G’day, mates!
The workup of 8 weeks China will start soon, when I have some relaxing days in Chiang Mai to organize my life and all the stuff I kick down the road for a while already.
Now you get a fresh report of my short trip to Hong Kong, 3 days in total. The flight was – once again – troublesome. Sakeenah had given me a lift to the bus station in Jinhua, the transfer to Hangzhou Airport went smoothly, I arrived at 11:00am, 3 hours before my actual flight was supposed to departure. However, there was no MU595 connection shown on the terminal’s departure display. I moved to the international terminal – the same. After interviewing several help desk girls, I found myself contacting the China Eastern Airlines ticket office and was told that my flight was cancelled. Alternatively there was a connection available at 19:00. Great! 8 hours of waiting… By contrast with other modern airports, Hangzhou doesn’t offer charging points for mobile phones or netbooks. After trying several different power sockets, integrated in the structural columns, I had to accept that my plug couldn’t be connected properly in any of them. It was attached so wobbly that it simply fell off. Not willing to give up easily, fixed the problem with sticky tape and spent the next hours on the internet and by editing photos. Shortly after 5:00pm I had a look at the time-table and still couldn’t find a Hong Kong flight at 19:00. There was some confusion at the China Eastern Airlines desk, but at the end they rebooked for me and I caught a plane at 19:15 and flew with Dragon Airlines.
Hong Kong welcomed me with unexpected warmth beyond the 20°C mark. Equipped with thermal underwear, winter jacket and 28 kg of baggage, I felt slightly uncomfortable. It took a while until I had calculated the optimal, most cost-efficient ticket variant for airport transfer to my hotel plus 2.5 days of sightseeing. It is interesting to recognize, that every city has a different fare system for public transportation. Some are more fair-minded than others but therefore more complex. The range stretches from plain simple systems (Beijing subway: where ever you go: 2 Yuan = 0.25 Euro Cent) to, in theory understandable, but in practise unclear, zone models like in Brisbane, where a ninety kilometre trip at off-peak time might cost only three dollars more than a 5 kilometre city-ride at peak-time.
I managed to hit the road at the right subway exit close to my hotel on first attempt and was yearning for a shower and some sleep, since it was already 23:40. The Chunking Mansions complex is very popular in Hong Kong and easy to spot. To find my hostel within this buzzing building was another story. Where the hell was block E, how to get there? Once I entered Chunking Mansions it felt like I had stepped into another world. Dodgy looking Indians, Pakistani and Afro-Americans everywhere. They asked me if I needed an accommodation, cigarettes, watches, mobile phones, what ever… . With a ton of luggage and a foreigner face it was impossible to escape from them. I made my way along electronic shops and currency exchange offices, oriental snack bars and trolley stores which were still open, although it was already midnight. I found a security guy who pointed out where to find the Block E lifts. Everything looked run down and I already expected a shitty room, but it came worse. The reception on the 7th floor was closed and ringing the bell futile. An Indian looking guy with a cigarette in his mouth came out of one of the other doors on the floor and approached me. He knew the receptionist and gave him a call. 5 minutes later, an extremely bored looking Indian guy appeared, mumbled something and accomplished the check-in procedure. The good news were that I should reside in the new section of the Shanghai hostel, which was finished recently, the bad news were, that my room was located in another block. A staff guy helped my to move my duffle bag downstairs, to transfer to the lift of Block C and to introduce me to my tiny, but brand new, 5m² room (this includes the bathroom!) on the 3rd floor. At 00:20am, I finally had arrived at my destination, knackered and sweaty.
The next morning I got up early to get some visa relevant documents, certified at the German Consulate. I went shopping (Chocolate, bananas, peanut butter, German bread & organic muesli – oh yeah!!!) and randomly walked around on the main island of Hong Kong. In the evening I headed out for a photo tour at the harbour area in Tsim Sha Tsui and enjoyed the atmosphere of that vibrant city.
Hong Kong is sooo different from the rest of China. While I felt like an alien, a zoo attraction, even in metropolises like Beijing, Hong Kong is much more international. Faces of Westerners everywhere, as well as Arabs, Indians, Pakistani, all kinds of Asian looking faces and a bunch of dark-skinned Afro-Americans.
Now I understand, why Hong Kong has a different policy, although officially being a part of China. It has a different currency (Hong Kong dollars vs. Chinese Renminbi / Yuan) and even the power sockets are different (Argh!… I didn’t have a converter and couldn’t use any of my electric devices until borrowing one from the reception in the morning). The traffic is a revelation: Although there is plenty of traffic, nearly nobody honks the horn, people are driving more careful than in Beijing, Shanghai and the mainland of China. Downtown, pedestrians can walk for kilometres on bridges above street level. They span between the many office towers, so you rarely have to wait at traffic lights. Besides the overpasses, the subterranean network of tunnels, spreading from the subway stations, is well developed, too.
Fashion on the street ranges from Berlin-I-give-an-F-what-other-people-think-about-me casual to high-class I-make-more-money-than-I-have-time-to-spend business look. In Hong Kong, business seems to be the engine of the economy and the attractor for foreigners to come here. Everybody tries to make money – in modern glassy skyscraper offices, malls with floors polished to a mirror, but also in dingy shops as in Chunking Mansions. As a result, the general price level is fairly high, compared to other parts of China. At least, you get everything you want – presumed that you are willing to pay some extra cash. If you like to buy fake watches or mobile phones, you might negotiate a bargain…but if you want to make sure to get a 100% original product, don’t hope for a discount competing with online prices.
The city is cramped with architecture, but I like that the urban planning council seems to pay attention to keep the city green by planting trees, bushes and flowers – for example on the centre strip of roads. At night-time Hong Kong looks gorgeous, and it is a pleasure to roam through the city at mild temperatures. The air pollution is bad, but bearable due to its vicinity to the ocean, which provides for a more or less fresh breeze, at least for the direct coastal area.
I spent the whole day inside my slightly lighted room. It is time for me to use my last night here to explore some more parts of Hong Kong and to take stunning pictures with my new Lumix FZ200, which I bought in Xiamen 2 weeks ago.
Hope to be back with a new post with within a few days –
Chris