Time of the Season*

It dawned on me last week that we’re almost halfway through the year, and just three weeks away from the summer solstice. What struck me even more was that, apart from a couple of weekends away (Norwich and Ross-on-Wye), I haven’t yet had a holiday this year.

But you’ve only recently returned from a trip to China, I hear you say, and furthermore, you spent a week in Cologne, back in March. These observations are true, but in my defence, both trips were for business rather than for pleasure, and whilst there was a little free time in Germany and China, the main purpose of these trips was representing my company abroad, rather than being in those locations purely for my own pleasure.

I’m still waiting for Mrs PBT’s to decide on the cruise we’ve talked about these past couple of years, and I’ve tentatively pencilled in August. However, as I’m sure most of you are aware, when you are working you have to choose your leave so as not to clash with other people. Also, when you’re head of department, you have to ensure adequate cover for periods when your own staff are on holiday.

That’s all been taken care of, but son Matthew has to book his annual leave much further in advance. He has been off this week and, as he reminded me earlier, him and I were supposed to be going to Poland in order to attend the Wroclaw Beer Festival.

I got a little sidetracked with that one, especially with all the planning for my trip to China, but I still felt a little guilty that he’d taken a week off, at my suggestion, only for me to have done nothing to facilitate our short break to Poland.

I don’t think he was over enamoured with Wroclaw as a destination anyway, but by way of compensation I said we could have a day at the coast instead. We chose Brighton. I hadn’t set foot in the city for the best part of 30 years, and whilst Matthew has been there with his mother rather more recently, Brighton seemed a good place to visit for the sea air, fish and chips, plus the odd pub or three.

The town is also reasonably easy to get to by public transport, but not as easy as it was, back in the sixties, when there were direct trains between Tonbridge and Brighton. That all ceased with the severance of the line at Uckfield followed, nearly 20 years later, by the closure of the line between Tunbridge Wells and Eridge.

I didn’t want to drive, for obvious reasons, which left the  option of the fast  buses operated by Brighton and Hove Transport, between Tunbridge Wells and Brighton. In the end though, we decided to travel cross country, by train, with the choice of either the route via Redhill or, the seaside option via St Leonard’s. In the end, we travelled out by the former route, and returned via the latter, but that’s another story.

I had another reason for wanting to spend some time with my son, and that was to give him a little moral support. In a nutshell he’s had a spot of girlfriend trouble, and also feels that he’s been passed over a couple of times, for promotion at work.

In the past we’ve gone away to favourite beery cities such as Munich or Prague, but  as I said earlier my mind has been on other things; including trying to "Brexit-proof" our business. There’s also Mrs PBT’s to consider. Last year’s close brush with death has left her still unable to walk very far, and also knocked her confidence as well, so whilst she’s perfectly able to get a taxi if she wants to pop into the town, I’m still reluctant to leave her on her own without either Matthew or I being present to drive her around.

So Brighton it was and on a bright and sunny Thursday morning, we set off by train for the seaside. I’ll recount what we got up to, and what we saw, in the next post, but suffice to say we had what Wallace & Gromit would call “A Grand Day Out.” 

* Time of the Season.

Last day in Guangzhou

I began my final day in Guangzhou by joining my Japanese colleagues for breakfast. Fried eggs were back on the menu and the problem with the toaster had been fixed, which meant that all was well with the world.

My colleagues were due to fly back to Japan in the afternoon, whilst my flight was not until the early hours of the following morning. This actually meant me getting to the airport at around 10pm. My companions would be leaving to catch their flight at around 2pm, so asked if I would like to joint them for some more sight-seeing and some shopping.

I accepted their offer gladly, as  they had been  good company. I also had some shopping of my own to do, not least of which was a traditional paper parasol for Mrs PBT’s. I’d spent some time looking during my first day in China, but to no avail. By embracing all things western,  Chinese youth seem in an awful hurry to discard the traditions of their past, and this lack of respect for tradition applies equally to those old enough to know better.

I’d asked our contact at the factory we visited the previous day, but he seemed rather bemused by my request. The Japanese were more in tune with my quest, and did say that if all else failed I would almost certainly be able to pick up a parasol on my next visit to Kyoto. They laughed when I asked if whether they were issuing a formal invite, but a return trip to Japan features high on my list of things to do before I finish in my current position.

