Charging into China from Hong Kong to Chengdu

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Boats, heaps of boats - ships really, container ships. Looking down on Hong Kong harbour from one of the island flyover bridges on freeway from airport to town, the number of boats and containers stacked high at the wharves was impressive - even more so than Singapore. Both cities are similar but Singapore is boring, Hong Kong though has a pulse - mountains too and China as the backdrop.

Into the tunnel and soon we spill out onto Hennessy Road running parallel to the waterfront on Hong Kong island - the centre of town, or the universe if you are a Hong Kong resident. My eyes follow street signs, trying to pick up ones that will tell me I'm in Wanchai - the bus driver helps and soon we alight on the pavement. No space anywhere to store bags and get bearings - pavements are a jostle with scurrying people so a doorway has to suffice. Usually I can find a corner cafe to prop at and pull my map and guide book out to plan a hotel search, but not in Hong Kong - no cafe in sight, but they were there - just not visible in the first rush of arrival adrenalin.

I have searched for hotels in many a city and town all over the world. Usually, I love the challenge of finding comfortable and affordable digs and 1 to 2 hours at the outside is normally sufficient time. But never have I encountered a place like Hong Kong. For a start the prices are exorbitant, to say the least. Outrageous even -budget accommodation in HK has a 5 star price tag - and that's a room with no window.....

The search started in Wanchai but soon ended up in Kowloon. Going to Macau or even China was on the cards as every place came up full. It got to the stage where a windowless shoebox for an unseemly price was going to have to be taken - if I could find one. After walking down every floor in Chungking and Mirador Mansions, I finally came across a windowless shoebox that didnt have someone else's shoes in it and the price was bearable if you didn't think too hard. But this was only one room and i needed 3 - consulted with my party who were hanging loose in the Sheraton lobby - what to do. Go back and get the one room and surprise surprise - now there were two available and one had a window - bloody hell - a big window onto street too. Miracles do happen; the pretty Indonesian receptionist even pulled a 4 bed room out of the hat, on another floor - we had made it, some 6 hours later and with one pair of shoes worn out - not like some poor buggers who had to put their sleeping bags down in front of the lift.

So now with one full day gone, time to explore Hong Kong - time to get a beer. Where to start - going down to the Kowloon waterfront to see the much talked about lightshow on the buildings across the water seemed like a good start. Except I have seen better light shows in a country town in Australia - this is Hong Kong, this is supposed to be a tourist attraction - maybe I was just jaded. First night in HK was uneventful, though I did find a nice street bar near Mirador that was pleasant enough to recuperate in.

Next morning, rested up and ready to explore. Again we made the waterfront but this time to catch a Star ferry into town. Its not Circular Quay but a bit like it as we alighted in skyscraper city and wandered towards the hinterland, looking for the tram to the Peak.

Of course we could have caught a taxi or tourist bus but that's too easy. We got there and were pretty soon ascending the famous hill in the tram. Hong Kong was starting to look up as we looked down on the tops of the skyscrapers. The Peak is worth a visit - the multitude of tourists accompanying you attest to that. Next stop was to try and locate the moving pedestrian pathway that jumps over streets and heads upwards and inland. Again easy to find and pleasantly rewarding when you get off it in Soho, a western bar and restaurant enclave. There is something about having pasta and pinot gris on a rooftop. Wandering back downhill through Graham Street market and we have pretty much got a good feel for Hong Kong on Day 2. The party was too worn out for another Star ferry ride, so taxied it back to Kowloon, while I had a close up look at a few of the impressive buildings, especially the skeletal HSBC tower, followed by a quiet drink in one of the less salubrious bars on Lockhart Street - good way to end the day.

Next day headed up to Causeway Bay on a tram, but not much of an attraction in this area of town - even for my wife who loves to shop. The closer environs of Kowloon offer far more. Hong Kong was not delivering any real punch, but the street bar near Mirador was a welcome respite.

It has been ages since I have gone to the races so with Sunday dawning, I couldnt pass up the chance to get to Happy Valley. As you walk towards the gates, you know you are entering a racecourse, it has that feel and your fellow walkers all look like guys out for a punt and a pint or two. There is the green green turf (probably synthetic, but it has the look) and the full course is before you, ringed by high rises. The paddock is concrete and not as spacious as Randwick or Flemington but it does have beer tents ha, which you can prop at and watch the horses go to the barrier. The grandstands are huge, people are plentiful and for a racing aficionado, you're on home territory. I had a few beers and a couple of small bets and soaked up the atmosphere. But I didnt stay to the end, the races weren't that exciting with no champions on show, so pulled up stumps and made it back to Kowloon well before last race was run.

Next morning, the trip began in earnest. My party returned to Malaysia and I caught the train to border and walked into Shenzen, China. This is what I was about - a straight line journey west into China - to Chengdu and an Air Asia flight back to KL. I had allowed myself 10 days but was one day short after my Hong Kong sojourn - hopefully still enough time to get to Chengdu in time for return flight.

