Reporter's Diary: Traveling in China's Guizhou
Sean Callebs

Guizhou is the province.

Guiyang, is the city.

No matter how many times I delivered that mantra to myself, once the live filming starts, I couldn't help but ask myself "was that right?"

Mountains in Guizhou Province. /CGTN Photo

Mountains in Guizhou Province. /CGTN Photo

One thing I will never forget is the rugged terrain, and sheer beauty of this area. I lost count of the number of times I have been to China, but I was very excited about this trip. 

I was involved in the Real Time China trip last December, doing live reports to assist live shows anchored from "The Bus."

This time, I have the pleasure of not only being on the bus, but also getting a close-up view of an area of this massive nation that I have never traveled to before. 

I was unprepared for the sheer raw beauty of Guizhou Province; its plush, forested mountains.

The actual room where Zunyi Conference took place. /CGTN Photo

The actual room where Zunyi Conference took place. /CGTN Photo

I arrived during rainy season, and with the precipitation, mist would often hang in the valleys and chasms.

I had only passing knowledge of the Zunyi Conference before our first stop on our 12-day tour. I think everyone in our group was hit with the sense of history as we toured the modest two floor building, where back in January of 1935, late Chinese leader Mao Zedong established his authority within the military.

In between our many live reports, a wonderful tour guide took us to the second floor where the actual meetings took place. That was special.

There were just 20 men debating the future of China back then. The room remains the same, modest, simple furniture in what I am sure were cramped quarters.

Tourists display Chinese national flag at the site of Zunyi Conference. /CGTN Photo

Tourists display Chinese national flag at the site of Zunyi Conference. /CGTN Photo

That meeting set the wheels in motion to help create what China is today. Our adventure across three different regions of the nation is called New China. Guizhou Province is wonderful microcosm of this new land.

Just a poor rural outpost, Guizhou is emerging as a possible hub for new technology and a home for Huawei, Tencent, Alibaba and international companies to store and process their big data.

My co-anchor Tao Yuan says Guizhou Province is like a hidden gem, a mountainous area many are just beginning to discover.

We have seen so much in just a short time and our goal is for viewers to feel the excitement we have traveling across the country.

With that in mind, I hope everyone sticks with us, and enjoys the ride.