McIntosh was showing a "true 1080p high-def" projector. I said, "I didn't see this at CEDIA."

This one's for Stephen Mejias. GuangZhou Hi-Fi 2006 is <I>seriously</I> into booth babes. I could almost do a series on that subject alone. You may talk among yourselves.

GuangZhou Hi-Fi 2006 was opened by the mayor of GuangZhou and other dignitaries, and included a pulchritudinous ribbon-cutting ceremony.

China really <I>likes</I> Christmas. It makes for some odd bedfellows.

This is Ping Gong, one of my hosts and my fellow traveler. At breakfast this morning, he explained to me how he became an audiophile. "It was the Cultural Revolution," he said. "We weren't allowed to study, so we played music and talked. I had a big Russian turntable&mdash;mono! And one speaker, of course.

The view outside my window. "What river is that?" I asked Ping Gong.

Somehow the gods of travel, who usually enjoy watching me suffer, had one of their rare bouts of whimsey and decided to ruin <I>future</I> journeys by upgrading me to first class.