Bonkers in Honkers

I told B that we should go sightseeing during the weekdays so that the sights would not be crowded with locals. It's the weekend and I don't think any local was sightseeing. No, they were out shopping like us. Such crowds!

No sightseeing for us during our last full day in Hong Kong. Instead we did the local thing and hit the streets in search of bargains. After a late breakfast of congee (rice porridge), yiew tiao (deep fried dough stick) and a deliciously smooth milk custard (ty the ginger flavour!) we set out.

Our quest started nearby to the hotel at the Jade Market. Which is real, which is fake? Neither of us like jade jewellry much and the nicer statues are expensive. Next was browsing the "factory outlets" at Sham Shui Po. They are all local brands and not very nice.

Apliu Street, also at Sham Shui Po, is sort of a Hong Kong street market version of Tokyo's Akihabara Electric Town. Stalls and shops selling all sort of electronic goods. The nearby Golden Computer Arcade was completely packed with young shoppers and computer shops. I felt a primal male urge to aquire some of the flashing lights and shiny computer cases for myself, but just couldn't find a need. Besides which, Tokyo awaits.

At the top of Sham Shui Po's Dragon shopping centre was an amusement park with a currently non-operational rollercoaster and ice rink. A local boy band was making an appearance at the shopping centre and lots of young girls were gathered around the vantage points.

Next, Mong Kok yet again. Too many choices for cameras, phones and other electronic goods. The streets were packed with people, the atmosphere overwhelming. Shoes, sports clothes, again too many choices, though not always to our taste. The Esprit Salon provided some relief, while B had her eyebrows done I was treated to a complimentary soft-drink and a seat. That's an innovation I would like to see in Australia!

On our way back to our local area we stopped again at a multilevel shopping centre filled with tiny stores selling anime and gaming paraphenalia. A few shops sold photos and posters of young idols. I regressed to childhood and purchased some Star Wars Lego - very cheap - to display in my work area. Why didn't they have Star Wars lego when I was 8 years old? It would have made choosing birthday presents much easier.

At the Temple Street Market I found a stall selling rip-off Star Wars figurines amongst a wide range of other cartoon and movie characters. One bag held a good selection, except that a figurine inside had a white hand printed on his head. Perhaps a member of Count Dooku's mob?

I do sound like a nerd, don't I.

We ate a dinner of radish cake, pippies and stir-fry at an open air restaurant besides the market, helping some British tourists, here for the Rugby Sevens tournament, to order. [Bugger, just saw John Howard on the TV again. Isn't there any escape???]. The most amazing thing about today was that we only took two photos, and they were just before we returned to the hotel!

We've enjoyed staying in Hong Kong, though it does feel like time for a change. There is lots more to see and next time I would like to walk some of the heritage trails in the New Territories and on the islands.

Next stop Tokyo, Japan!

Hanging by a thread

The thread was more of a fat steel cable and there was more than one of them, but it still looked small in comparison to the height above ground. We were travelling on the Ngong Ping 360 cable car up to the Tian Tan Buddha statue looking over Lantau Island. The entire ride takes about 25 minutes.

When you see the cable car in front of you suddenly accelerate down the cable you think you are in for a rollercoaster ride. The truth is much milder. Even the winds closer to the summit didn't trouble the car greatly.

Suspended high above the ground we were treated to spectacular views of the ocean, airport and scrub below. There is a trail that follows much of the cable's route, but more people were seen running down than up. As we neared the summit tombs were seen built into the mountain, good feng shui according to an older Hong Kong resident in our cabin. However, the most awe inspiring view is of the cable system's route as it soars up the mountains. It's not for people scared of heights.

There was low cloud blowing in arround the Buddha statue, mostly obscuring it from view. Tian Tan is the largest outdoor Buddha statue in the world and requires the climbing of 260 steps in order to reach the base. Closer up, the passing mist lent a mystical air to the Buddha, his kindly face looking down upon us.

