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26 April

This was one of the long awaited days of my trip and it was very enjoyable. I moved from the hotel in Pudong where I had been for the past weeks to another one in Nanhui. The bus I took went virtually door to door and the journey was quite memorable with a father and his young daughter of about 5 sitting in the seat beside me.

The people are remarkably considerate. My overcoat was touching the floor and the ticket lady brought it to my attention so that it wouldn't get it dirty. This is the second time such a thing has happened.

I got to the new hotel and registered, then went to my room and phoned the number Chris had given me. A man answered in Chinese and I was confused for a moment as to what to do so I said Yao Shifeng. The man expressed what I took to mean that he knew who I was and we sort of said goodbye and hung up. It took me a while to figure out what I should do next as I wasn't sure whether Chris knew where I was. I then went down to the hotel desk and asked the lady there to make the phone call for me and ask in Chinese what I should do. She made the call and a short while later Chris called back and then came to pick me up.

Since I was hungry, as I hadn't yet eaten since yesterday, he and Joyce took me to a restaurant and fed me. We then went to his home for the rest of the afternoon and had tea. His home is very nice with a simple elegance. I met his father when he came home and also his cousin who lives in the house with them.

At supper time we went out to a restaurant where we were joined by others of the extended family and had one of the most enjoyable and memorable meals of my life. Everyone was friendly and hospitable in a very relaxed and considerate way. Chris and Joyce then took me back the hotel where we tried to get my computer to work on the Internet in the hotel business center. We were unsuccessful but we did check our email on their computer and I sent my phone number to my wife Lindea.

As is usual Lindea called me for our daily contact.

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