A light introduction to China - Hong Kong and Macau

One of the world's best skylines

An unidentifiable tail

 

Breakfast of delicious dim sum and jasmine tea

We were both really excited about our time in Hong Kong, which came around sooner than expected thanks to the palaver of getting hold of Chinese visas. We made a beeline for Kowloon on the tip of the peninsula and checked in to quite possibly the smallest bedroom known to man but ironically one of our most expensive – it was about 2m x 2.5m (including the bathroom).

Our days began with dim sum and jasmine tea at a fantastic restaurant just around the corner from the hotel. We took the well-loved, rickety Star Ferry over the South China Sea to Hong Kong island, a journey all of about 5 minutes, and explored the shops, restaurants and sights. We were very quickly hit with the prospect of returning to working in a busy city and so escaped to the top of Victoria Peak on the Peak tram to get a view across the island. It felt good to be in Hong Kong after so much time in South East Asia. On the one hand it’s a return to a less chaotic and smoother running city but at the same time feels very Chinese and exciting, especially as a preview of things to come in mainland China. It’s also nice to be in a place where an adequate meal in a restaurant is not considered to be a small pile of rice and a couple of shreds of beef.

It took considerable time to sort out our Chinese and Indian visas in HK so we had just shy of a week to explore the place. For our last few nights before heading to China we ‘upgraded’ from our small box room and went to stay with Ben, a Danish guy working in Hong Kong, who had very kindly agreed to host us as “Couch Surfers”. We stayed in his apartment on Lamma Island which is a relaxed, bohemian place with beaches and nice cafes and feels a million miles away from the bustle of HK island rather than just a thirty minute ferry journey.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony, is reported to be the Las Vegas of the East and as we had had such a good time in the real Las Vegas at the start of our trip (incredibly 11 months ago now) and since it’s just a one hour ferry ride from HK we decided to check it out. We spent the morning and afternoon sightseeing around the island (unlike Vegas it’s got a lot of historical sights, a park and a museum). We also took full advantage of the free sugary-almond biscuits (a nod to the Portuguese) on offer along the backstreets. A definite highlight for me was going to the street that was used to film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (opening scene where ‘Shorty’ the young Chinese boy drives them through the city to the airport after he jumps out of a window). Also going off a friend’s recommendation we hunted down what is according to someone in the know one of the best tea shops in Asia.

A slice of colonial Europe in Asia

As it got dark we noticed some restaurants with fish tanks stocked with some rather odd delicacies - live turtles desperately trying to escape before meeting their doomed fate, huge slug-like sea cucumbers and other things beyond description. The town turned neon so we hit the casinos and had a great time watching the Chinese manically gambling, shouting, throwing tantrums and celebrating crazily. We took a stroll around the Wynn hotel’s immaculate high-roller casino and noted how our trip has changed as our very first hotel was the 5* Wynn in Vegas! We kept being given free “tea” only it’s actually tea and coffee mixed together (the more caffeine the better I guess) and a slice of cake. Lots of guys wear red jackets (red being a lucky colour for the Chinese) and every fifteen minutes a stage would burst into life with western dancers and a crowd of gawping Chinese. We left on the late ferry back to Hong Kong exhausted and having had a really great day!

 A cannon positioned directly towards the biggest casino...

 Macau by night