I arranged to meet my colleagues in reception at 9.45am. As they were travelling light, they would be checking out and taking their small trolley-style cases with them. That way they could head off straight to the airport, once the mornings’ activities were complete.

I on the other hand had booked an extra half-day, allowing me the use of my room until 6pm. This was a good piece of advice that I’d been given by our overseas salesman; a well-seasoned traveller if ever there was one! I did find though that although I’d made the request the night before, the receptionist on duty that evening had not passed on the instruction, which led to a little confusion.

So returning to the narrative, we set off to visit what is probably Guangzhou’s best known shopping district; an area known as Beijing Road. This was somewhere I had visited on my first day in the city, but as I’d only really touched on the place I was  quite happy to return there.

Beijing Road is a pedestrianised shopping precinct set at right angles to the main north-south axis. There are numerous branches leading off from it, including an underground complex of small boutiques, adjacent to the metro station. Walking along the pedestrianised section it is possible to see the remains of the city walls, which date back to the period of the Ming dynasty.

I didn’t have any luck with my search for a paper parasol, but I did manage to buy myself a couple of T-shirts. Finding examples in my size though wasn’t easy because there seemed to be very few fat people in the city and therefore size XXL wasn’t readily available.

I persevered and found a store which did stock my size, but now here comes a further observation. Unlike many other global cities there were no stores selling what I would call the usual “tourist tat.” So no t-shirts, sweat shirts, baseball caps, badges etc advertising Guangzhou as a destination, so no souvenirs of my visit to take home and wear whilst parading up and down Tonbridge High Street.

My Japanese colleagues found a store which they liked; rather like Super Dry it was a fake Japanese brand with no stores in that country, but selling the type of stuff  which appealed to Japanese people. Apart from the novelty value the store had very appeal to me, which is why I’m struggling to remember its name. Looking on-line it may have been MINISO, メイソウ.

This would make sense as MINISO has its headquarters in Guangzhou. My companions enjoyed looking around the store, and a couple of them bought a selection of novelties, and other goodies for family back in Japan.

After the shopping was concluded, it was back on the metro and a few more stops to Huangsha, and an area of the city that one of our party was keen to see. This gentleman was the same character whose enthusiasm for tall buildings had taken us to the Canton Tower the previous evening. I nicknamed him the “travel guide,” and whilst his fellow countrymen were rather bemused at his keenness to explore new places, I was really grateful when I realised where he was taking us.

Shamian Island is an area of Guangzhou, which was granted as two "concessions" to Britain and France by the Chinese government, in the 19th century. It is an  artificial island, bordered in the south by the Pearl River, and separated from the mainland by a canal. It formed an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade, and was an area where foreigners lived and did business, in a row of houses known as the "Thirteen Factories."

Today the area serves as a tranquil reminder of the colonial European period, with quiet pedestrian avenues flanked by trees and lined by historical buildings in various states of upkeep. It is the location of several hotels, restaurants and tourist shops – although I must have missed the latter.

It formed a perfect contrast after the roar of the traffic outside Huangsha Station, and the myriad of high-rise buildings either side of a busy arterial road, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for a proper look round. It’s often the way that you find the best places on the final day of a stay, but my colleagues had to be at the airport for a 2pm check in. and in addition were looking to have a spot of lunch.  

Regrettably we retraced our footsteps back across the pedestrian over-pass to the shopping area around the station. I allowed my companions to choose the restaurant, although I emphasised that I just wanted something light to eat. We found a modern-looking establishment which, whilst busy, was able to accommodate the four of us, plus suitcases.

Each of us selected a bowl of soup, with noodles. Mine contained some finely shredded beef and reminded me somewhat of minestrone soup. The waitress took pity on me after watching me struggling to twist the spaghetti-like noodles onto my chop-sticks, and very kindly brought me a plastic fork. It wasn’t exactly the “light” meal I’d been after, but was enjoyable nevertheless. Beer didn’t appear to feature on the menu, so I had to make do with a refreshing glass of iced lemon tea.

