grown inordinately long and covered almost every state in the union. I spotted a few. My next stop was Bellingham, right up near the Canadian border. Back on the train, we continue southwards. A small town with two minarets glides by. At each station, a red-capped guard presides over the platform and a wheel-tapper walks along the train with a hammer, gently knocking the undercarriage. Afterwards, browse at the morning market (6.30-10am): rice lollipops, wasp cocoons (the pupae are considered a delicacy), buffalo lung, betel-nut bark and leaves, live toads and catfish. The intervention is potentially the most far-reaching by Beijing since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the UK. The oath involves lawmakers swearing allegiance to Hong Kong as part of the People’s Republic of China.