This is a photo taken on Yellow Mountain (Huangshan). Many Chinese make a pilgrimage to this very famous mountain renowned for its beautiful scenery. A local tradition is to buy a lock, engrave your names on it, lock it onto the chain and then throw away the key for good luck. So somewhere up there we have a lock amongst the many thousands with our names on it!

Late that afternoon we arrived in Hefei and were greated by of Leo's immediate family - his father, mother and girlfriend. Later that evening we were invited to a banquent which included all of the extended family - grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews which was held in our own banquet room. We sat to the right of Leo's grandfather which was the place for honoured guests. All dishes were served to the grandfather as head of the family and then to us as guests. Over 15 courses were served with the last dish comprising of 'sea cucumber' or trepang. This a very expensive dish in China and it is a great honour for it to be served and is a prized delicacy.

Welcome China

I thought setting up a blog would be a great way to share experiences from a visit my husband and I made to China earlier this year. To backtrack a little - early in 2009 a young student came to live with us in a 'homestay' arrangement he came from a city called Hefei in the Anhui province of China. Hefei is situated in the South of China inland from Shanghai and we were invited by his parents to accompany him on return to his homeland.

We were picked up from the Shanghai Airport by a friend of the family who drove us the 6 hours it took to get to Hefei and this photo shows our first meal at a roadside restaurant. The men were given beers and I was given 'corn milk '. The food was delicious and cost about $10.