I picked up the tab, prior to leaving, a gesture which my colleagues appreciated. I told them it was the least I could do, as they had been good company and fun to be with. Furthermore our audit and subsequent business discussions had proved successful, which was just as well in view of the distance I had travelled in order to be there.

We took the metro back into central Guangzhou. I alighted at the main station, whilst they continued on towards the airport. We parted with much shaking of hands and best wishes for safe onward travel. I returned to the hotel to complete my packing and kill some time, before checking out and heading off to the airport myself.

All the beer in China

I mentioned in the previous post about Guangzhou, that I was gagging for a beer, and touched on the paucity of bars in the city, or indeed anywhere to just sit, drink beer and socialise. My Japanese colleagues found this situation surprising too as, like me, they were looking forward to sinking a few beers, especially after our successful business meeting.

I knew that there were bars in Guangzhou, constructed along the “craft beer” model, as I’d  carried out a little research, as you do, prior to my trip. I’d downloaded and printed off a guide from the Beer Travelist website, which detailed six bars offering good beer in the city, but Guangzhou is a large, sprawling city and trying to locate these places, particularly without out street-map, proved too much of a challenge in the limited time I had available.

It’s easy to be wise with hindsight, as there were reviews of a number of the city’s beer bars, but these were all done on an individual basis. I’m certain that if I’d had another day or two I could have tracked down some of thee establishments, as I became more familiar with the metro system and the overall layout of Guangzhou.

It was something of a disappointment then that my first taste of beer in China was a selection of cans, purchased from a mini-mart ,just round the corner from my hotel. I picked up three beers, all brewed by the Pearl River Brewing Company. They were refrigerated/ready chilled when I bought them, but there was no need to drink them all immediately, as there was a fridge in my hotel room.

I still drank two of them more or less straight away, but somehow it didn’t feel right knocking them back, whilst sitting in my hotel room. l can report that they were all perfectly drinkable, refreshing and thirst quenching, but weren’t anything special, and certainly nothing much to write home about.

When my colleagues arrived later that evening, the first thing on their minds was something to eat, followed by a few beers. I don’t think they believed me at first when I said there were no bars in the vicinity of the hotel, but after walking around the block we found a restaurant that was still open and piled in, mob-handed.

I left the choice of food to my colleagues, as whilst not understanding Chinese they are able to recognise 50 or so characters. These simplified Chinese characters, called Kanji in Japanese, are used quite extensively in Japanese writing. I told my companions that I could eat anything apart from duck. For some strange reason, this creature which features quite extensively in Chinese cooking, has an adverse effect on me. I won’t go into too much detail, but it doesn’t remain in my stomach for very long.

Various dishes appeared on our table as did the beer. It was none other than that best known of Chinese beers in the outside world – Tsingtao. Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd is China's second largest brewery, with about 15% of domestic market share. It was founded in 1903 by German settlers in the city of Qingdao.

The beer came in large 660ml bottles and was branded for the local market. Whilst it was refreshingly good and the perfect accompaniment to the quite spicy dishes placed in front of us, the drinking vessels were a real disappointment. Small and very flimsy, cups made out of clear plastic, it was quite difficult not to end up squashing them. We managed to get through several bottles, but with nowhere else to go after our meal, returned to our hotel. With a busy and important day ahead of us, an early night was a good idea.

Our supplier audit the following morning, saw us taking the metro, practically all the way to the airport, to a location called Renhe. We’d been told we could take a taxi from outside the station, but there didn’t appear to be any. We did notice one smartly dressed lady hail a cab, but that seemed to arrive with the aid of the local equivalent of Uber.

There was a queue of small motorcycles, which I didn’t take much notice of until one of my colleagues pointed out that these two-wheeled vehicles were the taxis! “Did I fancy going on one?”, my companion enquired. “No,” I replied, muttering something about the firm’s travel insurance not covering me in the event of an accident.

I was still looking at this rather dubious form of transport when one of the bikes was hailed by three young girls. I watched in amazement as all three jumped on the back; the girl at the rear practically sitting on the mudguard. The driver then pulled away, wobbling as he weaved his way into the rather chaotic three lanes of traffic. The girls had no crash helmets, and were dressed more for a shopping expedition than for a motorcycle ride.

