So for Chinese New Year I decided to join the mass migration and go on a
little trip. Downside? Chinese New Year is similar to school holidays back home
in that travel firms hike up the prices to extortionate amounts. I left it a
bit late to book anywhere but it got to the point where it was cheaper for me
to fly back to the UK than it was to go anywhere within a 5 hour flight radius
of Shanghai. Flights to Japan are normally about 200 pounds, they were 900.
There was one place closer that had relatively cheap flights (about 200)
so off I went to Hong Kong. It was on my list of somewhere to visit, so I was
excited, but at the same time I think I could have done with a beach trip.
I decided to spend 2 full days in HK and then a day in Macau as you can
get the ferry there from HK. For those not familiar with Macau, it’s similar to
Hong Kong in that it’s technically ‘owned’ by China but is classed as a ‘Special
Administrative Region’ as it used to be a colony. Just as we handed back Hong
Kong in 1997, Portugal handed back Macau in 1999. It’s also known as the Vegas
of China as the biggest draw, apart from some of the World Heritage Sites, is
the casino strip.
The first thing that surprised me was that my flight to HK was empty.
Given the ‘mass migration’ tag I expected there to be a lot more people but I
had a whole row to myself. Getting through immigration at HK airport though was
another story, took ages!
My initial impression of Hong Kong was that it is a cross between
Shanghai and Singapore. As with Singapore you can still see the British
influence, English is widely spoken, the cars drive on the ‘right’ side of the
road, the public toilets aren’t holes in the ground…But it has a much more
metropolitan feel which makes it like Shanghai. But the air is better, it’s not
as crowded, and you don’t have to fight your way onto the subway every day!
One thing I didn’t actually realise until I started researching that
Hong Kong is actually made up of a few islands- Hong Kong Island, Lantau and
Kowloon being the biggest. I was staying in Causeway Bay, which is on Hong Kong
Island and fairly central to everything. As in Singapore, the metro is clean,
efficient and easy to use which made getting around really simple.
The biggest disappointment for me was the weather. When I told people I
was going to Hong Kong, the reaction was ‘go to the Peak’ ‘go to the high bars
to see the view’. Sadly, the weather was so bad (misty and drizzly) the whole
time I was there that I went to the Peak, and couldn’t see a bloody thing. Such
a waste. Also, due to Chinese New Year a lot of the markets were shut/reduced
so I don’t think I got the full effect.
I did do a lot of walking. I tend to seek out the ‘older’ sights rather
than pretty skyscrapers, probably because I work in a pretty skyscraper and I’m
surrounded by some of the best in the world all day long. So I spent a lot of
time visiting temples and parks and nunneries, which was beautiful, and
surprisingly not that busy. It was really nice to see all the temples decorated
for Chinese New Year, and see everyone doing their blessings and prayers. But I
still smell of incense.
Considering that apparently HK is normally busy during CNY, I didn’t
think it was that bad, but maybe I’m just used to the madness of Shanghai by
now. The only real queues I saw were the ferries to Macau and for the cable car
which takes you to the Big Buddha (world’s biggest apparently, which I’m pretty
sure I saw in Koh Samui…), which I did on the second day. Luckily, I had
pre-booked and paid for a cable car ticket, which I was grateful for once I saw
the queue. A very helpful guy told me I still had to queue, which was approximately
2.5 hours to buy a ticket, and then another 2 hours to get in a car. Once he
realised I’d pre-paid, I walked straight past the queue, straight to a ticket
window, and 15 minutes later I was in the air. There is also an advantage to
travelling solo sometimes –as a ‘single rider’, I got my own express queue on
the way back and didn’t have to queue at all! The downside of that is you’re
generally crammed in a car with a whole family, all of whom are taking pictures
with their selfie sticks and clearly talking about you…
So, temples, Buddhas and incense, and then Macau. As I mentioned, the
queue to buy tickets for the ferry was about 2 hours long, so I went to the ‘Premier’
queue which was 20 quid more expensive but I could get on a ferry straight
away. Well, not quite, as I had to go through immigration again, which I have
to say in HK is almost as bad as Heathrow in terms of how long it takes. So I
actually missed my designated boat, but they put me on the next one.
I was disappointed that there was nowhere outside to stand, you had to
be inside which was a bummer as I wanted to take photos. Not so bad on the way
there, but on the way it was a catamaran, which meant I spent the entire time
trying not to be sick.
Macau was…strange. I got off the ferry and the only transportation
options seemed to be a 2 hour long queue for a taxi, or a bus to one of the
many casinos. There was a ring road and a harbour and not a lot else. I saw a
covered walkway heading to a casino which seemed to be in the direction I
wanted to go in, so off I went. The upside of walking bloody miles is I think I
got to see the ‘other’ side of Macau – which looks a lot like Hong Kong, apart
from the Portugese street signs. As I’m not that fussed about gambling, I
decided to make my way to the UNESCO World Heritage sites, of which there are a
few. As I meandered down deserted side streets with closed shops and no people,
I started to wonder if I’d gone the wrong way. And then I saw this….
…and these…
It would seem because I walked instead of getting a cab, I came to the
show from the back! Anyway, so once I’d seen the ruins, walked round the fort
and headed through the melee of people taking selfies, I walked round the
Heritage Centre, fought my way down one of the most crowded streets I’ve ever
been on, and made my way back to the harbour. Again, as I decided to walk, I managed
to walk past a lot of the casinos and also saw the Macau Tower (which I did not
go in – see my previous point about skyscrapers). I then headed back to HK,
just in time for the New Year’s Fireworks before collapsing in my hotel.
So all in all, a good trip. Next on the list – Hangzhou, Suzhou, Guilin,
Beijing (again), Xi’an, Seoul, Pingyao, Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Tokyo, Kyoto and
Beijing again! It’s going to be a busy few months!
