Yesterday saw a charming new initiative from the Qingdao sponsors when they introduced a ‘meet the family’ day.

    In a scene that reminded the crews of being back at school, an excited gathering of local families waited to see which crew members they had been allocated to spend the day with. On stage, each family was introduced in turn and up stepped a beaming and proud mum, a suited dad, an excited teenager, or in many cases all three. They scanned the massed gathering of crew and then clapped in delight as the two team members allocated to them were introduced.

    Gifts were exchanged, firm handshakes given, emotional hugs offered and the occasional kiss placed on a blushing cheek before they were ushered away from the room. The process took some time and if one was ever the last person to be reluctantly selected to play for the last string school football team, one could sympathise with Cork’s Michael Lewis and Uniquely Singapore’s Jonathan Hays. But despite being the last, the meeting with their adoptive family was as enthusiastic as the first and after being whisked away in a car, they were soon hard at work learning how to make the traditional and popular steamed dumplings.

    It was up to the families to decide on their own agenda and while some crews were taken to the family home for a Lantern Day feast, others were driven out to the countryside or taken to the tourist spots around Qingdao. Cultural lessons were a popular feature and while Michael and Jonathan made their dumplings, others were being taught Chinese Calligraphy or having the Lantern Festival explained to them.

    “It was an excellent initiative and we really enjoyed it,” said Cape Breton Island’s Pat Wickenden who went with her husband – and now race rival Steve - who will be racing on Uniquely Singapore. “They thought we were quite mad doing the race and participating was beyond their comprehension. But they’re going to come down to see us off and have been really inspired by the Clipper concept.”

    For California’s Emma Beaumont and Jodie Douglas the day started off with a tour round the old city before a traditional Chinese meal in a local restaurant.

    “It was a bit like Brighton pier and lots of fun,” said Emma. “They took us up Signal Hill and then we had an absolute feast at a Chinese restaurant where I had food I had never tried before.

    “In the evening, the grandparents were included in the family dinner. They live in a little village and the grandfather is a carpenter who can’t read or write. He never went to school but has managed to get three of his daughters through university, so he was a bit of a local celebrity in the village.“

    Qingdao’s Becky Block and Spirit of Australia’s Andy Rose got taken to their family’s home near the mountains north of Qingdao where they were treated to a big lunch washed down with the ubiquitous Tsing Tao beer.

    “Afterwards we drank tea,” said Becky, “And showed them where we live on Google Earth. Then we made dumplings which I have to say we weren’t terribly good at and afterwards the grandfather and daughter entertained us by playing their erhu, a Chinese violin.

    “They thought the Clipper Race was really challenging and the father was clearly interested but thought that participating was a dream – I don’t think they had ever been out of China.. It was nice to be with a family and it felt like a real Chinese experience. To round off the day, we let off fireworks and that too was quite an experience. They simply lit the blue touch paper out in the street and didn’t seem too worried when the sparks set the box containing all their fireworks alight! ”

    Last night, Qingdao rocked to the sound of numerous explosions that started the moment it got dark and continued long in to the night. Right across the cityscape, the sky was full of exploding pyrotechnics and it added real colour and drama to the last day of the Chinese New Year festival. A unique feature of Qingdao are the buildings. While the iconic architecture on its own delivers a dramatic skyline, at night the buildings come alive. Around ten high rise towers are coated with millions of LED’s which light up and deliver a series of scrolling messages along the waterfront. A goodwill message to the Clipper Race has been featured every night and it is the first time that the company has seen itself promoted on 40 storey high buildings!

    As the Chinese return to work, so too do the Clipper crews. Some used the race visit to jump on a train to Beijing in order to visit the Great Wall of China and marvel at the scale of Tiananmen Square while others headed south to Hong Kong. All are now back and in extreme cold, they set about loading provisions to their yachts, go through their final maintenance programme and attend individual crew briefs where the skippers will share routing plans and detail their plan of attack for the Pacific Ocean.

    Heavy snow is forecast for today but race start tomorrow is predicted to be sunny and clear with a 10 knot breeze coming from the north.