The one thing that any period in China does for a westerner is to expose them to the agreeably disconcerting experience of being an alien. There are just so very few of 'us' around here - strikingly fewer for instance than the number of east Asian faces you see all of the time in the streets of a city like Birmingham.

The only places that I have ever seen westerners in any profusion seems to be in the lobbies of hotels and in airports. You could understand it if the Chinese were to think that just as their giant pandas only survive solely on bamboo shoots, there is something only the air lobbies and departure lounges provides that is equally vital for us so we never wander too far from one.

Despite the rarity value I have never been aware of being stared at here- much more the sense of the glance that lingers just perceptibly longer. Even that might be caused by the fact that older men do not go grey in China. Not sure if the extent to which this is due to some genetic issues or universal recourse to Ming 2000 (or whatever they brand men's hair dye as here).

But to feel heroically alien take a trip on the metro. Actually using the metro in Beijing and in Guangzhou where I have tried it is very simple. There is a standard fare per journey ( about 20p currently in Beijing) and it is unbelievably easy to navigate. The ticket machines have English instructions; the line maps all have station names in western letters and the on train announcements are in English as well as Chinese. If you are a Russian (and there do seem to a lot of them around right now ) that's not too much help but for the English speaker its all a bit of a doddle. And although crowded - even at 9.00am on a Sunday as I discovered - and unbelievably so at peak times -you are continuously on the move.

Which is so more than can be said for the roads. Here the sense of alienation takes on a slightly different character. JLR's inroads into the premium markets here have been heroic but certain other European manufacturers have been in the market for long time - and manufacturing here to boot. The consequence of which is that sat with your host in his Audi, the stationary nature of the traffic flow means that you get the chance to see the Audi in front and behind and the BMW to either side moving none to fast either. 'orsprung durch' any means at al,l would be a massive boon.

( And just to soft pedal for moment on alienation here is a message you might care to to hear. I happened to catch Chengdu TV's Channel 2 home grown version of Top Gear recently which featured a lengthy review of the Jaguar F type. My linguistic frailties mean I can't report what they actually said but the frenzy of the music and the whoosh of the editing suggested that their enthusiasm for the vehicle seemed pretty much to even out- hype Clarkson J. Which is good and joyful and gives Munich and Wolfsburg something to mull over.)

Back to being an alien. On my packed flight from Beijing to Chengdu - which seemed to be one of about half a dozen on the same route between five and eight pm -I was the only non-Chinese passenger. As the flight prepared to descend, there was the standard announcement thanking passengers for travelling with the company. At the end of which the cabin crew members face down the aisles and make a gracious bow. Then the message is replayed in English - and the bow repeated. I can't suppose that was run just for my benefit that night and so on most flights, its for no one at all's benefit. Eerie.

Half way through the flight something mildly alienated me though. I saw that printed on the head rest protected of the seat in front of me were the web address and telephone number of the carrier, Sichuan Airlines. Address and number each comprise eight 'eights'. You'll be aware that '8' is a lucky number in China so eight eights must be lucky and then some - with '8's means never have to touch wood. Which is fine. But halfway through a flight you don't really want to be thinking to yourself, I do hope they train the pilots and don't place all their reliance on the reservoir of good fortune lodged in all of those eights.

Otherwise it really is more than just a bit alienating. Isn't it