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1.2 Billion people. That's massive. 1/6 of the world's population and 7 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. After our fascinating stint in China, I'm convinced that it will be the world's next super-power. It's booming in every sense of the word.
Hong Kong was a real highlight for us. The skyscapers, dense population, and nightlife are all intoxicating. Most days consisted of starting out at noon and returning home at midnight. We did a bit of research and decided to stay in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong, across from Hong Kong Island's business centre. Unfortunately, we fell for the bait & switch in terms of our hotel room. Our first room could be better described as a prison cell. It was 12 x 6 feet with bars on the windows and a horrible musky scent. We had more then enough incentive to get out of our room and explore Britain's old colony, and after two nights, we upgraded to something of our humble standards.
Our first day was spent visiting the convention centre, exploring the botanical gardens, and taking the tram up to the peak where we would have had some great views
Hong Kong
View from walking track around the peak of the city if it wasn't for the smog. We walked a 3.5km trail around the peak that provided some good views. The highlight of Hong Kong for us was the Symphony of Lights show and the bonus is that it's completely free. 18 of Hong Kongs most famous skyscrapers are featured in a light and sound show every night at 8pm. We watched it from the avenue of the stars across the harbour. It reminded me of Las Vegas and we ended up coming back the very next night to see it again.
From Hong Kong, we took an overnight 21 hour train trip to Shanghai. It's six bunks per compartment in 2 stacks of three. The higher you go, the cheaper it is so of course, we were on the top bunks. The windows only go up to the second bunk so we missed out on all the scenery. The train system was an experience to say the least. Squat toilets get rather dirty on a long journey. Foreigners were definitely the exception and attractions, especially those of the female, blue eyed variety.
We thought we might not get past the Shanghai Train Station as we
Hong Kong Hostel
Prison cell 6x12 feet couldn't buy a subway ticket nor could we get a taxi driver that understood or could read an english address. After twenty minutes we finally figured out how to use hand signals and we were on our way. Shanghai is a modern-day goldrush city. Everything is new and there's money being spent all over the place. The Chinese government is pushing to make Shanghai the financial hub of Asia instead of Hong Kong. Mercedes, Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton are all becoming the norm. New neighborhoods are built in a year, and smaller buildings make way for towers that touch the sky. We walked along the bund on the river and got a good glimpse of all the highrises and the few historic buildings. 2 full days was enough to get a taste of Shanghai.
The train journey to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warrios was made more dramatic by our incompetant 17 year old hostal travel agent who neglected to tell us that we were split up and would be sleeping on our own. We didn't realize til we were boarding the train. I thought of bribing somebody to swap beds with me but felt it might
be tacky and Megan seemed to be in a safe compartment. Fortunately, the warriors were worth the wait. All hand-carved and numbering 7000, the warriors were meant to protect the emperor in his afterlife. They are a great sight to see, even if they might not be the 8th wonder of the world as China claims. I thought that Xi'an would be a small city and was shocked when I found out it had six million people. There is no such thing as a small city in China.
Feeling tired from our train journeys, we caught a flight to Beijing. We saw the Summer Palace, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. There is still a lot of construction and renovation going on in preparation for the '08 Olympics. That's not great for tourists as some of the sights had some major parts off limits. The Forbidden City and Summer Palace didn't quite live up to expectations but we still loved the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. It's clearly evident that China is fiercely proud of hosting the olympics. It's their chance to go mainstream and they seem to be taking full advantage of it. I think it would probably be
Terracotta Warriors
7000 handcrafted warriors better to go to an olympic city a year or two after they host as all the construction is complete and the kinks worked out. Before we left, we loaded up on cheap t-shirts, shoes, and souvenirs. We even had to buy another bag to carry them.
Culturally, we had to adjust to some vast differences. Due to the population, Chinese people don't seem to have the same notion of personal space as western countries. This follows through to lineups as any opening is fair game and unless you box everybody out, they'll squeeze in front of you in line. Eventually, I learnt how to use my body to box people out while waiting in line. The other thing that made us cringe was the spitting. Big deep mucas clearing spitting is a phenomenon that the government is trying to stamp out (rather unsuccessfully so far). Fines don't seem to deter the older generations. You don't see it in Hong Kong but it's rampant throughout the rest of the country and disgusting by our standards.
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shirley collins
non-member comment
Greetings V from Vancouver
I do believe you will, upon returning home, feel confident to take groups of curious people (not so adventurous as yourselves to go alone) to all the wonderfully interesting places you have been. I have a friend whose husband was transferred to Beijing and his Company is paying his apartment rent where apartment rentals range between $2-$8,000.00 per month. Keep sharing. Shirley