4th April, 9am HKT, Central station.

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I phoned Barbara, my stand-in hostess, from the airport and she meets me, lends me some coins to buy a railway ticket and we head towards my flat. To preserve some of the mystery surrounding my fortunate discovery of an ensuite flat in central Hong Kong for less than twice the cost of sharing a four-bedroom house in Bath, I’ll only say that Barbara is someone who owes me nothing and has never met me before. Through family contacts she has taken me under her wing and offered to resolve any problem I have during my stay in China, whatever the time of day or night, and for this I will be eternally grateful.

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