The factory manager despatched a proper four-wheeled taxi to pick us up. My companions very kindly insisted I sat in the front. After watching the motor bikes I felt surprisingly relaxed sitting next to the driver whilst he plotted his route, and his next pick-ups on his tablet, whilst trying to avoid being crushed between a lorry which pulled out in front of us.

Our factory tour and audit went very well, and we were all impressed, and very relieved at what we saw. Choosing this Chinese supplier had been something of a gamble, but my colleagues had done their homework correctly, and their choice had been exonerated. I too was both pleased and relieved, as it had been a long way for me to come, but sometimes there is no substitute for physically being there.

After the audit was complete, our host took us for lunch at a restaurant just five minutes walk away from the factory. He was obviously well known there as we were ushered into  private room at the back.

What followed was without a doubt, the best meal I had during my time in China. With a good selection of rice and noodles, plus some excellent pork and beef dishes as well, the spicy, chilli-beef was amongst the best I have tasted. Rich in both ginger and finely-chopped chillies, it was a dish I just had to keep going back to. 

There was beer too, this time several chilled bottles of Supreme beer from the Beijing Yanjing Brewery. According to Untappd, Supreme is a 2.5% wheat beer, but it certainly didn’t taste like one and, like the previous night, was the perfect accompaniment to the highly spiced food.

There was one final opportunity to enjoy some beer and that took place the same evening. After returning to our hotel and changing into something more comfortable and less conspicuous than our business suits, my companions and I hit the town. One member of our party wanted to ascend the 600 metre high Canton Tower, and whilst the rest of us were much less enthusiastic, we went along with his plan.

We took the metro to a station on the south bank of the Pearl River, and made our way to the base of the impressive tower. It is an obvious tourist attraction, and there are reported to be spectacular views across Guangzhou from the top. There was just one snag, and that was the smog, which was particularly thick that afternoon. The majority of us surmised correctly, as it happened, that this would obstruct much of the view, but our tower enthusiast remained unconcerned.

In the end, we told him to ascend the structure regardless, and we would wait for him at the base. We grabbed a coffee, and I used the time to check in online for my flight the following evening. This not being able to check in for the return flight until 24-48 hours beforehand, is a development I find really irritating.

I much prefer to do this from the comfort of my home, prior to embarking on the outward leg of the journey, rather than having to find a Wi-Fi connection whilst away. I want to be relaxing and enjoying myself when I’m on holiday, and not messing around tapping in flight and passport details. I also prefer to print off a paper copy of my boarding pass, rather than remembering to save a QR-Code on my Smart-phone.

Okay, I managed it alright, but it does p*ss me off! By the time I’d accomplished my task and we’d finished our coffees, our heroic tower climber appeared. The consensus was we would find somewhere to eat, but in view of the large meal we’d consumed at lunchtime, it would be something light.

We found a place offering that most traditional of Chinese dishes - Dim sum. The restaurant was in a large and modern shopping complex at the base of the tower, and was very popular. We managed to get a table and sat down to enjoy a selection of the various steamed buns and dumplings on offer.

We ordered some beer with our meal, as well as the rather more traditional Chinese green tea. I was rather surprised when several chilled bottles of Hoegaarden appeared on our table, but this classic, spiced Belgian wheat beer was the perfect partner for our meal.

Afterward, we joined the crowds milling around on the banks of the Pearl River, admiring the multitude of skyscrapers on the opposite bank, all illuminated in a multitude of colours and different optical effects.

I met up with my colleagues the following morning for a final look around Guangzhou, but that’s worthy of a short post of its own. There was no beer involved though!

Marston's ditch cask in Scotland

Here's a short story which broke earlier today, and which caught my eye. I thought I'd share it with you ahead of the next article about my recent visit to China. So for some news of a story which is happening much closer to home, read on.

Marston’s, who are one of the UK's major pub owners, and a leading brewer of cask and bottled beers, are to withdraw cask ales from all but one of their twenty-one managed pubs  in Scotland, and replace them with keg beer.

