I love air travel. I love it in a 'Green Eggs and Ham' manner: I would like it here or there, I would like it anywhere. Indeed, I like it here in China very much.

My ardour is fervent, ridiculous, passionate. It's something to do with the oh-so-clean aircarft interiors, the trolley-loads of 'free' soft drinks, the flip-down televisions, the magazines with nothing particular of interest in them, and the sheer bliss of doing zilch whilst sitting next to a window looking onto clouds.

Accordingly, I was secretly pleased when we discovered that China's Golden Week festivities (which commence today, May 1) had caused the price of train tickets to skyrocket well beyond our expectations.

Cue trip to China Southern Airlines, only to discover that the cost of a 2.5 hour flight from Beijing to Guangzhou was less than the 24 hour train journey we were going to undertake. (Let silent whopping and hollering commence!)

The only thing which marred my pleasure was the discovery of a certain packet of pungent 'Fish Floss' in my meal tray. It will not be mentioned again.