When we crossed the bridge over the Red River into China, I didn’t know what to expect. China, closed to the outside world for the last decade, has been a real tourist destination, especially after the Olympics of 2008. As we entered the immigration office I read a sign. “If your border formalities aren’t over in 25 minutes please report to a senior officer”.  I was impressed. After less than five minutes I was in The People’s Republic of China.

Everything changed. There was absolutely no harassment and people were friendly although no-one was speaking English or any other language except   Chinese. After a long negotiation, us in Greek and them in Chinese, (don’t wonder how, it worked though) we managed to get a bus to the capital of the Yunan province, Kun Ming.