The move is due to what the company describes as “poor throughput” of cask, and means that by early June, the only pub in the company’s Scottish managed estate offering cask ales will be Lockards Farm in Dumfries.

The cask lines in all other outlets will be taken out and replaced with keg versions of Marston’s Pedigree and Hobgoblin IPA. Marston’s have said they will continue to supply cask beer to their Scottish free trade customers.

A company spokesman said the decision had been taken “with a heavy heart” but that the company’s policy on cask ale in Scotland “is no different to anywhere else in the UK”. Mark Carter, who is head of the drinks management category at Marston's, went on to say, “Our criteria is set by throughput to ensure we maintain the quality control expected by our customers.” 

“We will continue to sell cask ale in those pubs where there is a demand which matches this. Unfortunately a recent review identified that a number of pubs do not sell sufficient volumes to support the sale of cask ale, therefore ensuring that the beer on sale is not of a quality that we deem suitable for our customers.”

Understandably the decision has come under fire from CAMRA, whose Scottish spokesperson Pat Hanson, said, "Removing cask ale from pubs in Scotland,  is taking us back to the mad days of the ’60s and ’70s when cask beer was ripped out, and keg beer put in all over the country”.

Quite a few of the pubs affected, are in places which are not exactly awash with cask ale, or even have they many pubs. CAMRA's view is that pub owners, such as Marston's, might be putting on too many cask ales, thereby diluting sales across too many different lines.

So, as Hanson suggests, "Rather than doing away with the option of cask altogether, why not tailor it in line with local demand?"

According to the most recent Cask Report, UK sales of cask ale have continued to decline; a situation attributed, in part, to pub closures. The report also cites Scotland as one of the UK regions where people were least likely to have tried cask ale.

My view is that providing Marston's are not over-reacting, and using a sledge-hammer to crack a walnut, they are doing the right thing. There is no point in leaving cask on sake, if no-one is drinking it. There is nothing more likely to put people off from trying the category, than a warm, flat, rancid beer that has stat round for far too long.

It's far better for a company like Marston's to cut its losses and remove cask altogether from its outlets north of the border, especially as the category has never really done well in Scotland. Whether the move is part of something larger from Marston's remains to be seen, but it is is nobody's interest to continue with cask if they are struggling to shift the stuff in any volume.

In search of the real Guangzhou

I had some time to myself on my first full day in China. My Japanese colleagues were due to arrive that evening, but in the meantime I had time to go explore, and see some of Guangzhou’s attractions. I had slept remarkably well, considering the 17 hour journey I’d undergone the day before, so after waking feeling relaxed and refreshed, I set off to grab something to eat.

 Breakfast was included with my hotel booking, and was provided at a restaurant a few doors down from the hotel, at the end of the block. It was a self-service affair with a good selection of varied and satisfying items. The fried noodles and fried rice were especially tasty, whilst the fried eggs were a welcome bonus. There was even a toaster, although on day two a handwritten message informed guests that it wasn’t working because, “the furnace has broken.”

After eating my fill, I returned to the hotel and before going up to my room, asked at reception for a city map. This seemed a simple enough request, especially as virtually all hotels I’ve stayed in have been able to provide guests with a simple, and normally free map of the surrounding area.

Not so in Guangzhou, it would appear, as my request was met with a mixture of slight indifference and mild amusement. Undeterred, I asked for the location of the nearest tourist information office, only to be met with the same blank response.

It began to dawn on me that whilst China welcomes millions of international tourists per year, most of these visitors would not be independent travellers like myself, but would instead be members of organised parties, travelling with specialised tour operators. Such companies will handle all the necessary travel arrangements, hotel bookings, local transport, visa requirements, insurance, thereby negating the need for tourist information offices.

An organisation called Travel China, which is part of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and is responsible for the development of tourism in the country. It’s still hard to understand why this agency doesn’t appear to have offices, unless I’m correct in thinking that independent travellers are few and far between.

