A sad moment to think about these desperate days in Wuhan, China, which is at the centre of the coronavirus epidemic.
In the ‘eighties, Wuhan was an overnight halt in the incredible Hong Kong-Beijing Rally.
Memories of those visits to Wuhan were legendary, with invited media representatives being catered for with transport and all the necessary paperwork handled under the aegis of the tobacco sponsor 555.
That event was long, very tiring and challenging from the media position.
These were days before digital photography and instant picture transmission.
The PR company CSS were entrusted with arranging media personnel details, in my case arranging for me to leave the rally caravan of followers to return home to Britain hand-carrying pictures and stories.
It was a little daunting to be left alone in Wuhan in the middle of the forbidden country, especially when I realised I had been given a ticket reservation which turned out to be invalid.
But we were made of sterner material, and by the smallest possible time margin and a long expensive cross country taxi ride from Guangzhou to Shenzhen I was able to get home safely and delivered my material to their destinations.
I was never quite sure if CSS deliberately tried to get rid of me or whether all my troubles were coincidental.
Whatever, memories of the HKG Rally that year will long remain etched in the memory, all the more so thinking about the people in Wuhan at this time.
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The PR company CSS were entrusted with arranging media personnel details, in my case arranging for me to leave the rally caravan of followers to return home to Britain hand-carrying pictures and stories.
It was a little daunting to be left alone in Wuhan in the middle of the forbidden country, especially when I realised I had been given a ticket reservation which turned out to be invalid.
But we were made of sterner material, and by the smallest possible time margin and a long expensive cross country taxi ride from Guangzhou to Shenzhen I was able to get home safely and delivered my material to their destinations.
I was never quite sure if CSS deliberately tried to get rid of me or whether all my troubles were coincidental.
Whatever, memories of the HKG Rally that year will long remain etched in the memory, all the more so thinking about the people in Wuhan at this time.
