Dear Sir, I enjoy writing and reading. I enjoy sensible articles, even if I do not agree with them. I always research my own articles meticulously, and try never to get a single fact wrong. What I want to know is: Why does the Times insist on getting its facts wrong whenever Pemba Island (my home) is mentioned. First we had Cavan Pawsons and his ridiculous dynamite post (about how Pemba had been "destroyed" and now we have some woman called Lionel Shriver saying that Pemba Island has only one decent hotel and a backpackers lodge. Neither "The Kervan Saray" nor "Manta Reef Lodge" are back packer's lodges. Sure this lionel woman got to stay for free at Fundu lagoon and plugged the place, but why get your facts wrong? "Those who head for Pemba will ... read more

The Lhasa express is a very special train. Constructed for use at high altitude it has well sealed doors and inter carriage walkways. It has its own oxygen creation system which pumps oxygen into the train and, we are told, effectively maintains the altitude at between 10-12,000 feet. The berths are comfortable, the sheets perfectly starched and most of the train crew speak some English. This is without doubt a prestigious train service for China Railways. We piled into our compartment and stowed our bags. We had booked the fourth berth for Nigella, our rather small cool box. Rather than filling her with beer, we had filled her with tea and coffee. While this may sound ridiculous, it kept us happy. The train climbed out of Xining and around a brown valley. Soon a snow capped ... read more

The T 9662 tto Lanzhou was comfortable. We had the wide bedded soft sleeper with clean sheets and a cool but not cold, cabin. We boarded and slumped onto our seats. We chatted for a while, but soon could not do so any longer, and drifted off to sleep at 2330hrs. We rumbled and clacked into the night, and woke refreshed at 0630. The train halted at exactly 0700 at Lanzhou. There was the usual scrum as we got off in Darkness. “Shall we wait until the crowd dies down?” I asked Chris. “No” he screamed back over the short Chinese heads “Lets just get on with it,” and with that he entered the human river that was descending into the tunnel from the platform. This was pure football stadium crush injury stuff. I could see ... read more

My previous experiences departing from Peking’s new Terminal 3 were atrocious. There was no climate control, the shuttle trains ran every 45 minutes, and water or food was not available for sale anywhere after security. This time, we checked in reasonably smoothly, breezed through security and found ourselves drinking atrocious cappuccinos in a nice chilly café with a view of the apron. This was changed china. I was most impressed. The efficiency of the airport put all of continental Europe to shame. There was no aircraft at our gate, we descended to Tarmac level and were bussed around to the international side of the terminal. Here we boarded our plane. An American built Boeing 757. Entering the plane was entering 1980’s china. Once we were past the two rows of business class seating, row upon row ... read more

A journey in the making. Milton Massachusetts to the People's Republic of china. Via Istanbul. I really don’t know where to start on this. It all started in Wales. My wife Cisca was in Hospital having her appendix out. I was at a bit of a loose end, and so wandered down to a friend’s house to watch some TV. BBC2 were doing a program on the origins of the Chinaman. They went down to Guilin and up to Peking and proved that the Chinese, are, like everyone else, descended from Africans. What caught my attention, was not the genealogy of our Chinese “cousins”, but the stunning views of Guilin. I telephoned Cisca’s hospital bed and told her to tune in too. The next morning, before visiting hours, I looked online and found tickets into Peking ... read more