I have to say that apart from at the airport, I noticed very few people of European origin whilst travelling around Guangzhou.  I must have stood out like a sore thumb, but no-one seemed to bat an eyelid; instead they were all totally engrossed in their smart-phones; a technology the Chinese really seemed to have embraced. People were using their phones to pay in shops, purchase tickets for the metro and a host of other things besides. With earphones in as well, many were walking around totally wrapped up in their own private bubble.

So despite China being the fourth most visited country in the world, with 14.2 million tourists last year, finding basic tourist information such as a map and a list of places to see, doesn’t appear to be easy.

I berated myself at the time for my lack of preparedness, and especially for not having purchased a guide book prior to my departure. On my return I made a point of checking to see what type of guide books were available. I found that whilst there are some, the range is nowhere near as extensive as for other parts of the globe.

Publishers Dorling Kindersley offer one of their superbly illustrated guides, which is packed with all sorts of useful information, but it is a bulky publication which covers the whole of China, and therefore of limited use to someone like me only there for a few Other publishers, such as Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, offer less lavish publications, but as far as I could make out, there are none specifically for cities such as Guangzhou.

I took a peak at my map of the metro system – the one I’d downloaded and printed off at home. I noticed a station, just a couple of stops away from Guangzhou Railway Station, called Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The name intrigued me so I purchased a single-trip ticket for just 2 CN¥ , and made the short journey.

When I alighted from the metro, I found myself in a neighbourhood which was altogether much more pleasant than the environs of the main station. It’s probably true the world over that large railway stations don’t always attract the nicest sorts of people. By and large it is the immediate surroundings either in front, or to the sides of where the trains depart from, which aren’t always the nicest of places, as aside from the travellers and commuters in a tearing hurry, you often find a right rag-bag mix of people, often with nothing better to do.  

There was a strong police presence as well at Guangzhou station, which added to the sense of tension, so walking out along a tree-lined boulevard  and then seeing the impressive octagonal structure of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, surrounded by its own attractive and peaceful gardens, was a welcome sight indeed.

Sun Yat-sen  was a Chinese politician, medical doctor and philosopher who served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China, and the first leader of the Nationalist Party of China. He is referred as the "Father of the Nation" due to his role in the revolution of 1911, which led to the overthrow of the last Emperor, and the end of the Qing dynasty.

Doctor Sun was admired by the communists as well as the nationalists, not just for his achievements, but for his work in trying to unite the different factions in China for the common good.

After Sun’s death it was decided to build a memorial hall in his honour. The hall was  built with funds raised by local and overseas Chinese people, with construction work commencing in 1929 and completed in 1931. It is a large octagonal structure with a span of 71 metres without pillars, housing a large stage and seats 3,240 people.

I must have spent a good couple of hours at the hall, walking around and reading the various posters about the life of Dr Sun and his achievements. Fortunately the displays were in English as well as Cantonese. It was nice and cool inside the hall, so much so that when I left the heat and humidity really hit me.

I noticed a small gift shop, close to the rear entrance to the gardens. There were a number of outside tables and some much welcome shade. I treated myself to an ice-cream; a local version of Walls’s Magnum. As I walked across to this little “picnic area,” I passed a small group of visitors who looked as though they’d come from a different part of China. Although none of us could understand each other they gestured that they wanted their photo taken with me. I naturally obliged, and they responded with smiles and much head nodding. This was the only such interaction I had, because as stated previously, I was otherwise completely ignored.

I was gagging for a beer by now, so walked around the block, passed cafes and kiosks where workers were grabbing a quick lunch, but could find no signs of a bar. This appeared to be the norm in Guangzhou, as during my three days in the city I did not find a single bar, let alone anything remotely resembling a pub.

Beer was readily available in restaurants, with a meal, and I will go on to describe, in greater detail, some of the beers my colleagues and I encountered, but I will do this in a subsequent post. For now, we’ll leave me heading back to Guangzhou station, and to the hotel.

First time in China

Just under a week ago I mentioned that I was heading off on a business trip, so wouldn’t be posting for a while, but last night I arrived home, tired and bleary-eyed from my first visit to the People’s Republic of China.

The purpose of the visit was to carry out an audit on a potential new supplier, who will be providing plastic tubes for a new prophylaxis paste (dental tooth polish), we are developing in conjunction with our parent company in Japan. Because of the importance of this project to both our companies, it was deemed necessary to send representatives from the quality departments of both firms, so I was joined on the trip by three of my Japanese colleagues.

