Chinese National Week

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This past week (October 1-5) was China's National Holiday. Every Chinese citizen is off from work for this week and travels all over the country, especially to Beijing. My friends, Ben and Erin, and I decided to leave Beijing before it got too croweded and take the opportunity to visit two new cities: Hong Kong and Shanghai!

Hong Kong

Our flight to Hong Kong got in late last Friday night and we arrived at our hotel on Hong Kong Island around midnight. We were staying at the Cosmopolitan, which happened to be right next to a terraced cemetery but it was still nice (haha)! The next day we got up early and had breakfast in the “Times Square” of Hong Kong. It does look a little like a miniature New York there. We decided to test the metro system and first took the tram to a major subway stop where we boarded for Lantau, another island. Lantau is home to Disneyland Hong Kong, but we didn’t stop there! Instead we took a thirty-minute cable car ride up to the mountains on the other side of the island to see the Big Buddha. You can rent a cable car with a glass floor so it looks like you’re falling but we did not choose to do that because all three of us are afraid of heights! Once we reached the peak we could see the Big Buddha from a distance. Even from far away it was huge! The Buddha was built in the last few decades and the tourists provide a lot of support for the Lantau monastery. We walked around the base of the statue and then we were able to take a look at the prayer halls. It was much nicer than the monasteries we saw during our Silk Road trip that do not receive a lot of public attention and financial support.

Later that day we took the metro back and to the other side of Hong Kong Island to Stanley. We rode on top of a double decker bus along the steep and windy roads where we got a look at the South China Sea and the beaches in Stanley. The area has a lot of resorts and really nice restaurants that look out to the water. We had local cuisine, which is much different than what we’re used to in Beijing. Southern Chinese food is a lot sweeter and less salty than northern Chinese delicacies.

The next day we woke up early to go on the “Dragon’s Back Hike”. We started inland, near Stanley at the base of a marked path with a surprising amount of hikers already on their way. It wasn’t as steep as the steps to the Great Wall but we were still winded when we reached the top. But the view was great- you could see down to the secluded beaches down below and the smaller islands out in the sea. The path was sometimes covered by trees that made you feel like you were in a rainforest. We passed small streams, climbed rocks, and descended until we reached “Big Wave Beach”. It wasn’t crowded at all! There were cute beach shops with surfboards, boogie boards, sand toys and towels. We purchased some towels and took out our bathing suits and tested the water! It was really clear and warm. For the last day of September we spent most of the entire day on the sand and in the South China Sea! I think we each got a little tan too!

That night we dumped all of the sand out of our shoes and backpacks and put on nicer clothes to go to Kowloon, the mainland part of Hong Kong. We walked around the financial district and ate dinner near the water. We also walked along Stars Avenue, where China’s famous movie stars have the indents of their hands and some statues of themselves on display. I didn’t notice any of the actors or actresses except the statue of Bruce Lee in a karate chop pose! The best part of Star’s Avenue is that you get to see Hong Kong from the other side. You can see all of its tall sky scrapers lit up in different colors and all of the ferries traveling from one side to the other. Kowloon’s waterfront has a lot of cool bars with live music that make walking down the avenue so much cooler.

For our final full day in Hong Kong we went to Ocean Park, the aquarium/amusement park on the island. It was packed with other Chinese travelers and their children but we still managed to see a lot. The aquarium was uniquely designed so that you can be above, beside, or below a huge tank with fish, sharks and turtles. It was interesting to see animals that can only be found on this side of the world. One of my favorites, outside of the aquarium, were the pandas! Ocean Park is housing two giant pandas until they can be re-integrated back into their natural habitat. One was fast asleep the entire time and the other was eating bamboo. Both were really cute! We were also able to go on a roller coaster on top of mountain on Hong Kong. It was kind of frightening because you were going upside down but could only see ocean all around you and no ground!

For our last evening we went back to Kowloon to see the light show. The tall buildings on both sides of the bay are incorporated in a show with multi-colored and shaped lights. There were so many people on the waterfront watching the show because there were also supposed to be fireworks right after the light show in celebration of the National Holiday. Unfortunately a ferry crashed with another boat during the light show and one partially sunk. We saw a lot of rescue workers and boats go out to the water but we weren’t sure what was going on at the time. We did not get to see the fireworks but instead we went to the Ladies Night Market. There are two streets filled with vendors under makeshift roofs selling anything you can think of. One street is strictly for electronic goods and the other is mostly clothing and Chinese trinkets. We didn’t find anything we wanted to purchase there but it was fun to read the “Chinglish” (a bad mix of Chinese and English) shirts and see all of the paraphernalia they had in the alleys.

