Mono Monday :: CHINA :: mm54

When I was growing up I remember my father spending many weeks abroad working, it wasn't too bad because I always received a present on his return.

As I grew older he rewarded me with stories of travel and is probably why I love visiting new countries and cities so much.

This most amazing story of travel he has to tell was when he was caught up in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. He was trapped in his hotel when the army and their tanks rolled in.

Fortunately he had a loyal Chinese business associate and friend who was appointed to look after him whilst out in Beijing, he travelled 12 miles on his pushbike to assist my dad in getting out of the country. He bribed a taxi driver to take my father and a Swiss lady to the airport where my dad got the last flight out of Beijing airport before they closed it. When my father and Zhang Jin parted company at the airport my father gave him all the Chinese money he had, which was over a years worth of salary to him. He was very grateful but maybe not as much as my father was to be on a flight home.

A close call and he still has the key to his room of the hotel he couldn't check out of, no bill to pay either. A great reminder of a scary time.

Thanks for reading

Mr Bo Hingles