Peter , not really surprised by your families thoughts as unless they have interacted with Chinese people in the past they still think of China as a backward country , not as a country where now all people are welcome to visit , the family group is still very important , it is safe in most places to wander around the streets and not get mugged , there are quite a few cities that have more than the whole population of Australia and whilst if you do meet a beautiful lady one can either relax and live in China or in Aussie land , a lot of the ladies are not looking for a ticket out , just honest love which they will return 10 fold , having been there quite a few times now , I have never had a drama and now as a family group we will be going back at xmas to Shenyang as Sujuan still has business interests there , but saying that she also through contacts started working here 1 week after arriving here in Jan2010 , but I did have to put my foot down and say only 5 days a week not 7 ha ha .
You will probably find your family will continue to be sceptics until you can show them photo's of you together and they can meet them via webcam , regards Sujuan and Robert .