Qingdao

From Wuhan we flew to Qingdao, meeting Geoff and Dong-Dong Ayi (who flew in from Beijing) at the airport. Geoff had arranged a hotel, and though he was terribly apologetic about it being 5-star and possibly out of our budget (but no; in China even 5-star hotels are pretty reasonable) it was deliciously luxurious, with great service. The staff floated around us, unobtrusive but alert, and a moment or two before we realized we wanted something, FOOM, someone would appear and politely hand it to us, bow, and disappear again.