After another, slightly less spectacular due to the cloud, ride back down the mountain in the cable car we arrived at the CityGate Outlet Centre. B found a couple of things to purchase in the outlet shop, after which we caught the MTR back to our hotel area and wandered until late through the Temple Street and Ladies Markets, eating dinner in a hawker centre.

I should mention lunch (which was also breakfast due to our laziness). We had a second Yum Cha lunch. Again there were no carts and instead we had to order from a menu. Also again was that the flavours didn't seem as good as in most Sydney yum cha restaurants and we were distinctly disappointed.

Last full day in Hong Kong tomorrow. It's been wonderful to stay in a city that is so easy to traverse by public transport and foot. Not certain what we will do tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll have fun.

All manner of transport

During our time on this trip we have caught all manner of transport, from a trishaw in Beijing to the Maglev in Shanghai. We've been on a hydrofoil on the Yangtze and a couple of sleeper trains across China. And many flights with more to come.

Today was special for the number of different modes of transport we caught in a single day, the day that we left China proper and returned to Hong Kong.

1. Taxi

The taxi drivers wanted RMB100 for the trip from the hotel to Guilin's airport and refused to use the meter. We knew from experience that this was a blatant rip-off. The concierge haggled down to RMB80 and we took it, with time running out. It's a pity to have to suffer cheating on your final day in a country. We met many honest, decent Chinese people, but also quite a few out to rip us off.

2. Aircraft

A China Southern flight took us from Guilin to Shenzhen. Though pretty smooth, the seat pitch was the narrowest of the Chinese carriers and we were each only given a small bottle of water and face wipe. Perhaps this was due to the shortness of the flight - only 50 minutes. Unfortunately, the skies over Guilin were overcast and smoggy so we missed out on the spectacular views from the incoming flight.

3. Minibus

Our original intention was to do some shopping around the land border crossing area into Hong Kong, but when presented with the option of going directly to Hong Kong from the airport decided to take that easier option. We were packed into a minibus for the short ride to Shenzhen's ferry terminal.

4. Catamaran

The TurboJET to Hong Kong was a comfortable, modern and fast catamaran that raced us through the placid Pearl Delta to Kowloon. We passed tiny, dingy fishing vessels, small container boats with their own cranes, bigger ships and even a drilling rig. The closer we approached Hong Kong, the more the pollution appeared to subside.

5. Walking

We lugged our two heavy backpacks and one day pack from the ferry terminal to Tsim Sha Tsui. They had definitely increased in weight since the start of our journey. The air in Hong Kong was warm and humid, fresher too compared with mainland China.

6. Mass Transit Railway (MTR)

Tsim Sha Tsui to Yau Ma Tei is only two stations by the underground, but any decrease in walking time was appreciated. The Octopus stored value cards make it so easy.

A quick walk to our hotel, the Dorsett Seaview, same as before, then out again for a lunch of noodles and wonton. Then back to the MTR for a ride to Central on Hong Kong Island.

There we purchased some dried scallops for B's mother and wandered around Hollywood Street, admiring antiques and jade far out of our price range.

7. Escalator

The longest pedestrian escalator in the world is actually a series of smaller escalators with breaks allowing people to join and depart on the ride up to the "Mid-levels". It went on and on and on, but was pretty interesting for the views of the shops and residential towers alongside.

8. Walking again

From the top of the escalator at conduit road we walked East and downhill through part of the botanical and zoological gardens. You could tell that it was a very expensive area, green and pleasant with quite a few expatriates.

9. Cable tram

The cable drawn tram ride to the Peak is quite an adventure, rising very steeply at 27 degrees at some points. How anyone can ride standing I don't know. The evening views from the Peak Lookout Tower looking out over Hong Kong Island's cityscape were spectacular, but cloud was just starting to obscure them from the top. It was as if a smoke machine was blown over the top of the tower, the lower levels were beneath the cloud.

The ride down again was even scarier, with all passengers seated backwards. B felt sick afterwards.

10. MTR again

A quick metro ride between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui got us there in time to watch the city skyline lightshow from the Promenade. Green laser beams and white spotlights shot out from the tops of the buildings many of which had colourful light displays on their structures.

