As part of The Chronicle's coverage of the Warriors' trip to China, beat writer Connor Letourneau is posting regular first-person accounts of what he observes. SHANGHAI, China — Far too often, I catch myself complaining about the grind of an NBA beat writer: the 6 a.m. flights, the weekends crammed with work, the seemingly endless deluge of stories to write. It doesn't take long, however, for me to find some perspective. I get paid to travel the country — and, in this case, the world — to write about basketball. My 12-year-old self would be ecstatic to know I'm doing what I daydreamed about in middle school.