The Eagle has Landed

FRIDAY, 26 October 2012. I am safely in China after 24 hours of travel. The entry process included health inspection and possible quarantine, but the toughest part for me was immigration. The officer looked back and forth between my passport photo and face before breaking out the facial-recognition software to verify my identity. (What can I say? Old photo and lots of travel.) Students from the Chinese Art Academy met me at the airport with a care package - muffins and sausage! - in case I got hungry during the night. As a courtesy they brought a driver, which meant a three-hour ride to the hotel. I collapsed

into bed after 2am, and a conference organizer called less than four hours later to get me up for a long day. It's a good thing she did, as my alarm clock had failed, and I certainly would have slept through the day.