It was quite as spectacular as I had hoped, but still quite beautiful.

11. Walking yet again

We walked back along Nathan Road towards our hotel. We chose to return here for the surrounding night markets and local restaurants. Tonight we decided to have a change from Chinese food and ended up in a restaurant where the food was prepared and served factory style. Edible, but not great.

It is a relief to be back in Hong Kong after spending two weeks in mainland China. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of wonderful sights we saw and great people we met in China. There were also many negatives. It's a tiring place to travel in and I think we just need some time now to relax in a modern locations where we can catch public transport to the sights and not need to rely on others to drive us around and to speak the language for us. I'm pretty certain that we will return to China again one day, but not for a little while at least.

Tomorrow we may add to our tally of transportation types with a cable car ride up to the Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island.

Pollution

We have experienced every type of pollution during our time in China. Air pollution so bad we can barely speak our throats are so irritated. The water we drink is always boiled or bottled. And as for visual pollution, well the list of ugliness is endless here.

Guilin's air has been the cleanest of our time in China, the water is still dodgy, but the city is actually relatively attractive visually, with the karsts, parks and waterways. Our problem has been noise pollution.

Our first night here was disturbed when a group of Cantonese speakers arrived on our floor. They left their doors open and the old women played mahjong, shrieking at maximum volume late into the night. I shut the door on one group and asked them to be quiet, but they just ignored me.

That's the typical Chinese culture for you. It's so competitive that everyone looks after themselves and ignores everyone else's needs. Want a ticket? Ignore the queue and push in while the clerk is serving someone else. Driving a car? It's up to the crossing pedestrians to get out of the way. Or just take up the entire lane in your slow vehicle. And everyone likes your voice, of course they do, because you are the most important person in the world and everyone should listen to what you say.

Unfortunately, I have increasingly viewed this kind of behaviour in Sydney. Especially amongst iPod users on trains.

We went from a room with a fantastic view of the karsts to one with poor views. And no internet access. I am pissed off!

The noise pollution didn't end when we left the hotel this morning for our cruise along the Li River to Yangshuo. Sitting at our table on the boat were older Americans from the Midwest. Of course, they had to constantly verbalise. Talk, talk, talk, talk. They seemed nice enough, but the gorgeous scenery outside lent itself to quiet contemplation, not self-involved conversation. Thankfully it was a bit quieter above deck.

The taxi drivers in Guilin have been quite annoying, demanding set fees and even petrol money at the end over a metered fare. They wanted to charge us RMB100 for the ride to Zhujiang Pier. By the meter it was RMB68.40, a significant saving. The hotel concierge staff can be quite helpful in this regard.

The ride out to the pier was very interesting, passing rice paddies, stone carving villages, buffaloes and a huge pig standing in the road.

A great parade of boats left the docks for the river cruise. The karst scenery was quite otherworldly. I expected to see dinosaurs emerge from the trees at any moment. The karsts are limestone, the remnants of ancient shellfish, arround which the stone has eroded away, dissolved by the carbonic acid in water and due to vegetation. Interestingly, this is one process by which carbon dioxide in naturally removed from the atmosphere.

We passed bamboo rafts, caves high up the side of the mountains and stalactites growing from above the riverbanks where run-off has dripped down. Buffaloes, ducks and geese wallowed in the shallows, the possessions of the riverside village occupants.

The cruise ticket included a buffet lunch, mainly Chinese food, though the Americans were delighted with the french fries and “Twinkies” (whatever they are). We enjoyed the sweet kumquats, miniature citrus fruit, so much we purchased a bag from a streetside vendor later on.

After all the hype Yangshuo was a disappointment. Lots of tourist good shops, lots of the same old shops existing anywhere in China. At least the shopkeepers were less aggressive than elsewhere, probably understanding westerners' aversion to such tactics.

We visited KFC for its toilets (clean, but squat only for men) and ate some yummy peach egg tarts – different to Australia! Many attractive karsts dot the town, but we had had our fill and had no energy to climb (I am still busy sniffling away). So we caught a bus back to Guilin.

