Arrival in China and first impressions

Yes all well here I am in the lobby of the mega shiney new hotel La Tour Morgan hotel in the middle of Changchun. Slept for a bit and now just had a grand buffet dinner. Lovely international feel….dining with an Afgan and Turkman.both sculptors. now sitting in he lobby with an Armenian and Luxenberger.
Had as smooth flight…but not much sleep on the BA. Then a wait in the awesome Beijing air port….very beautiful mega architecture….spent most of my time struggling with the not so free free WIFI…which didn’t want to work for me. A kind Chinese doctor  (Cancer surgeon) let me check my mail for 5 mins…but I didn’t have time to write.
I then had an interesting flight to Changchun…Sitting with the future to be president (I am sure) of Namibia, who is here with a SWAPO leadership team as a guest of the CCP. We had a great time chatting after I dropped my Namibia experience of 23 years ago. I was there when SWAPO won the election in 1988. The man that I stayed in Katatura with during the election..is now the minister of Agriculture. So I have now been hailed as a comrade of the Namib Revolution…since Janet, my girl friend of the time , had voted for SWAPO !!!!!
Very bizarre and fun. I am going to meet up with him in the next couple of days…they are only in town for 4 days.

So there is a fresh report for you…from this very sterile, but over slick hotel lobby. Tomorrow more will be revealed…as I get to the studio and see what type of Ball they have waiting for me.

I am sorry to be sending this to you all, all at once….but I have to get my head into the blogging ASAP….just not tonight. I am very tired. …..going to my mega bed in front of my mega flat screen tv, with CNN..urgh.

OK …I did not get to bed yet, just been for a walk around the big streets.Watching a posse of workers join together 100 foot lengths of 10 inch PVC pipe then sending it underground ,with a mini hi Mac. Looks like there is a lot on offer here for late night entertainment if you are into construction site spectating. 6 huge great hydraulic drills at work on the new subway system out side the hotel.
Feels like there is something of a race to get all this done before the end of the world….! Beijing you could not see from one end of the terminal to the other for pollution . It seems like a permanent state of bleak warm fog.Amazing flying over Mongolia this morning…then crossing a mountain range and defending into the soup.

I have just heard my big ball is still in Beijing where it has been made..they will deliver it in thenext couple of days. So looks like I will have a bit of time to check out the scene before starting work.
I want to buy a bycycle I think.

I am going to try and post this and see

Sent from my iPad