Farewell to China

With a day left, Blues finished off with a double training session, including a full-scale practice match on the afternoon.

Word had got round Guangzhou and a sizeable crowd of locals turned up to see them.

Vico Hui also made it down, for once in his civvies. Whenever the chairman has been spotted around the camp or in hotels, he is invariably wearing a Blues shirt and looking as proud as punch.

When Blues arrived in Hong Kong, Hui had flown back from the World Cup in South Africa and touched down at the same time.

Not for him a businessman's sharp suit; instead he bumped into the squad on the main airport concourse in Blues' green goalkeeper jersey.

Throughout the tour, the players who have attracted the most attention have been Ben Foster, Cameron Jerome and Nikola Zigic.

The tattoos have also been eyed, somewhat suspiciously.

In China, a tattooed person usually equates to someone on the wrong side of the law. In short, a gangster.

So Garry O'Connor and Liam Ridgewell have been able to walk about and not be pestered by the crowds due to the 15-yard exclusion zone around them.

Blues attended a gala farewell dinner after their last training stint, ahead of the morning transfer to Hong Kong.

It was the third such of the tour and on this occasion was to celebrate the announcement of a link up with local side Mingzhu for a soccer academy.

Once back at their hotel, the Marina Plaza, the manager, backroom staff and players gathered in the bar for a sing-song.

Not any old sing-song, but a tour tradition: those on their first Blues pre-season had to get up in front of the others and belt out a tune.

Ben Foster absolutely murdered Beyonce's Halo (at least he knew he was doing so), Fraser Kerr went for 500 Miles and Nikola Zigic caused amusement with a Serbian ballad. Not so much the song, but his OTT impressions of a crooner trying to be ultra smooth.

Michel, too, wasn't afraid to muck in and be ridiculed. He sang what was believed to be the Spanish national anthem, with his arm rigid across his chest and his hand pressed to his heart, before ending with a mock salute.

It was a long and sometimes arduous tour but nevertheless a worthwhile exercise, and the experience of a lifetime.

For as long as Carson Yeung is going to be at the helm, Blues will go out to Hong Kong and China, so it is something everyone will have to get used to.

The Chinese owners have, understandably, been keen to show off Blues and the demands on their time may be better structured and organised in future years.

But putting aside the early starts, transfers and travelling, Blues got what they wanted to get out of it football wise and they trained hard in the heat and humidity.

And although it may only be baby steps, the awareness and interest in Blues is there. Yeung's contacts and influence - and his wealth - seen at first hand, is very real.

Without doubt the standing of the club, both among the general public and in the fields of commerce, business and officialdom in the People's Republic, can be enhanced further.

This first, landmark, tour to the Far East has laid the platform for progress.