KEY POINTS:
The heartbroken grandmother of Qian Xun Xue, the little girl New Zealand came to know as Pumpkin, yesterday returned to China with the child and the ashes of her murdered mother.
Xiaoping Liu and the 3-year-old, who was abandoned by her father in Melbourne, left Auckland for Changsha,
Hunan Province, southern China.
The Herald on Sunday can reveal they spent the past 12 days at the five-star hotel the Westin, in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour. They had 24-hour police protection with officers staying in the next room.
The body of Liu's daughter An An Liu was found in the boot of a car outside her Mt Roskill home on September 19. An An's husband Nai Yin Xue is wanted in connection with the killing and thought to be on the run in the United States.
Liu is grateful to the police and the New Zealand Government. She told family friend James Yu she had been prepared for serious difficulties in dealing with the authorities, and was surprised everything had gone so smoothly and that she was able to return home after only 12 days.
The Government had paid the $6000 cost of An An's funeral and about $10,000 in legal fees for Liu to gain custody of Qian Xun.
Liu said the police had taken them to visit a vineyard and a butterfly show.
Yu said Qian Xun was happy to be with her grandmother and wouldn't leave her for a minute. When Liu went to the funeral and had to leave Qian Xun with a babysitter in the hotel room, she cried and seized her grandmother's clothes until she promised to buy her chips.
He said Qian Xun had identified her father in a magazine picture but never asked for her parents except when her grandmother had to leave her for any time.
Liu told friends she could offer Qian Xun a good life, and the little girl would attend the best kindergarten in her home city, Changsha. She said Qian Xun would grow up in a loving environment as she had many family members in Changsha.
Liu had no plans to seek financial help from the Little Pumpkin Trust, set up by Qian Xun's half-sister Grace Xue.
Yu said Liu was a capable and level-headed woman who was deputy general manager of Yunda Group, a large company based in Changsha.
She had sent An An to study overseas because she thought it would bring her daughter a brighter future. She said she had no idea how much An An was suffering in New Zealand.
Liu told Yu there was not enough communication between her and her daughter. She knew little about An An's marriage and had never met her son-in-law.
Liu told Yu she would have stopped her daughter from living with Xue had she known about the violence.