Hello everyone

 This is just a quick, and probably unexpected, message regarding something that happened to us last night. Firstly, we want you to know that we are safe and please don't worry more than necessary: the whole incident is over and we just want to draw a line under it.

We were debating whether it would be a good idea to do this blog entry or whether we should keep it to ourselves. However, I personally want to avoid having to go over the events repeatedly in replies to emails and messages from family and friends. But please, the last thing we want to do is worry those close to us, this is just so that we don't have to go over the story each time we speak to/email somebody.

So, last night Chris and I went to the '1912' area of Nanjing with our two American friends, Chris and Straughn. This is a big clubbing area and we had a great time meeting Chinese people and experiencing their nightlife. So we left the club sometime after 4am (this is the last time I remember looking at the time) and were getting some food from a stall. Chris and I wondered down a road, leaving the two guys, as I needed to find a toilet. This is why I feel to blame for this as I went down that road, but the three of them refused to let me take the blame. Well, as we were heading down the road we saw a Chinese guy smacking a Chinese girl really hard across the face over and over again. She was crying and he was screaming at her. Therefore, Chris stepped in and started pushing the guy away and I tried to take the girl aside to calm her down. But the guy seemed furious and I could sense trouble so left Chris and ran to get our friends: I didn't want to leave Chris but I knew we needed help. Our friends stepped in (luckily one of them is an ex-wrestler, so this probably helped!) but the Chinese guy had made a phone call and before we knew it, like only 30 seconds later, about 10-15 Chinese guys appeared from nowhere with metal poles and bats. This is mainly the reason I want to write this now and get it done with, as I was terrified by what happened. Even though these guys didn't think twice about hitting the Chinese girl, for some reason they didn't touch me. This is why I felt helpless, so was just stood in the middle of it all screaming at the guys to stop. I saw Chris on the floor being hit (again, something I'd rather put behind me) and grabbed his arm, dragging him away from the guy. Luckily the guy didn't chase us.

The rest is all a blur as we'd had some alcohol, it was in the early hours of the morning and we now haven't slept for ages. We were taken in by some guys who said they were police, turns out they weren't, and were made to feel like the villians. They managed to get one of the guys - this is one of the many reasons as to why we feel this is all dodgy (another being the fact that they hid one of the weapons under a sofa in the office..) After this we went to hospital and then spent a few hours with the real police giving statements, which was so frustrating. The questions they asked us were difficult to answer (like, describe the Chinese guys, their hairstyles and what they were wearing...?! - it all happened so quickly).

I especially feel bad for one of the American guys as he may lose his finger because of all this. Fortunately (if you can call it that), Chris was hit with a wooden bat and didn't break anthing. But one of the other guys has cut all his arm and the other one's fingers are completely messed up - we think he only got to a decent hospital 12 hours after the whole thing, as they left for Shanghai hospital (the one here was so uncooperative).

Anyway, I just wanted to summarize this whole thing so we don't have to go over it more then necessary. I apologise if any family feels we should have kept this to ourselves: The last thing we want to do is worry you. Please rest assured we are fine now and looking forward to some sleep tonight!

We will update as normal (with pictures) shortly.

Take care, Love Lisa and Chris x