The recess allows politicians get away to far-flung places. An eight-strong parliamentary delegation returned from China and Hong Kong last Sunday and five Oireachtas observers are currently in Cambodia. The delegation to China was led by the Ceann Comhairle, Seamus Pattison and included Deputies Nora Owen, PJ Sheehan, Tony Gregory, Sean Power, Derek McDowell, Mary Hanafin and John McGuinness. They went to Shanghai, where they met the Irish Trade Board representative, Frank Mulligan; Beijing, where they met their host Li Peng, chairman of the National Peoples' Congress; Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Quidnunc's Chinese sources tell her that because their leader was the Ceann Comhairle, they got VIP treatment all the way, from stretch limos with outriders to red carpets. At the banquet in the Great Hall of the People, the orchestra played Danny Boy and one of the courses came in green, white and orange. Less luxurious treatment is likely to be the lot of those observing the elections in Cambodia. They are Deputies Marian McGennis, Alan Dukes, Jim Higgins and Michael D Higgins and Senator Ann Ormond. The China trip cost an estimated £18,000, mostly for travel. The costs for Cambodia are being met from a £27,500 grant from the Department of Foreign Affairs in support of the electoral process there.