Well we crossed the English Channel to Dover in fairly calm seas in spite of a stiff wind. Joanna wanted to see more of Kent so we set off on a tour anti clockwise round the coast. Night at Deal, then onto Sandwich (these and Rye, Hythe, Hastings etc are the Cinque ports designated to defend England from French invasion). All have lots of character but have long become silted up and ports no longer. Past Ramsgate where David spent 9 months living on a two masted barque before sailing to NZ, Margate, and Canterbury in the rain to see the cathedral. Then to Hastings and David's sister Maureen.
Time to enjoy a queen-size bed, showers, a full height ceiling etc etc – the easy life. Hastings maybe a bit of a left over from the great British seaside of the post war years but we are very fond of it. We enjoyed the local fish with Dover Plaice, Kippers, Haddock, Sea Bass and Cod plus David could have his traditional bowl of Whelks on the sea front.
From Maureen's house we walked through the old town and over the cliffs. We met friends from Lesotho, and from Cairo also visited cousins,nephews and nieces. We did manage a two day outing to the New Forest and to Lymington, finding a park for the night right in the town basin. 
Everywhere there were the traditional pubs to enjoy the local real ale brews and pub lunches in great bars, David rates the English real ale local beers number one in Europe (except for the price). Stan had a service and we had to fix the side lights which packed up. In the end we got used to driving on the left whizzing along narrow lanes with David driving as close as possible to hedge or bank and Joanna on the outside holding her breath as cars and the window mirror of vans and trucks passed very close, but at least the road surface is good and with the high driving position we can see over most hedges. However it can take for ever to cover small distances except when using motorways or duel carriageways.
The countryside in Kent and Sussex is always a surprise with so many fantastic views of trees, hedge rows and fields often with not a house in sight in spite of the overall population density in the UK South east, villages where even the modern houses have preserved to traditional character. Autumn colours made it especially good and the weather overall was fine. Blackberries mostly finished, but the height of the season for chestnuts as we walked through the woods near David's home village of Bidborough (to a pub for lunch of course). One of the new happenings on the Sussex south coast are the bonfires. It seems that every small town has a Bonfire Society, which just seems to be an excuse for partying and a bit of pyromania. The ‘bonfire men’ all dressed up hold a march , bonfire and fireworks in various towns at each weekend leading up the the finale at Lewes on or near to the 5th November. We watched the Hastings bonfire on the beach with fireworks amongst a big crowd of happy people and afterwards overflowing pubs..
Time to move on, we found out places to store Stan but Maureen decided that Stan could stay in her garden, so a final wash, polish and decommission, a meal in Tunbridge Wells with David's family and Heathrow.
Flight to China with plane change in Frankfurt. Well in Frankfurt is where things changed. The flight to Beijing was overbooked (due to bad weather cancellations the day before) and Lufthansa offered 600 Euro (1200 NZ$) per person plus hotel,
meal etc to anyone who would delay travel 24 hours – too good to pass up for travellers with no timetables. So a day looking round the old parts of the town left after the WW2 bombing. A tram to the end of the line at Schwanheim for lunch (soup with sausage at a stall) passing forests with beautiful Autumn colours. Our policy is always get a transport day pass if possible and enjoy free tram rides either round the town or out through the suburbs etc.
And so to Beijing a day later than expected, arriving in the morning. 
In contrast to our normal practice we took tours here to save time. Our ‘Days Inn’ hotel was very close to the Tiamannen Square which we walked to both at night (it’s closed in case of protesters passing unnoticed) to see the lights, and by day to see the vast number of Chinese groups in a sort of Mecca obligatory visit with photos etc. 
Quick visit to a Hutong (original crowded area with narrow streets and several families sharing small buildings and yard (not good as area has been ‘cleaned up’ prior to games etc).
Day two was the Forbidden City, impressive by its overall size with its squares and large wooden buildings dating from 15th century – home to the Emperor staff, councillors and his 3000 concubines.
We rose from Earthly Palace’ via Hall of Middle Harmony and other halls etc through courtyards to the final house of ‘’Superior Harmony’. Also the Park and Temple of Heavenly Peace finishing the day at the Summer Palace and park. Special evening dinner of Peking Duck at the internationally famous home of the dish at Quan Jude.
Day three was a long drive past the Olympic ,Birds Nest and Ice Cube’ (could hardly see them for the fog that hung over the city all the time) to climb the Great Wall. We chose the Mutianyu section(longer drive = less 
people and better Autumn 
scenery. As everybody says - very impressive and we managed a long walk on the wall with some very steep steps etc from tower 14 to 20 - farther than anyone else on the bus! As is usual practice on tours we had to visit a silk factory and a jade factory on the way. Beijing City is the centre for tourists from all over China – very few Westerners to be seen but everywhere masses of people moving in a stream. However streets are wide and lots of bikes and electric bikes, if we had stayed longer we would have rented them . However the fog haze meant long views were not to be had.
Caught the bullet train South for the 1500km to Shanghai. The intended look at the scenery was compromised by the haze but a good experience nevertheless. Our 
surprise in Shanghai was to be met, taken out for the day and dined by Elaine, one of the students Joanna’s sister had hosted in Auckland, her flatmate cousin showed around for another day and the student we had hosted 8 years ago also joined us for a final dinner. Our Nanjing Hotel was only 50m to the main pedestrian drag and shopping street(Nanjing Rd). Shanghai 
unlike Beijing is a bustling 20 million eastern city full of life with people doing all sorts of things, walking, bikes, trikes, scooters, cars etc- the sort of active scene we like.All is surrounded by a host of high rise building with architectural character. 
Part of the riverside sightseeing walk (The Bund) was closed for major redevelopment for the Shanghai Exposition in 2010, but a walk and drink on the Eastern bank was a good substitute. We were whisked up the Pearl tower (3rd highest in the world) to the 260m platform with a amazingly frightening walk over glass flooring (interesting why it is so frightening when you are sure (well almost sure) that it must be safe.
We were taken out to Yuyuan Gardens and bazaar housed in period wooden buildings and the fine classic Chinese gardens (water pools, rock in a rough but artistic shape, trees some very Bonsai like) all very restful. Lunch with special local delicacy - dumplings filled with crab meat. Afternoon a modern arts area (Tian Zi Fang) with boutique shops for art, furniture etc set in in back alleys including trendy bars.
Day three as a 90 minute bus ride South with Elaine to a National Heritage water village called Tongli preserved as is but still inhabited by working people, a very good concept as not so sterile as some ‘preserved’ villages. Locals sculling the canals, shags for catching fish, local arts including very impressive tree root sculptures. Lunch included turtle and eel. The day finished off with a fine dinner again with dishes such as pigeon, cod on mango and fish heads.
And so to the airport for the return after a very full week in China to get a glimpse of at least two of the cities, and the crowds that fill them, in this county that is the 21st century. The good news from AirNZ was an upgrade, perhaps the last David will be able to claim now his Gold Cards days are over.
Now home , back into housework, gardening, maintaining cars, lawnmowers – you know how it is. Until the next time……..
