Some Technical Difficulties this morning.
John Perles, our de-facto tour director, surprised us by arranging to play golf at the Mission HIlls Golf Course. While there is a famous golf course in the US, by the same name, the China Mission Hills boasts of being the largest golf course in the world.  They have 12 individual courses - or 216 holes in total!!

In addition, John arranged for us to play at night, as they have several lit courses. 


Of particular note were the large homes on hillside.  Several of the fairways were lined with beautiful homes.  (I estimate they had 5-8,000 square feet of living space.).  Incredibly, it appeared that less than 20% of these homes were even occupied.  Our host told us the homes had been built, just prior to the economic downturn.  Priced at $1,000,000, they simply weren't selling. In fact, a few were being torn down.  (ouch!)

In addition to golfing at night, we also had caddies (a first for Christopher and myself).  And the caddies were female.  They didn't actually carry our clubs.  Rather, they rode on the back of our golf carts and provided advice on distances and clubs. 

Midway through the round, I faced a particularly challenging shot and asked my caddy what she recommended.  She replied, "Tennis."  That must mean something different in Chinese.....or she had already correctly identified my golfing skill level. 




With his blond hair and blue eyes, Christopher was a bit of an oddity in China, particularly the further we traveled to the interior.   He loved the attention!