Ding Dong Hong Kong

So I'm massively behind with this blog. It's been soo hectic the last few weeks that actually getting on to a computer would get in the way of us going to see something so I've put it on the back burner.
Hong Kong. We arrived following a 20 hour train ride through Chinese countryside. Luckily for us the 4 bed sleeper compartment wasn't full so again we had the privilege of it all to ourselves.
As it turns out Hong Kong is still separate from China. Even though it was handed back to the Chinese from British rule 10 years ago. We had to show our passports upon boarding the train and had to get on board the 'international' train platform to leave. It was a mad rush to the station too and we only just made the train by a minute or so.
Upon arriving in Hong Kong we weren't that impressed. Jumbled over advertised streets packed full of the same old stuff that China had. I think I was tired and that didn't help. The place is a lot more mixed in terms of population though, a definite sign of the former British colony. There are plenty of Indians, Pakistanis and Africans here that you just don't see in China. The whole relationship with China is still odd. Everywhere you go there is mention of the 10 year celebration of rejoining China but in China they didn't seem to care. Hong Kong was separate and that was that. They also have separate currency to the rest of China, even though it works out at almost exactly the same conversion rate against the pound.
The major benefit of us being here during the celebrations though is that every night at the harbour there's a huge musical display. All the buildings on the gorgeous harbour light up in time with music and shoot fireworks and green lasers from their roofs. Not a bad 20 minute show for free.
The other major changes I started to notice were that people were doing exercise for the sake of doing exercise. Jogging, playing football(not once in China did we even see a pitch for any sport), running and swimming. There was much more of a general happiness of being here.
Over the next few days we began to really like Hong Kong. There is much more English spoken, so that helps, and the place itself is quite diverse. Hong Kong is a collection of islands, and beautiful ones at that. So this finally gave us the chance for some escapism from the city and down onto a beach. There are many beaches so we chose one of the more popular ones with the best name.....Repulse Bay. There is nothing repulsive about it so why that name was chosen I have no idea. There are many British influences in street names here and some don't seem to work out as well as others. The main shopping road is Nathan Road. There's also a Prince Edward square. But one of the main eating districts is called Mong Kok. Make of that what you will.
One of the greatest reliefs of being here was the fact that getting harassed to buy goods on the street is illegal here and punishable by a hefty fine. It doesn't totally stop it but it's a lot easier walking down the street here than in Shanghai.
There are also more beggars. Definitely the worst example of this was one day on the underground. A woman was going from carriage to carriage dragging her heavily burnt son, of about 10 years of age, around who could hardly walk. Obviously she stayed at us the longest. There are varying opinions on giving money to beggars and obviously being me I chose the not giving as the best option. Besides, it tricky to decide what to give, who's more deserving, is the money going to make a difference, do I give more to a beggar with one had than a beggar that has severe burns? The list goes on.
The day at the beach was great though and it gave our first real chance to get away from the city.
The next day, or previous I forget, we visited Lantau Island. It's a large national park area. We went to see, wait for it, the largest outdoor bronze constructed Buddha in the world. It was pretty amazing as it turns out. You could see it for miles sat upon one of the many lush green hills shrouded in fast moving mist. It was incredibly peaceful too and another great relief from the city. Hong Kong was getting better.
After seeing the city skyline from one side of the water we decided to walk across to the main city area to see the huge menacing buildings close up. Some of them, especially with the brooding overhang of cloud, looked like something out of Ghostbusters.
In the city area the main shops are located and this is where Hong Kong sets itself far apart from even Shanghai. There is serious money here and some serious shopping gets done. But we can't afford to shop so basic needs is mainly what we look for. Food in Soho it is then. I was getting quite cocky by this point about avoiding what could be some dodgy meat based products. It had to come to an end before leaving China for proper though. Choosing a set menu in a restaurant sounded like a good idea until the soup of the day arrived. Snake head soup. Now I thought I could stomach it, and for the most part I thought it tasted really good, but why they had to leave the huge snake's skull in the dish I had no idea!!
In time I think I'd go back to Hong Kong. Not too good for real authentic culture, the museum was incredibly dull, but a great place to eat and drink as well as a bit of beach action. If you like shopping it's also good and pretty cheap too. There are plenty of fake goods though but some of the guy are quite honest about it, "Rolex sir? It's a genuine fake."
So that's China, sort of, and we ain't going back. I'm relieved in a way but glad we came and saw all the things we have (if you think this is long you should read my diary!) but whether I'd recommend anyone to come on holiday here I don't quite know.
Waving goodbye from the plane and probably the best situated airport in the world was a good feeling.
Next stop Tokyo, Japan!

