Don’t mention the T (ibet) word

I am on plane to Shanghai, number 2 of 6 flights in total, reminding myself not to mention words such as Dalai, Lama, free, demo and protest. I also decided against buying the Dalai Lama’s biography from Hong Kong airport as I was ultra paranoid that I would be refused entry to mainland China. Riots in Tibet have been reported by the western press. I expect that once I enter China I will not hear anything more about it.

The onboard safety video shows in Cantonese and Mandarin that the use of remote control cars is not allowed onboard. So no mp3 players, mobile phones and remote control cars. How will we amuse ourselves? More about remote control cars later in this China Special.

My fellow passengers are preparing me for the spitting that I have been told is as common as blinking. The whole plane seems to be burping or drawing snot up their nose including the D&G clad lady next to me. I need my mp3 player to block out the noise. Ahh but I can't use it.

The driver AT kindly arranged for me when I was in HK greets me with a sign saying Miss Ema. Hoping for a bit of female conversation I soon discovered that she spoke no English and was determined to drive me to my hotel as fast as possible and with no distractions from a chatty passenger. I wonder if she has stolen the car or left the iron on at home. I kept checking behind to see if we were being chased. Just like the Greeks foot to the floor and no signals. I found it strange that as a nation with a one child policy all the cars on the road are large family saloons. I also found it odd that none of the cars had Sat Nav. Perhaps this is against Chinese State policy and only satellites are used for military purposes in China.

Blogger is playing up and not letting me edit properly. Am I being watched?