In Jade's Province

Hi Everyone,

I know I said I would not email until tomorrow, but here
goes…
It is so amazing to be in Jiangxi finally, (it’s really
hard to explain how you feel about the area that has
given you such a precious gift…) and what a difference
to Hong Kong and Guangzhou!  The drive in from the
airport showed us our first real glimpse of some China
Countryside, although our guide, Coby, assures us it is
not traditional countryside like we are going to see
later in the week.  Coby seems to be lovely, and we have
learnt so much from him already!

We were really very lucky to catch up with my workmate
Yin’s best friend Meng and her daughter Hong Shi Yu
today in Nanchang.  They are so lovely!
They took Alex, the boys and I out for a lovely meal
this evening – far too much food and a few Ganbai’s as
well!!  We got to try some amazing local dishes
including duck tongues, and they boys were staggered to
find that there is no age limit on alcohol!  Taylor was
the only one of the boys game enough to have a local
distilled alcohol, although they all tasted it.  But
Alex had to finish it for Taylor…  They have also
generously offered to take the boys for Karaoke while
Alex and I cope with the more mundane governmental stuff
with Jade, so they are in for another local treat…

Joshua has been unable to stop smiling since he found
out the internet connection at this hotel is free… And
he now has a webcam and voice connectivity with Moni, so
we may have to make sure we drag him away from his
laptop occasionally over the next week.

The big news of course is the handover tomorrow – 4pm
local time (7pm Melbourne time), and we are thrilled to
have Meng and Hong come along to be a part of it!!  Poor
little possum, I am upset with what Jade is about to be
going through…  And although I hope it is not too
terrifying for her, I am equally sure it will be…

Update soon,
Cheers, Cindy…