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Michael and Celia Richardson lived in Peking, China from January 1972 to January 1974. It was Michael’s first posting as a member of HM Diplomatic Service as Third Secretary at the Office of the British Chargé d’Affaires, after two years learning Mandarin Chinese in Hong Kong where their son Jamie was born. Jamie was almost two when the family went to China. The following are extracts from their letters home. Where no addressee is stated they are ‘round-robin’ letters – known as ‘mammoths’ – to both sets of parents and others, written either by Celia (CR) or Michael (MJR). Britain’s diplomatic relations with China were limited to offices headed by Chargés d’Affaires, rather than full ambassadors, because of disagreement over Britain’s continued recognition of – and diplomatic presence in – Taiwan. The office of the British Chargé d’Affaires in Peking had been burnt down by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution in 1968.