The Legislature sent 13 of its members, along with two staffers, to the Liaoning Province on a diplomatic mission to further Utah's only sister-state relationship. It was the Legislature's first taxpayer-funded trip abroad in memory.

The delegation's ranking members - Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble and House Majority Leader Dave Clark - defended the trip at a meeting of the Legislature's main budget committee just a few days after they returned. A more formal report on the eight-day trip will come next month.

Some lawmakers, a few lobbyists and news columnists have criticized the trip, the size of the delegation and the vaguely defined goals.

"This was not a go with your wife to go see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City," Bramble said.

But Utah's delegation did see both tourist sites, though they said they only had a short, insufficient amount of time because of their busy schedule.

"If it was a junket, I don't want to go on them anymore," said Senate Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich. "I would rather play golf."

Utah's lawmakers met nonstop with government officials from the city to the national level, Bramble and Clark said. They also visited a university, a middle school and some businesses.

Bramble said legislators planned to open "lines of communication" in four areas - governmental, cultural, education and economic - and they succeeded.

"Business in China begins with developing an approval and a relationship with a government officer," Clark said.

He said the true measure of the venture won't be taken for some time.

"The value of this mission will be what we do with these relationships from this date on," he said.

Bramble said after the meeting that he has already been contacted by some Utah businesses interested in his new Chinese contacts. He has yet to call any of them back because the delegation just returned to Utah on Sunday.

The trip may also impact public policy. Bramble said he will push for more Mandarin-language instruction in public schools and greater exchanges between colleges here and there.

Legislators were surprised by the size of the Chinese cities, their manufacturing plants and workforce.

"The scope of things in China was like nothing we were prepared for," Bramble said.

They were also not expecting to have such frank conversations with Liaoning officials.

Bramble said he was surprised that the trip was not "more orchestrated." Instead, government officials talked about the growing disparity between the wealthy and poor in China, about their educational challenges and free speech.

They found one area in particular that Utah and China can strike a deal - mining safety and environmental precautions.

Dmitrich, who is from Price, was Utah's point person on those discussions. He said the Chinese were interested in how Utah miners deal with methane gas. They also wanted to learn about clean coal burning technology.

"They were almost, I hate to exaggerate, on bended knee asking for help," Clark said.

The diplomatic exchange came in response to visits from Liaoning officials to Utah.

The trip cost Utah taxpayers about $36,000 for flights and some of the hotel bill. Chinese officials subsidized the hotel costs and also paid for in-country transportation, food and entertainment. Bramble estimated that the Chinese government spent about $36,000 as well.

Utah lawmakers have no immediate plans to return to China, but have discussed the possibility of leading a trade delegation with business leaders in the future.

mcanham@sltrib.com