A fleet of vehicles and a large crowd assembled at the Police Tactical Unit Headquarters at the crack of dawn! What was happening? Why were they there...especially at such an early hour?

It was, in fact, the assembly point on August 11 for some 244 officers, friends and relatives who were about to embark on a driving tour on the Mainland, organised by the Police Motoring Club as part of the healthy lifestyle campaign.

You would, of course, presume that members of the Force would be organised a tad more than the average person, but this trip was to prove that the average policeman is, first and foremost human, as occasional humorous incidents demonstrated.

The first such example occurred before the group had even crossed the boundary. It was the driver of car number 18 who had forgotten what? Only his identity card, which as we know is required for anyone leaving Hong Kong. What to do? Fortunately for this forgetful individual, a member of his family at home jumped into a taxi and delivered his ID card to him so he could continue with the trip.

With immigration requirements completed by everyone, the convoy, led by PMC Chairman Chan Chun-hing, crossed the boundary at the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint travelling some 160 kilometres to Qingyuan for lunch before heading northwards on Qinglin Highway, passing through Linzhou, Linnan and Yizhang to Chenzhou to attend a reception dinner hosted by Chenzhou Public Security Bureau officials.

Guests were entertained with tales of the first day's adventures including the fact that car number 22 made a wrong turn whilst exiting the flyover, splitting the convoy in two, a situation only remedied with the Public Security Bureau's assistance in sorting out the resulting chaotic situation.

The next morning the group moved on to Hengshan where they stopped to visit the Nanyue Temple and climb the 1,298 metre zhangjiajie in Hengshan. Following this they continued on to Changsha.

The following day, this large band of enthusiastic motorists visited Zhangjiajie, famous for its spectacular scenery, where they toured Huanglong Cave.

Early next morning the group boarded eight coaches for a tour of the natural scenic spots of Zhangjiajie. A social function was organised that night where members made a generous donation towards the renovation of a primary school located in the remote hills of Hunan Province.

On day five the group returned to Changsha attending a reception held by the Hunan Provincial Public Security Bureau. At the invitation of public security head Zhou Benshun, Director of Personnel and Training Robin Leung Fung-shun attended the reception as a guest of honour.

Next day, the convoy returned to Chenzhou where they visited the national women's volleyball training camp. It was here that the driver of car number three, in a moment of absent-mindedness, locked his keys in his car! He had apparently ignored the advice of the Chief Marshal to keep his two keys separately but in true team spirit the convoy marshals managed to retrieve the keys from the vehicle for him.

On day seven the group returned to Qingyuan in Guangdong Province to enjoy a variety of activities including hot spring baths, grass skiing and water rafting before making their return journey to Hong Kong the next day. This final leg proved just a little too much for car number 48 which broke down right in the middle of Guangshen Highway and had to be towed back to Hong Kong.

When all participants had been accounted for (again) at Lok Ma Chau, the relief was all too evident on the faces of the organising committee who were, despite a demanding and hectic week, still smiling!

In fact, everyone enjoyed this trip so much that the PMC is planning to visit Vietnam in late 2002.