Shenzen is everything Hong Kong isn't. For a start its cheaper, much better laid out, still stunning architecture, not overcrowded and teeming with people and as a result, the pace is much more relaxed. Didn't really give it that much time to explore - just an afternoon and evening before catching a morning train to Guangzhou. This city is huge; had previously spent a couple of nights in Guangzhou and find it far too daunting to get around. Bit easier now though that the metro is finished as was able to catch metro from the Guangzhou Eastern rail station to the major one in town. From there, it was a cinch to get a train heading north west towards Changsa. Considered Changsa too far to get to in one day so settled for a smaller unknown small city in the general direction. What a pleasant surprise it was to alight in mid afternoon in Shaoguan.

Its a manageable size, on a river and spaciously radiating from the railway station as most Chinese cities are planned. Its a pretty neat arrangement as hotels are usually gathered around the railway hub as are food stalls and beer cafes. Easy to find you abode for the night and settle down before you do an exploratory wander. On Shaoguan it didnt take me long to reach the river and walk across the bridge - the sun had gone down and the riverside promenade and adjacent buildings were awash with a light display - so much better than Hong Kong ha. Wandering along the riverfront I came across a group of violinists practising and then a party of ballroom dancers - all very civilized.

After a pleasant evening with a few local beers and some excellent street food, to bed and an early rise for next train journey - this time to Changsa. This is a major growth city in a rich agricultural area just south of the Yangtze. Huge and affluent, Changsa didnt have the same appeal as Shaoguan but had to stay the night as took nearly all day to reach. The train journey was a bit of fun though - I could only get standing room. For 8 hours, this was a little bit too much so with a bit of bravado and flirtation with a pretty train assistant, I managed to get into the dining car between meals without having to pay the bribe. It was good, I had a seat and a table and could watch the comings and goings of the train staff and as long as I bought beers, could stay on - I did until they ran out of cold beer....

Leaving Changsa was a bit of decision making time. Should I go north to the Yangtze and then west. Or should I head west to Huaihua and then north. The reason being that I wanted to reach two destinations to the west - the mountains where they filmed Avatar and Fenghuang, an historic river town that is not mentioned in my Lonely Planet but which I had googled upon. The itinerary out of Changsa depended on which place you wanted to get to first. I decided to go west to Huaihua and then north. It was an easy train journey to Huaihua through some rather beautiful pastoral country that was so typical of the China scenery you imagine - passing small timeless rural villages. Huaihua is a busy railway terminus - not a very pretty town but the hotel beside the railway station was superb value - stunning room, clean and fresh with own computer and free internet. If the town had been more exciting, could have stayed a few days here - ha.

To get to Fenghuang, needed to stay off the trains for once and catch a bus. Ojek ride from train station to bus terminal and then a small bus through mountain valleys and some rather timeworn villages till you sesned you were approaching something special. The valley became deeper, the river more scenic and the road more windier as you neared Fenghuang. Entering the town doesnt bring a great deal of alertness until suddenly, you get glimpses from your window of a riverscape teeming with people and historic architecture. Craning behind as you try to capture the spectacle, the bus pulls into a crowded carpark. Anxiously grabbing my bag, I walked up onto a bridge across the river and encountered a sight I can never forget. Before me on either side was a small river, both banks of which were lined by an amazing display of Chinese heritage architecture tumbling down to the waters edge, from tree covered mountain ridges. Even the array of ornamental rooftops captivated me as slowly I took in the scene which was even more endearing because of the people milling along the river bank and crossing the stream on stepping stones and walkovers, enjoying and being absorbed by this truly picturesque and charming town. To think this place is not in the guidebooks and yet is so captivating makes you wonder what the travel writers are about. I crossed the bridge, merrily photographing my way and began to descend the steep steps down to the river. Two cute Chinese girls were clambering up the steps and midway on the descent they stopped me for a chat. They were English students on a bit of a sabbatical to Fenghuang - had been here a few days and offered to help me find accommodation. They were pretty enough so I easily surrendered my independence. Back up the steps we went a short distance to enter a building with just Chinese writing - I had no idea it was a guest house but it was where they were staying and pretty soon I was viewing a room that had a balcony out onto the idyllic river scene. I needed no hesitation to take the room, much to my new friends delight as they give me their room number ha and skitted away. Unpacking and observing the charming scene from the window and balcony, I was enthralled and was soon making my way back down the steps in search of a cafe and cold beer. Didn't have to go very far, at foot of steps, there it was. Pleasantly imbibing and thinking of ordering food when suddenly 3, just as pretty girls join me at the table - more English students - really am getting to like this place lol.

