“The committee welcomes you to Tongling,” began the interpreter, “and is honoured by your visit.” He introduced them one by one, each in turn nodding to us with a slightly nervous smile. One was the Conservation Vice-Chief, another the Association Chief-Secretary, another the Vice Chief-Secretary, and so on. I sat there feeling that we were stuck in the middle of some gigantic misunderstanding about something, and tried desperately to think of some way of looking intelligent and not letting on that I was merely a science-fiction comedy novelist on holiday.
