The Chinese Communist Party has told its members to embrace austerity after a series of embarrassing revelations about extravagant business trips.

The latest scandal came when 14 officials from the southern province of Guangdong went on a two-week junket around Africa and the Middle East that included a stay at the Burj al-Arab, a seven-star hotel in Dubai.

The junket, which included stops to buy diamonds and a belly-dancing show, was exposed by Chinese bloggers last week.

The head of the trip has now been fired for wasting public money and ordered to repay the bill of over 450,000 yuan ($65,000).

These trips seem to be a persistent problem in China much as they are elsewhere as government waste exists in all places.

Last December, officials from Zhejiang spent around $95,000 on a trip to the U.S. and officials from Xinyu spent around $48,000 on a trip to Canada

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