Our first day of the meetings brought together about 70 water leaders from the central government and many provinces.  Speaking and listening with the help of simultaneous translators was a first for me, and the exchange of ideas was very interesting. 

The day ended with a traditional banquet hosted by the Ministry of Water Resources. The food was excellent, but the real entertainment value came from the toasts. Toasting is, I came to find out, an indispensable component of the Chinese banquet and there were many, many over the course of the evening. The small glasses are continually refilled with a potent liquor called baijiu and then downed at once with the Chinese toast "gan bei" which means bottoms up (literally: "dry glass.")  I had the foresight to tell my translator that I don't drink - a white lie that no doubt saved me a rough night and a mean hangover.