Leaving on a Jet Plane - Final Impressions of Hong Kong and Beijing

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I’ve had my final BBQ pork roll, my luggage is checked in, and I’m now just having my last HK (airport) meal of Sushi. On the way, here, I thought about my trip a little bit more and some of the things I liked, didn’t like, and that I would change if I did it all over again.

First, I would travel for a bit longer - at least 21+ days. 13 days is too short to take in any city properly, much less two. If I were to travel for such a short time again, I would concentrate on Hong Kong and the outlying islands, the New Territories, and maybe take a side trip to Shenzhen and/or Guangzhou.

If I were to travel to the mainland again, I would study both written and spoken Mandarin for at least 3 months. I feel that one of the things that really hindered my enjoyment of Beijing was not being able to speak and/or read the language. I think it is imperative, especially when travelling alone. The fact that many Chinese would respond in a pleasant way when I greeted them with ‘Nee Hao” is testament to this.

I don’t know what I would do about the whole other ‘culture shock’ factors that I spoke about in my ‘last day’ blog. I didn’t expect Beijing to be like Hong Kong at all - I’m not that daft. I guess the only thing I could do is book a place where I could cook my own food, even if it is simply a bowl of noodles. Anything else, well, I’ll just have to close my eyes to the fact that I’m travelling in one of the largest economies in the world and that major change often comes slowly.

On the whole, I have to say that I enjoyed both cities on my trip, but I enjoyed Hong Kong more. I think that those who consider HK to be just ‘Your average Chinatown on a larger scale’ need to go off the beaten track there and discover all the hidden gems that this Special Administration Region has to offer.

I will definitely do Chengu (cuddly baby pandas!) and Shanghai next time.

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