura's diplomatic journey organized to bolster economic relations between the Midwest and the Far East.

Watch Ventura's Ventures in China in RealVideo

Mary Lahammer and videographer John Clouse sent daily updates from China :

Sunday: June 9
Gov. Ventura visited the Great Wall of China , the world's oldest and longest wall. Ventura huffed an puffed as he climbed 400 feet up the steep steps. His tour guide, William Lindesay, is leading an effort to preserve the 4,400 mile piece of history (www.wildwall.com). See and hear the governor's impressions of the biggest construction project in history.

Quicktime Video (320k) Ventura visits the Great Wall of China

Monday: June 10
Monday's activities for Gov. Ventura in China began with a meeting with U.S. Embassy staff who warned of the perils and rewards of doing business in China's burgeoning economy. Then Ventura and Minnesota 's delegation were treated to a special lunch with a Beijing Street Festival Theme. It was a chance for participants to network and promote Minnesota 's agricultural offerings. The governor then had a private meeting with a high-ranking Chinese official and then concluded the evening with big banquet at the Great Hall of the People.

Quicktime Video (677k) Ventura 's Beijing Street Festival-themed lunch
Quicktime Video (1 MB) Banquet and speech at the Great Hall of the People

Tuesday: June 11
Governor Ventura and the agriculture delegation traveled outside the city of Beijing to a Hormel plant. Ventura toured the processing plant and got a taste of meat adapted for the Chinese--it's not the Spam Minnesotans know. Later the governor told the American Chamber of Commerce in China that he has another mission in mind.

Quicktime Video (1.4 MB) Ventura visits Hormel plant

Wednesday: June 12
Minnesota 's trade mission wrapped up in Beijing with a visit to a local food market and a stop at the U.S. Embassy where Ventura privately greeted some American troops. Then about 70 people in the delegation left for the next leg of the journey in Shanghai .

Quicktime Video (750 k) Ventura visits local food market

Thursday June 13:
Mary Lahammer had an exclusive conversation with former Vice President Al Gore who is in Shanghai staying at the same hotel as Governor Ventura. Gore told Lahammer he didn't know about Ventura 's trade mission and didn't have any plans to meet with Ventura yet. Gore befriended Ventura during his presidential run. Later the two met face-to-face and called each other friends.

Meanwhile, the governor met with several high-ranking government officials in Shanghai , gave another speech and attended a ribbon cutting for a Minnesota-based law firm where he received another dragon as a gift representing power and leadership.

Quicktime Video (741 k) Ventura and Gore talking, Ventura accepts a gift

Friday June 14:
Governor Ventura and the trade delegation visited a 3M facility in China and then showcased another Minnesota company's products (Peidapals.com) at the Shanghai Children's Medical Center . The final evening in China was capped off with another ribbon cutting, a farewell reception and a Chinese acrobat show.