IF it was not for an oversized Chinese passport a North-East man might never have been born.

James Gilman's father, also James, was an intelligence officer working in China in 1927, when the Communist Party was trying to seize power from the country's nationalist government.

Both he and his wife, Doris, knew that if they and their six-month-old daughter, Joan, were to survive, they had to flee their village, Tinghsien, and travel 50 miles to Peking.

Retired eduction officer Mr Gilman, 68, who was born in Peking after his family's safe arrival, but now lives in Durham City, related the fascinating tale during filming in Hartlepool earlier this month for the BBC's Antiques Roadshow.

He said: "My father had to hijack a car to escape the village because both he and my mother knew that, if they stayed, they would be killed by the Communists.

"He drove the car to the railway line where there was a military train on its way to Peking. This was their only way of escape.

"Once the train came, my father ran on to the line waving his A3-size native passport, issued as part of his work on behalf of the British Government, and stood on the line until the train stopped. He then had to plead with the driver to be let on the train.

"As the carriages were so cramped, my mum and sister were pushed through a window, and my father had to stand on the outside of the train until he could get in."

A journey that would usually take a few hours took three days as Communist soldiers were blowing up tracks further down the line. They had to be constantly re-laid.

Mr Gilman said: "I expect my mother and father were scared stiff. Like most westerners, they did not really understand what communism was and were quite happy living under a nationalist government.

"However, they knew that if they and my sister were to survive, they needed to get to Peking. It was very brave of my father to stay on the line until the train stopped.

"If it was not for that passport I would not be alive today."

Despite the trauma surrounding some of his parents' experiences in China, Mr Gilman has retained strong connections with the vast country and is an authority on Marco Polo, one of Europe's most famous early "ambassadors" to China.