Hong Kong at night. I think this is the Bank of China building.

The biggest outdoor, bronze buddha statue in the world. Phew!

Repulse Bay. See, nothing repulsive about it.

Shanghai nights

It has been so hectic last few days. We arrived by an internal plane into Shanghai and ended up stopping at a hotel near to the airport, wasnt expensive and it was 2am so we were pretty tired. We experienced our first serious rainfall upon arrival in the city itself. In about 5 minutes the rain was soo hard the roads just became rivers. We sheltered under a bus stop but were soaking, luckily it was still around 30 degrees so it wasnt as if we were freezing!
Shanghai was even more modern than Xian. You can definitely tell the western influence there. Shanghai is a busy shipping post and if you head straight across the sea to the east you will hit America, which may explain all the Starbucks, KFCs and McDonalds. There are also plenty of westerners milling around so finally we are not looked upon as some kind of sideshow.
The main attraction of Shanghai is the amazing skyline of the city buildings at a place called the Bund. This is a long promenade where everybody mills around having there photo taken with a backdrop of multi-coloured lit up buildings, at night, and the river which runs through it. There are also plenty of hawkers trying to sell you all manner of crap, handful of illuminous squidgy blob anyone? The views are spectacular, including the more western style buildings connected with the US as well as some english style architecture too.
Other than the main view of the city there isn't a great lot else to Shanghai. Its mainly a shopping city, huge shopping centers everywhere with floors and floors of endless top name brand names. Dull.
We did visit the old town, not that it seemed to old, and it was an odd mix of mainly renovated or new chinese buildings with loads of Starbucks, KFCs and jewellery shops. I cant even think how many times I got asked if I wanted to buy a bag, shoes, watch or hat. I got sick of just saying no or shaking my head to responding with - Id rather stick pins in my eyes than buy that crap.
There is another con trick here, more subtle than other places though. A young chinese couple approach you and get talking to you saying they are studying english, asking where you are from and the such, and say they are going to a tea festival and would we like to come and learn about chinese culture while they can practice their english. They lead you off, all friendly of course, straight to a tiny room where you are presented with a price list to buy tea. They must get commission or get a salary during their school holidays. Thing is I had already said I hated tea but they just want the money. Like I was even going to consider buying any tea! We left fairly quickly. A few times this scenario cropped up after the first time so we learned to just walk on if anyone asked us where we were from.
We did visit a great museum by accident though. An urban planning museum which had this huge model of Shanghai. It was really high tech too, which was quite surprising after what we had seen already in China. Although there wasn't much history here it did feel like Shanghai was or could be more of a capital than Beijing.
The time in Shanghai was good and I would probably go back at some point but not in a great rush. If I had a load of money with me then it would have been better but we mainly used the time there just to relax and laze about.
One thing is that so far in China the food on the whole has been really good and Shanghai was no exception. Quality grub for little money, although it seems that we are gradually going up the scale in expense as we near Hong Kong.
A 20 hour train to Hong Kong awaited us. I was not looking forward to it at all.
But Ill have to save it for another post because my free internet time is about to expire!

Below, the biggest model of a city I've ever seen. Ok, I've not seen that many but still.