Travelling to China is relatively easy for them, as it’s only a four hour flight across from Osaka. Furthermore, Japanese citizens do not need visas (rather surprising considering the past history between the two nations), but UK citizens definitely do. Applying for the visa was the reason behind my two visits to London, earlier this month, and in addition, as I was visiting China for commercial reasons, I required a business visa, which meant obtaining a "letter of introduction" from the company we were going to audit.

Fortunately, the whole process was relatively straight forward, so last Saturday morning, I took the train from Tonbridge, across to Gatwick Airport, to begin a two-stage flight to the city of Guangzhou. Formerly known as Canton, this sprawling metropolis of 14 million inhabitants, is situated on the Pearl River, in the south of China, fairly close to Hong Kong, and whilst South China Airways do offer daily direct flights, these operate out of Heathrow.

Heathrow is a pain to get to from where I live, and also the timings of the direct flights were not particularly convenient. Instead I booked return flights from Gatwick, with Qatar Airways, which involved  a short stop-over in Doha – the capital of Qatar, and the venue for the 2022 Football World Cup. For the aircraft buffs amongst you, the Gatwick –  Doha stage was operated by Boeing  Dreamliners, whilst the Doha – Guangzhou leg uses Airbus 380’s; the world’s largest passenger planes.

I arrived at Guangzhou sometime around four in the afternoon, and after disembarking, joined the queues at immigration. As the crowd  approaches the first of the checkpoints, an electronic temperature monitoring system is in place for recording the body temperature of each individual. I noticed myself on a screen,  surrounded by a swarm of humanity, but fortunately there was a green ring showing around my visage.

The reason the Chinese authorities are looking for individuals running a temperature is because they are concerned about people carrying the flu virus. I wasn’t able to see what happened to those who failed the test, but presumably they were either denied entry, or were quarantined somewhere.

After having my fingerprints taken again (I’d already provided them at the visa application centre in London), and  passing through Passport Control, I collected my suitcase which was then screened. I then found myself in the People’s Republic of China, and free to head off to my pre-booked hotel. My Japanese colleagues had also booked the same accommodation, but as they wouldn’t be arriving until later the following day, I had an evening and the best part of a day to myself, free to explore and get to know my new surroundings.

First I had to journey into the centre of Guangzhou, and locate my hotel, which was situated close to the main railway station. I had already decided to take the Metro, as I am no fan of taxis, particularly foreign ones. This decision was to prove correct the following day, after my colleagues and I “enjoyed” a white-knuckle ride of a taxi journey to and from the company we were visiting.

The Guangzhou metro operates around nine lines which connect with most parts of the city. The trains are fast, spotlessly clean and air-conditioned. The system is also incredibly cheap, with the trip from the airport costing just 7 RMB (CN¥). With just under 9 RMB to the Pound, this was amazing value for a journey of around 25 kilometres.

But first I had to suss out the ticket machines and access the system, and to do the latter I had to have my bags scanned yet again. I don’t know whether there’s been some sort of security issue in China, or whether the authorities are just being cautious, but at the entrance to every metro station, there are airport-style bag scanners manned by security staff. Bearing in mind that most stations have several entrances, that’s a lot of people employed in keeping passengers safe.

After a 45 minute journey, and one change of line, I arrived in central Guangzhou, and now had the problem of finding my hotel. The Google street-car  seems to have been denied access to most of the city, so "Street-View" was out of the question. Instead I had to rely on an old-fashioned map which I’d downloaded back home. The temperature was in the low thirties and the humidity sky high. There was that much perspiration running off me, it felt like I was melting!

I had a photo of the hotel, but try as I might I just couldn’t locate it. I tried phoning, but I ran into the same problem I always seem to have when using my mobile abroad, as the number was “not recognised.” I was just beginning to despair, when I found a local security guard who could speak a little English.

After I’d asked him where the Baiyun City Hotel was, he grinned, and told me to look up above me. I looked up at the sign and found to my immense relief that I was standing right outside the place! Happy or what?