Apologies to all, this blog has been interrupted for the past 6 days – I have just emerged from behind the Great Firewall.  I managed to make a couple of small posts by using my mobile phone to access the blog using 3G/4G data.  However this was very slow and my data limit was reached quickly. Trying to access www.blogger.com or any Google-related site using hotel or other wifi was not possible.  I suppose the Chinese have their reasons, it is their country and they can do whatever they think best.  Before coming to China I should have set up a web-access email site not associated with any of the big USA companies.  Once in China I should have got a local sim card.

However things in China were pretty hectic.  On arrival at Shanjie (Thursday 27 April) we were greeted like heroes, with champagne, flowers, reporters, photographers.  Then after very many photographs we went off to the hotel, which was full of airshow people, and had dinner with the boss of the airshow and some of his team.  I must mention "Philly" who was the main person organising our arrangements in China, the stops and fuel, handling services etc etc.  There had been some discussion as to who the mysterious Philly would turn out to be, she proved to be a charming young lady who spoke very good English and she seemed to be the hub around which the complicated airshow logistics revolved.

Having arrived back this afternoon in Thailand (at Chiang Rai [not to be confused with Chiang Mai further south]) today I will be able to update this and post some photos when I get a chance …..

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Here is a map showing the route from Chiang Mai in Thailand (the red dot), across northern Laos and Vietnam, to Nanning in China (566 nautical miles).  Then from there we flew north-east to Shangjie near Zhengzhou in central China (773 nm).