CHINA 2010 THURSDAY 1st JULY

After weeks of will we or wont we be returning to China this year it all happened rather quickly. 2 weeks of organisation between Juan (our contact in England), Hailong Manning Xiamen and ourselves and we were bound for China and a new Province for the next 3 months. As you can imagine we were excited and searching 'Google Earth' found Xiamen in the Fujian Province, South East China, looked our sort of place. A small island but easily accessible to the mainland.

Andrew was on a week's holiday due to brother-in-law Rob's wedding to Rachel on the 3rd, an occasion we had been invited to, so he was able to drive us to Humberside Airport for our late afternoon flight to Amsterdam. 2 hours in Amsterdam and an overnight flight of approximately 10 hours to Shanghai. Arriving in Shanghai at l.45pm local time the heat hit us. 36C! We were met by Mr. Liu from the Shanghai branch of Hailong Manning who was to escort us to Hongqiao Airport for the last leg of our journey to Xiamen. It was around an hour's drive to what we thought was Shanghai's old airport only to discover on arrival that it was a new International Airport where the landscaped gardens included topiary figures of the symbol for Expo 2010 now taking place in Shanghai. The temperature had risen to 40C!

Mr. Liu had hoped we would have time for a coffee together but once again at check in our suitcases set off the alarm as they passed through the X-ray machine and we had to go to the Inspection Room to have our cases open. We knew it was the cans of deodorant that was causing the problem and had no problems with the pleasant female official who was dealing with us. Mr Liu is due to visit Xiamen soon and hoped we would meet up then. Thanking him for all his help we said goodbye and made our way through more security and on to Gate 33. After a while it was announced that 'Due to air traffic congestion' our flight would be delayed until 18.30. Luckily we had a small amount of currency from our last visit so were able to have a cold beer at exhorbetant prices of course! After a 2 hour delay we set off as the sun began to set. Once through dense black cloud the sky cleared and we were able to see the lights of the various places as we headed south and to the coast and finally Xiamen. The flight took just over an hour in which time a meal was served but we only wanted a drink of water.

On arrival we were warmly welcomed by Mr. Li and Miss Li from Hailong Manning. They were not related. A welcome dinner had been arranged for us but due to the long delay this had been cancelled and we were taken to a restaurant in the city centre. We chatted easily with Mander and Helen (their English names). Despite our tiredness we soon perked up with the excellent meal, but so much of it!

A drive across the road and we arrived at our apartment block, which is across the road from the Office building where Keith will be working. The foyer was like walking into an hotel and stepping into the lift along with the locals we rode up to the 21st floor to discover we were in apartment no. 12. Stepping through the doorway we were delighted with their choice for our stay. We also had 2 bedrooms both prepared in case "we should fall out and want separate beds!" We later discovered how good it was to have air conditioning units in the bedrooms and the large lounge. Out on the balcony was the washing machine and 2 sinks. The night view of many illuminated buildings was lovely and Helen reminded us that we were not so far from the lake which was a good place to go in the evening. The sea was also close and finally the supermarket was below us too! Technicalities, such as a temperamental one burner gas hob and the water heater stored in the bathroom, explained they wished us a good sleep and Mander would see Keith outside the building at 10.30am to view his working conditions. After that we would have lunch and go for a drive. It was 12.15 and another day before we went to bed and yet we still found time to read our books!