Shanghai

On Tuesday we traveled from Hong Kong to Shanghai, successfully making back into mainland China! Shanghai is much different than Hong Kong, but also strikingly different than Beijing as well. The Chinese call it the “New York of China” which I suppose is true. I’m definitely biased as a New Yorker but it was certainly a much more urban city than Beijing. There aren’t a lot of “Chinese” aspects to it, which I love about Beijing. Although it is a coastal city it is not known for its beach fronts like Hong Kong has, but it also has a river running through its center giving it virtually two sides. We were staying in Pudong, the same side as Shanghai’s financial district.

For our first day in Shanghai we visited the Yu Gardens, which are enclosed spaces with many bridges and what seem to be floating buildings because everything is surrounded by water. Shanghai was much more packed with National Holiday travelers so it was hard to move anywhere fast but we were able to take a few pictures and pick up some local steamed dumplings and tea, both of which were delicious! Later in the day we went back to Pudong and up into the Jin Mao building. It isn’t the tallest building in the district but we were on the 87^th floor and had a great view of the city. It was fantastic when the sun went down and all of the lights came on! The Pearl tower (the one with the three balls that look like pearls) was red and dotted with white lights. From our side you could also see the other side of the river called the Bund.

During our second day in Shanghai we visited the Hongkou football stadium where a festival was being set up for the evening. There were giant Buddhas once again and we reached a place where you can rent slow moving water boats. Some of us got our own boats and chased each other down on the lake! There were also a lot of elderly people playing oriental instruments and or singing along with them. Children were also flying kites or decorating masks with paint. Later we traveled back south to People’s park. Some people took a spin on some of the amusement rides and others just walked around the gardens. We came across an area that was filled with older Chinese men and women who had their umbrellas out on the ground in front of them, or had small tents up, each of which had a picture of a younger male or female and a description of that young person in Chinese next to it. We had stumbled upon “dating garden” (that’s what I called it anyway). One of my friends told me that parents or grandparents take pictures of their children or grandchildren and basically advertised them to other parents to facilitate marriages. People in China don’t typically date without their parents involvement and arranged marriages are still really popular. In order to date a woman, a man must have enough money to purchase a house. If he does not own a house or have the money to do so, he is not eligible to date any lady. There were also stands that had many pictures and descriptions. It was almost like a speed dating agency where parents could give their children’s information to an agent and they would advocate for them in the park. It was all very strange and we were given the oddest looks in return for walking through the area and peaking at all of their children, haha!

After we left the “dating garden” we went to Kathleen’s, a bar above the Shanghai Art Museum. It overlooked the entire park and had a great view of the area. It also had really good wine… To continue our bar experience we traveled to the French Concession, a very European looking area in Shanghai. It has a lot of cute shops and restaurants. We stopped at the well-known Boxing Cat Brewery and grabbed dinner and tried their locally made microbrews (all pretty good!). Again, continuing our drinking themed afternoon and evening we went to Kafer, an ice bar. Basically you’re given long puffy jackets to wear in this freezing room where there is snow, skis, and plenty of drinks. Needless to say we were all pretty warm by then!

For our final day we went back to the French Concession to see the area in the daylight. We found some places to shop and ate at a really great thai restaurant hidden in the alleyways of the concession. It was interesting to see the architecture of this area as compared to that of Beijing and other places we’ve seen in China. You wouldn’t know you were in China anymore if it weren’t for the Chinese characters on menus! That evening we visited the Bund, which we had seen from the opposite side of the river two days before. The Bund is known for its views of the financial district, including the unique Pearl Tower, and its own very European styled buildings. The boardwalk was packed because it was the last day of the holiday week, which always means we end up taking pictures with random Chinese people who are fascinated by Americans! I think my friends and I are in at least 50 people’s holiday albums.

The week went by so fast but I’m so happy that we were able to see two other amazing cities in China. If I had to pick I would say Hong Kong was my favorite of the two. It had so much more to do than Shanghai I think- the beach, the hikes, the different islands and the financial district. Shanghai, to me, seemed mostly all city, but a very clean and modern city that definitely can compare to New York. But I’m happy to return China’s capital! Beijing is more authentically Chinese with its buildings and culture. I felt like I had left a lot of Chinese culture behind on this trip, especially because so many more people spoke English in Shanghai and Hong Kong. But now I’m ready to continue using my new language skills and discovering the many other places in Beijing that we have yet to explore!

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