Reporters ready for prime time challenge

There are many ways to nail down a chance to raise questions to the Chinese premier at his once-a-year news conference, and snatching the microphone is one of them.

The Great Hall of the People's Golden Hall was filled with the smell of gunpowder on Sunday morning, when 800 reporters from China and abroad waited for the premier to address concerns over the country's future.

I got up at 5 am, took a bite of breakfast and hoped to grab a perfect seat in the upcoming war of media reporting. I was lucky to touch down on a seat in the first row, although there were dozens of reporters who had arrived earlier.