Within these almost 30 days that I spent in this huge country I felt and understood many things, couldn't sleep that much, walked a lot, tasted some weird stuff, took lots of trains, some buses, and finished our challenge with surplus! I didn't take exactly what was planned before (through the posts why will tell you why) however my budget finished at US$ 1,080 and therefore lower than the previously planned US$ 1,200. Thus, for the low budget traveler China is still an option!
As previously appointed by my
introductory post, my gate to the Chinese world was the
SAR (Special Administrative Region) of Hong Kong. This region is not just another Chinese province. In fact, it's totally different from mainland China. The closest rough association would be comparing it to
Singapore. Hong Kong became a British colony since 1842 and since culture, habits and Western values were merged to the Chinese culture in this place that would be known as the
gateway to China. The city grew and became famous for its mid-position between the rest of the world and mainland China. However,
Hong Kong also went through fast and polluted industrialization during the 50s which would be replaced by mainland's industrialization some years later and since the 80s the island has become a major global hub for services. Today it presents some relevant development indicators like the 13th best HDI, 4th largest population density, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world, etc. In 1997, the region was returned to China under the concept
"one contry, two systems" which should last for the next 50 years from then. That explains the fact that
in practice Hong Kong is another country since there are all border control requirements, passport stamps and even the mainland Chinese themselves cannot get in without special authorizations.
The typhoon went away and the flights were back. I got there, late, but in time to meet with my friend Julia - a former AIESEC exchange participant there, today living and working regularly - since she would " host" me and my 30 kg luggage suitcase until I finished my Chinese trip. By the way, she keeps a
blog, very good and up-to-date, about living in this part of Asia. It's worth to check some precious tips about going there. First, in
Hong Kong there are no tellers in the bus - which is likely outside Brazil - and you should pay the fare in the exact amount. Since you will come from the airport and will have changed a large amount of money, to have the exact change may be difficult. The cheapest way to access
HK's downtown is getting S1 bus until
Tung Chung - which has a huge Outlet by the way - and then the MRT. Why? If you take the
Airport Express get ready to spend more than 100 HKD per way. Roughly estimation 1 USD = 8 HKD.
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| Map with subway lines, trams and ferries of Hong Kong |
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| Bank of China building |
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| Trams |
As you can see in the map,
HK's occupies a large area and the famous island of
Hong Kong is just a small spot of it, thus using the public transportation is essential to go around. The territory central part is densely populated with
many buildings. In fact, maybe in my whole trip I haven't seen so crowded walking paths like there. However, that does not represent a chaotic traffic as we would normally expect. Most of the time the streets are free of heavy traffic.
The Peak
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| The viw from The Peak during the day |
One of the most famous attractions of Hong Kong is The Peak. It's basically the view from the top of a mountain that occupies the central part of the island of Hong Kong. To make it easier to understand the location, in the other site of the bay you can find the neighborhoods of Kowloon and New Territories, where most of the population actually live and, after these areas, it's the Chinese province of Guangdong, already at mainland China. The traditional way to climb up The Peak is taking an old tram that cost 40 HKD return ticket. However, they will try to send you the SkyPass which is the possibility to see the same thing of a little bit higher point. I don't think that is worth to pay this extra amount since there's some sort of mall after crossing a small garden area at the top and you can reach the rooftop with a good angle and for free. Other possibility is to reach the peak area entirely on foot which could be even more interesting and remarkable. The view is really impressive and surely a post card of Hong Kong. You could not find good weather? No worries! Go at night!
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| The Peak seen at night |
Big Buddha
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| View from the cable car |
Another famous attraction of
Hong Kong is the visit to the
Big Buddha, originally named
Tian Tan Buddha. This place is only accessible through a cable car, very nice and very tall, it's worth it. Besides that it's very close to the airport and, like my case, you can leave it as a
last tour before taking your flight. That's possible since many airlines companies provide check-in counters in
HK's downtown area in some subway stations thus making you free to go around without luggage.
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| Stairways giving access to the Big Buddha |
At the first view one would thing that the
Big Buddha was built some centuries ago erected by some Chinese emperor. However, in fact it was built just in 1993. Given to the touristic exploitation in place that gives room to wonder whether the purpose of the construction was exclusively to create a touristic attraction. That interpretation is far from absurd. In mainland China for example there are hundreds of locations which are being rebuilt - from scratch sometimes - in order to enjoy Chinese huge tourism potential.
Avenue of the Stars
In the other side of the bay, in
Kowloon, it's possible to observe one of the most famous views of
Hong Kong. Everyday you can catch a show -
Symphony of Lights - at 8 pm, for free, in which many buildings change their colors according to the playing music.
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| Hong Kong island seen at night |
More impressive than the show of lights is the view to the Hong Kong island at night. Lights everywhere! However, the name Avenue of the Stars comes from the fact that this avenue has many "hands" of HK's movie stars, including Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan!
To finish, my picture with Julia and her boyfriend (Martin) having an awesome lunch with HK's typical food and my anxiety before putting my feet in mainland China. Thank you Julia for providing me all the assistance during my stays in HK! I also thank you Juan Pablo, Marine, Javier and Olivier for allowing me to stay at their apartments! :)
