After several weeks delay getting visas through, we finally left Perth on Sept 25th. After an overnight in Guangzhou and a couple of days in-country briefing in Xining we arrived in Lanzhou on the 28th.

We arrived in time for a whirlwind introduction before the university went on holiday for a week for the October 1st National Day holiday. Apart from feeling a bit like we'd been thrown in at the deep end, it was a good opportunity to settle in and get to know the place before work started. The week was spent cleaning the apartment, getting to know the twin tub washing machine, doing some minor furniture repair and buying a few essentials like kettle and iron. We found a couple of supermarkets and a large fresh produce market within walking distance where we can get most things. We bought chicken, pork and duck (to Owen's delight) at the market, and the man at the little meat stall greeted us like regular customers on our second visit. He reaches for the duck as soon as he sees us coming now. Carrying eggs home in a plastic bag is a bit nerve wracking but we've managed it several times without casualty so far. There's an amazing array of vegies, spices, sauces, condiments and breads which we'll enjoy identifying and trying - I could easily become vegetarian in this country. To cap it off we discovered the small bakery we pass on the way has a couple of tables in the back corner and sells pretty good filter coffee and a delicious tiramisu. Not quite Brew Ha at home, but a pretty good alternative.

We also spent the holiday weekend enthralled by the crowds and activities going on around the city - street performances, flags, banners and balloons, firecrackers going off. And sales in all the shops. We weren't sure how much of the traditional ethnic dress was for the occasion, and how many of the people were visitors.

During the holiday week the university arranged a day trip to the Liu Jia Xia reservoir (a couple of hours drive out of Lanzhou) for the English speaking foreign teachers. We went in a minibus accompanied by a local teacher. There were seven of us - an Iranian dentist who teaches part time at our university and his wife who teaches English at another university, a Russian woman (who teaches Russian), an Irish guy who teaches English and three AVIs. There's also a Scottish guy on staff but he didn't come with us. (There must be Chinese students speaking English with some interesting accents out there.)

We took a boat ride round the reservoir and stopped for lunch at a floating "restaurant". The weather was beautiful and the water very tranquil. It is also possible to take a fast speedboat (lots whizzed past us as we chugged along in our slow boat) to the far end of the reservoir and visit some Buddhist caves. A definite for our to-do list another time. On the way out we traveled through a large industrial area and passed a couple of power stations. It was like driving through heavy fog.

Classes resumed the next week, but we had to wait on contracts, ID cards and our (third) medical. We were taken to a very modern international travel clinic where we were photographed, weighed and measured, had an eye test, chest x-ray, ECG, ultrasound and blood-pressure, urine and blood tests. We were told our eyesight was good compared to locals of our ages. we get copies of the full report in due course, which will be interesting to see. We were a bit of a novelty, and a couple of locals in the line popped into the cubicle to watch as Vern (the other AVI) had his ultrasound. I was glad I hadn't gone first!