I say "I", but in fact it will be a "we", as I’ll be travelling with Jiajia ("Ava"). For those regular blog readers who haven’t put two and two together yet, we’ve been seeing each other for about 5 months now. It’s taken someone very special to knock me out of bachelor mode. As well as always looking terrific (she owns a fashion store and is really pretty – see photo) she’s clever, independent and very patient with me! To find an attractive, unattached, English-speaking woman in her 30s in China is so rare – I feel very lucky. Having said that, we face two big tests. Travelling together for 10 days will give us an indication of whether with can cope with each other 24/7, and then being apart for 3½ months while I am in the UK will clarify how much we really mean to each other. It’s all very new for me, but I’m enjoying the journey so far!