Relativity

---

Jenny, Gillian and Dan first met at lunchtime the following day, when we all went shopping to Dongmen, all getting on famously. As Dan went back to work, they enjoyed purchasing fabrics for making clothes for themselves and their families. The following day, Cliff took them to Guangzhou, where we took the cable car up Baiyun Mountain and enjoyed seeing how people enjoyed themselves kicking feathered discs and various other activities. We then visited the Nanyue King’s Tomb, which was over 2,000 years old, and only rediscovered, largely intact and unplundered during excavations for a shopping centre in 1984. A whole museum has been built on site, with the relics recovered and displayed in a number of galleries. It was an astonishing find with an extraordinary range of materials, and well worth the visit.

That night, Dan’s father and uncle arrived from Fuzhou, and the Liu and Holdom tribes enjoyed a first feast together, which included a particularly fine crab dish . It’s fair to say that Dan’s uncle loves a toast or three, and with Cliff determined not to overdo things the night before his wedding, the Holdoms risked disgrace. However, the record should show that Gillian saved the day, not missing a single toast!

Cliff took Jenny and Gillian on an excursion to Lychee Park the following day which we enjoyed enormously, especially seeing the many activities in the park, from modern and ancient forms for dancing, Peking Opera, tai qi, wedding photos and even a man shouting constantly to hear his echo from the wall of buildings outside the park. The opera practitioners were fantastic performers, and their leader, seeing foreign faces in the crowd asked us where we were from. He then invited us to join in a stirring rendition of Click Goes the Shears, somewhat difficult when you can’t remember the bloody words, but great fun.

Jenny and Gillian stayed for two days after the wedding, failing to see the art gallery and museum which were closed on Monday, but enjoying the shopping, the life on the local streets and various culinary experiences. The left for Shenzhen airport on Tuesday 13 November to commence a 4 day tour in Guilin and Yangshou, after which they will spend two days in Hong Kong, sightseeing, shopping, and visiting relatives of Dan they met at the wedding.

Dan’s father and uncle went home on the day after the wedding. Cliff and Dan enjoyed spending the morning with them in their hotel room before they left.

---