Hong Kong and Macau

So after a very sad weekend of final goodbyes to the people and places I grew to love with all my heart in Houjie, it was time to leave China and enter the big wide world... starting with Hong Kong! Now, I went to Hong Kong without any predisposed opinions... I know people who have loved HK and people who think its entirely overrated so I wanted to make my own mind up. I think it took me a while to grow to love Hong Kong, but now I'm sat in HK airport waiting for my flight out of here, I'm actually so sad to leave. Initially I guess I felt so guilty for enjoying the simplicity of Hong Kong compared to mainland China... the perfect organisation, the cleanliness, the easiness of simple tasks that were always such a monumental struggle in China. The best way I can describe it is that Hong Kong is kind of like China's better, more well-liked older sibling, and seeing as I grew to really love China, even with all it's downfalls and general weirdness, I really didn't want to join the masses of people who prefer Hong Kong.

I still wouldn't say I PREFER it, as China still fascinates me and annoys me all at the same time which I kind of love. But it is amazing!! The general buzz and atmosphere is incredible, kind of like London but obviously with a lot more Asians. Well-dressed Asians I should add... a million miles away from the err, 'interesting' fashion choices I grew to get used to in mainland China.

Anyway I decided to spend a week here with Elin before meeting up with the others again, so we've kept ourselves pretty busy. On Tuesday we went to Ocean Park (it was that or Disneyland, and Ocean Park had the edge), and although the heavens decided to open as soon as we arrived we bought ourselves some overpriced ponchos and went on all the rollercoasters anyway. Yolo and all that.

After that we headed down to the waterfront to catch the symphony of lights, the lightshow that all the buildings on the Hong Kong skyline do every night. It was pretty impressive actually, if a little bit cheesy.... but maybe I was still just feeling a little bit anti-Hong Kong at this point.

On Wednesday we decided to cross the water and spend the day in Macau, the 'Las Vegas' of China. It was without a doubt the strangest place I've ever visited. The buildings and streets were like a replica of somewhere in Europe, I mean I literally could have sworn I was in Italy. But then you look up and see Chinese characters everywhere which brings you back down to the fact you are actually in Asia. The street signs are in Chinese and Portuguese, and then occasionally English, so we had to work out our way trying to translate the Portuguese... not something I thought I'd be doing while in Asia. It was generally a nice place though, the fact that the island is so small means you can literally walk from each tourist spot to the next which is nice. Unfortunately it decided to rain again so we couldn't wander about as much as we wanted to, but I think we got a feel for the place... and yes there are casino's everywhere (probably a good thing that Elin wasn't old enough for us to hide from the rain in there.... I could have left Macau a very broke woman).

 Asia.... or Europe?

On Thursday, the other girls arrived and as Elin was due to leave the next day, when we heard about a 'pub crawl' that takes place every Thursday night in Hong Kong we were obviously more than a little keen. For 100 HK dollars we were lead around Hong Kong for the evening with a group of more than 100 travellers, given free entry and free shots to every place and generally had a pretty fantastic night. I wish there were photos of this night but I didn't risk taking out my camera or Iphone. Probably a very wise choice. The next day we went to the world's cheapest Michelin star restaurant. It took us ages to find because if you didn't know it was Michelin star you wouldn't even look twice at it, it just looked like every other little Asian restaurant. The signs weren't even in English (which for Hong Kong is really saying something). The food was incredible though, and for a proper feast of Dim Sum we only paid 50 HK dollars each, which is around a fiver... happy days! We attempted to go see the Symphony of Lights light show afterwards, but the heavens decided to open so instead we went back to our rooms looking like drowned rats.

So now I am still in my China state of mind that everything is going to take 3 times as long as it should, forgetting that I'm in Hong Kong where everything runs like clockwork, so I'm at the airport far earlier than I need to be. But soon I'll be on my flight to Bangkok where I begin the next leg of the journey.... get me on a beach with a cold beer in my hand! 

Victoria Peak, HK

how high?? SHANGHAIII

This blog is bound to be getting updated less and less now as my travelling goes on, but I'm determined to update as and when I get a spare 10 minutes so that I don't forget what I've done! So, on that note, I find myself with a bit of spare time to talk about the latest trip..... Shanghai baby!!

I literally cannot explain how much I loved this city, after 5 months in 'real' China it was great to experience a little more Western culture while still being surrounded by everything I've grown to know and love about China.

And of course a beautiful reunion with my Irish chums from Beijing!

So 'The Shang' in a nutshell.... minus a LOT of irrelevant but hilarious details...


We went to see 'The Bund', Shanghai's iconic skyline

We went to the top of the Oriental Pearl Power to see the view of Shanghai from the very top, and walked over the glass walkway to see the pure drop to the city beneath our feet (I'm a pro at these glass walkways now, didn't even flinch)

We went to Starbucks for some culture

We experienced true Chinese culture at the local bars ... ahem..

We went to visit the Yuyuan Gardens, which was beautiful and very calming for our slightly fragile states (no sympathy required)

We went to Starbucks....again

And then a tiny weeny 15 hour train journey sat in a hard seat later we were back in Houjie as if the last few days had never happened. BU HAO, take me back!

Xi'an trip in photos

Returning to the 40 degree heat of Houjie has sent my brain into a coma so I feel it would be best writing about my trip to Xi'an mainly in photo form....

 

Step 1 - 30 hour train journey surrounded by Chinese people staring at us like we have two heads. Character building journey to say the least.

Visit to the Terracotta Warriors, goes without saying one of the best things I've seen in my life. Every single face of the warriors is different, and even though I'm not too fussed about history the story behind it is pretty interesting. 

Next stop was the muslim quarter, home to the muslim community of Xi'an, amazing markets with great food and shopping. They had so much cheap stuff so me and Iris did our very best haggling to get some good souvenirs and some other tack (of course). I've definitely improved since Beijing, grabbed a (quote) 'Chanel' scarf, Dr Dre 'Beats' headphones, a 'silk' dressing gown and a 'Mulberry' purse for around £20!

Right near our hostel was the Bell tower in the center of Xi'an. I'm a firm believer in that once you've seen one temple you've seen them all, but this one was really pretty, especially when it was all lit up at night.

The next day we took a trip to the 'Ancient Street', kind of like the Muslim quarter with loads of outdoor market stalls but a lot less touristy. Lots of stalls with people selling their calligraphy and paintings, not so many 'genuine fake' Prada bags etc.

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a little bit further out of the city but worth the journey.

Finally we took a bike ride round the wall that encloses Central Xian, 9 miles in an hour and a half. I don't think I stopped laughing the whole way round as me and Iris tried to remember how to ride bikes. 

Overall impressions of Xi'an is that it is a really great city, obviously lots of tourists flock there to see the Terracotta Warriors but the city itself hasn't really 'sold out' to that, it still felt quite genuine to me. And we didn't get too ripped off either which is always nice! I parted ways with Iris when we arrived back in Guangzhou to return to Houjie to begin the long task of packing up my room.... it's amazing how much junk I can acquire in only 5 months....

Next stop Shanghai!