The bus ride was slow, bumpy and dusty. The noise pollution continued with the driver's frequent sounding of the horn. Despite this, we still fell asleep for some of the ride.

Dinner was in the hotel restaurant. Unremarkable, except that a couple of musicians were playing the lute and Chinese harp, the guzheng, both beautiful instruments.

Tomorrow we leave for Shenzhen and Hong Kong. I'll be glad to be leaving China proper and indeed I'm looking forward now to Japan, a country of manners and cleanliness. China has been a very interesting experience, but it is wearying and it's time now for a holiday.

No update

Network doesn't work in our new room so no update tonight. Noisy Cantonese drove us out. Will take revenge tomorrow in HK.

Floating on air

Is 431km/h the fastest we have ever travelled on land? I'm not certain it counts as we were actually floating above the ground. Today we caught the Maglev, the magnetic levitation train, between Shanghai and Pudong Airport.

I think we finally worked out Shanghai metro's ticketing system. You can't reuse your ticket when interchanging between Line 3 and Line 1 at Shanghai station. But you can when interchanging between Lines 3, 4 and 2! It was a roundabout way to get to the airport and, at RMB50 per person for the Maglev ride, perhaps not the cheapest. But it was a fun, if shortlived, pleasure.

The amazing thing about the Maglev is how smooth and unnoticable the acceleration is. I've caught both the Shinkansen and TGV and neither were as smooth as the Maglev. Wish we could travel to work on one!

The flight between Shanghai and Guilin was the best yet of this trip. Shanghai Airlines seemed okay, though sometimes their English announcements were garbled and the coconut cream roll as a bit stale. The KitKat was good, though. I had forgotten how good chocolate tastes.

I thoroughly recommend a daytime flight to Guilin. The approach over the limestone karsts and the shimmering mosaics of the rice paddy fields was spectacular. It was the sunniest weather all trip, though the smog layer was always visible.

Our room at the Guishan Hotel has wonderful views of limestone karsts. The grounds also seem quite pleasant. We walked down to the local shops, purchasing tiny sweet mangos and bananas from the market vendors, ordered meat and tofu skewers with the help of some giggling schoolgirls.

Dinner was delicious guilin rice noodles and fried fish in a sweet and sour style sauce. Guilin seems to be a relaxed (except for the traffic) small city and a pleasant place for an evening walk.

Off on a Li River cruise to Yanghshuo tomorrow.

Route Canal

Canals evoke the image of romantic travel in me. We passed through part of China's extensive canal network during our approach to Shanghai. It looked very much alive, with barges and low boats carrying raw materials and finished products. Old wooden sampans moored beside decaying buildings or under low bridges illustrated the long history of China's canals, dating back a thousand years or more. So I was looking forward to visiting Zhouzhang, one of the area's famous Water Towns and threaded by canals.

The town itself is quite attractive, with narrow pedestrian (and bicycle) only streets of local brick, but the effect was ruined by the aggressive shopkeepers occupying almost every building. They all sold the same thing, silk crafts, wood carvings, paintings, pig trotters. Worse were the restaurant touts, each advertising the same meal, each trying to get you inside.

There were some pleasant spots, the Quanfu temple with its outlook on to the lake, the lute playing at the Ancient Opera Stage (before a performance of Chinese opera drove us off) and, best of al, Zhang's House, a maze of rooms and small garden scenes.

We took a gondola ride through the canals, which was very pleasant, until the driver started singing badly and demanding money for it.

Our pogo-stick bus ride back to Shanghai was interrupted by a detour to a silk shop where we were treated to a fashion show complete with catwalk an coloured spot lights. Hilarious really. None of the foreign tourists bought anything, but I think the Chinese enjoyed it.

Maybe the smallpox button in the hotel room didn't give me that virtually extinct disease, but I have had a very sore throat all day. Not surprising with all the pollution and Chinese habit of sharing phlegm. So I wasn't in the happiest of moods today and the touts didn't help.

I found the canals we passed during the bus ride back to Shanghai far more evocative. I think that Suzhou may have been a better choice to see these, along with the gardens. Next time maybe...