Hi everyone.
Tonight is my last night sleeping in my own bed for the next 10 or so days. Tomorrow night I am leaving for China (my city is in the same timezone as China), and I arrive in Chengdu on Sunday around 1 pm.
I received a lot of excellent gift suggestions from you guys and in the end for the main gift I got something similar to David E's suggestion (a silver necklace with an opal being held by a koala). As I don't know the lady that well, I did not want to risk getting something too personal, so thought I'd get something more generic but still a little relevant to us. But thank you everyone for the great ideas which helped me to reach this point.
I am starting to get a little bit nervous, especially when thinking about getting off the plane and walking into the arrivals area of Chengdu airport where I will have to try and spot her in the crowd and see her for the first time! My main concern is the same as I described earlier in the thread, rushing here to see someone who although is nice, I still do not feel I know too well. But overall, I am quite happy. That's the whole point of the trip to get to know each other, and no one ever goes on a trip like this without having some concerns. I guess mine are minimal compared to some of the issues others have had to deal with (e.g. no translators, no agencies, no doctored photos, etc. as I met her on CLL rather than Chn Love). My internet access in China may be limited, so will post a report when I come back. Thanks again everyone for your help and advice.