I have travelled to many a destination - places that I have studied and researched and known about. Most have lived up to expectations, but it is rare to come across a place that you have no real knowledge of and find that it puts most of the well known tourist haunts into its shadow. Fenghuang is such a place. I had stumbled across it in Google while mapping out an itinerary for this trip. The photos I had seen from some travel blogger were captivating and I thought I should put it somewhere on my journey. But, never did I expect it to be as good as this. Fenghuang or Chinese Phoenix is a Miao minority town that retains it distinctive Ming and Qing architectural style to a high degree. The setting on the river helps but the fact that the Chinese come here in their numbers attests to its innate appeal. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List tentatively, in the cultural section - but try and find it in Lonely Planet

After 2 nights in Fenghuang and wanting many more but with a date to keep with a flight in Chengdu, I couldn't afford to linger any longer. So with a mixture of sadness and anticipation of next venue, I checked out of the hotel but as doing so, one of the original pretty girls came up to me and asked where I was going. I told her Zhangjiajie and the Avatar Mountains and she immediately replied she was heading there too. I later learned she wasn't but the opportunity to travel with me prompted her to make an immediate decision to follow ha. So our party of 2, she left her girlfriend behind, set out from ancient Fenghuang to nature's new found wonder made famous by the film Avatar. We bussed it up north aways to Jishou and then caught the train to Zhang...... Its not that far from Fenghuang and both places can easily be visited if in the area. The Avatar Mountains are getting mass tourism at moment from all over China and there are huge plans for even greater infrastructure expansion. The tourist numbers to these mountains is phenomenal and with the planned high speed rail and expressway links from Changsa to Chongking, I can only imagine what it will be like in a few years time.

As it was the city at foot of mountains was virtually booked up and it took almost a Hong Kong time to find a bed for the night. The town further up in the mountains was overflowing with tourists because it was weekend. But we were lucky enough to find a hotel next to the bus station and her girlfriend and her boyfriend arrived late at night so the party was now 4. Next morning, we caught an early bus up to the high Zhangjiajie where the park entrance is - found a hotel, again right alongside the bus station. So now to catch the cable car to the top - a 3 hour wait, unbelievable - so many people and me the only westerner. I have never stood in a queue for so long but what to do. My initial thought of walking up the trail diminished when I saw how steep the mountains are - and to climb for 5 kms.....

So we waited, and waited and finally got into one of the cable cars and were whisked through Avatar scenery to the top. If it wasn't for the pollution haze, the view would have been stupendous. The whole scene is a bit like the Three Sisters, in Australia's Blue Mountains, on steroids. It was straight out of Avatar - quite spellbinding. I was a bit dismayed to find that there were buses at the mountain top - we could have caught one of the many many shuttle buses in the Park and not waited all morning for the cable car. Bugger, but now for some adventure - I decided I wanted to walk the trail back downhill - going down couldn't be as bad as going up. Try telling my legs that at the end of 5 kms - I was rooted, could hardly move - even beers didnt revive me - but the girl, she was still bouncing along whereas I was almost a stretcher case. Maybe it was bad footwear - Chinese Crocs but I did recover - eventually

Gow to get from the Avatar Mountains to Chongking, without having to go around. On my next trip, I'm sure there will be a tunnel underneath them but all my inquiries to get a bus over the mountains were met with not possible. I think it could have been done but certainly not by tourist coach and I didnt have time to find out so caught the train back down to Huaihua to change for another to Chongking. My guidebook was telling me it was a 16 hr trip and the early afternoon train was full but the ticket seller came up with an evening train - 11pm that got in at 7am in the morning. Thinking it must be a new high speed train, I booked a sleeper and filled in the afternoon in Huaihua, drinking a few beers and observing life in front of the railway station. Imagine my surprise when the high speed express I'm hoping to board turns out to be an ordinary train. How the hell is this train going to get to Chongking in 8 hrs instead of 16hrs.

The answer was pretty simple - China is changing so fast, guidebooks cannot keep up. We used a new more direct track that skirted the western side of the mountains and then followed the Yangtze direct to Chongking, arriving on time at 7am and allowing me a full day to explore this Chinese Manhattan and acquaint myself with the legendary Yangtze River.

The municipality of Chongking could well be the largest metropolis in the world - the census cannot keep up - the city is growing exponentially. But its also a modern, vibrant and wealthy city with pedestrian malls in the City centre, ringed with designer retailers. The old cable car across the river harkens you back to the older charm of the city which is virtually obliterated now. Still, the city captivates you because of its size, pace and location. Visiting Chongking didn't disappoint. The next day, my last day, was a quick bus trip down the freeway to Chengdu and an afternoon exploration of another mega metropolis on the edge of the Tibetan plateau.

Chinese cites are huge, China is huge - I had covered some 1,500 kilometres (as the crow flies) from Hong Kong to Chengdu, in 9 days - but it felt much much longer. It was a charge to get so far west by bus and train and I have to get back to Chengdu to continue my westward ho. Also to buy a new black "Fedora" at the market, to replace the previous one that was stolen at KLIA - bummer

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