(that you probably have never met anybody from at any level in any place, unlike me)

I am quite curious on this point John. Because if you are referring to the british consulates in China they can do jack shit for you and I assume you do come from the UK. Even the british consulate in HK is next to useless, look at the recent passport debacle, many brits had to get emergency passports just to travel, at almost the same cost as a full 10 year 48 page passport!!

The one time, I went to the british consulate in Shanghai, it was a snooty chinese girl who basically I had a "I don't give a flying fuck" face, or I only give a shit if your a rich laowai tatooed on her forehead kind of attitude. She told me in no uncertain terms ( not that I asked!), I couldn't borrow money nor get help with medical costs, but a prison visit would be ok. God knows what she must have been through before with brits getting drunk and into debt and trouble in Shanghai eh? But I left finding it unfathomable. It would be like a white british person working in the chinese consulate/embassy in the UK....and that would never happen. When I went to the chinese consulate in manchester, it was all sour faced chinese staff, who had the attitude of they are doing you a big favour by granting you a tourist visa, to their polluted totalitarian country.

Good post though.