C Ray? Not lately. Try China.

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It appears Hizzoner has left New Orleans for a . . . fact-finding visit to the People's Republic of China. Yeah, that's the ticket.

UHHHHHH . . . He's going to study the Great Wall. Yeah, that's right.

He's going to see whether it can be duplicated in the Crescent City as a levee to defend against a 1,000-year storm.

Yeah . . . of course. He's going to save the city. You'll see.

WRNO radio has the straight poop . . . uh, scoop:

The Mayor of New Orleans has begun his 6 day trip to China.

Ray Nagin left yesterday and will return next Sunday.

The Mayor is travelling to Zhengzhou to later join 400 Mayors from China and around the world in participating in the International Mayor's Forum on Tourism, April 9th-11th.

He'll also visit Beijing and Shanghai.

Nagin is joined on the trip by the city's director of international relations, Lisa Ponce de Leon and by a representative of the New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center.

According to the Mayor's press office, the trip will include private meetings with Chinese officials who are working "in areas of investment and distribution" and it says Nagin will participate in panel discussions on a variety of topics including emergency preparedness and tourism development.