31st of January to 3rd of February 2014
Before saying something about this two places I would like to share something about the person with whom I was there.
You maybe already met this kind of person with whom you know you can easily be a good friend... Well, that was that case. I was introduced to Grigor few months before leaving for China by a friend who lives in the US. Basically, Grigor was coming to work in Paris and as I was still there it was convenient to meet... This is how our friendship started.
Then Grigor was for a business trip in South East Asia in January 2014 and asked me if I wanted to meet and visit a place together... The answer was, of course, affirmative... After some discussion it has been decided: HK & Macao!
The period we were supposed to meet was the period of the Chinese New Year... probably one of the busiest periods in China (with the Golden week on October). Basically you have a week of festivities where all Chinese people travel to spend the holiday with their families... The Chinese New Year can be compared to Christmas for the Christians (but a Christmas which lasts 3 weeks...)
As the population of country is huge and the internal migration to big cities important, the air tickets are very expensive... The cheapest solution for me was to arrive in HK via Shenzhen and here we go:
After several hours of delay, I managed to reach Shenzhen in the beginning of the afternoon. As Hong Kong is stick to Shenzhen you can cross the border only "almost" by switching the subway. Quite impressive :)
First impressions:
As soon as you crossed the boarder I was able to feel the change in the atmosphere between China Mainland and Hong Kong:
I joint Grigor in the hotel around 17h and after a shower we went to have a look around. We were walking next to the coast where, I guess, it should be the girls paradise because you can see all the world's famous brands in an area of 1km with all the malls connected one to each other via bridges... I was feeling happy I was not with a girlfriend at that moment... :)
We finally landed in the bar street (Lan Kwai Fong) where he had dinner and some drinks in the bar around.
You maybe already met this kind of person with whom you know you can easily be a good friend... Well, that was that case. I was introduced to Grigor few months before leaving for China by a friend who lives in the US. Basically, Grigor was coming to work in Paris and as I was still there it was convenient to meet... This is how our friendship started.
Then Grigor was for a business trip in South East Asia in January 2014 and asked me if I wanted to meet and visit a place together... The answer was, of course, affirmative... After some discussion it has been decided: HK & Macao!
The period we were supposed to meet was the period of the Chinese New Year... probably one of the busiest periods in China (with the Golden week on October). Basically you have a week of festivities where all Chinese people travel to spend the holiday with their families... The Chinese New Year can be compared to Christmas for the Christians (but a Christmas which lasts 3 weeks...)
As the population of country is huge and the internal migration to big cities important, the air tickets are very expensive... The cheapest solution for me was to arrive in HK via Shenzhen and here we go:
After several hours of delay, I managed to reach Shenzhen in the beginning of the afternoon. As Hong Kong is stick to Shenzhen you can cross the border only "almost" by switching the subway. Quite impressive :)
First impressions:
As soon as you crossed the boarder I was able to feel the change in the atmosphere between China Mainland and Hong Kong:
- A smiling personal was waiting in the entrance ready to help you and explain you the transportation system.
- As a formal British colony, they all were speaking English.
- People were not pushing while trying to get in the subway (something which happens all the time in the Mainland). People were respecting the lines.
- The trains in Hong Kong were much older (but still nice and comfortable) than the ones in China. I was able to see that Hong Kong has developed itself much earlier regarding infrastructure whereas in the Mainland everything was/is about to happen...
I joint Grigor in the hotel around 17h and after a shower we went to have a look around. We were walking next to the coast where, I guess, it should be the girls paradise because you can see all the world's famous brands in an area of 1km with all the malls connected one to each other via bridges... I was feeling happy I was not with a girlfriend at that moment... :)
We finally landed in the bar street (Lan Kwai Fong) where he had dinner and some drinks in the bar around.
For the 1st of February, we were quite lucky of having 25-26°C (whereas in Beijing was -10°C), so after the breakfast we got our t-shirt and shorts and went to discover the city :).
As the hotel had a really nice location, we decided to go walking around and reach by noon the Victoria's Peak.
The territory of Hong-Kong is quite small and I was really impressed by the size of the buildings: tall and tiny.
We visited on the road a park and then we tried to get the cable car to go to the Victoria's Peak. However, as the queue was huge we went there by cab...
The view from the Peak was splendid. We were able to enjoy all the Hong-Kong buildings, the harbor and the airport from there.
As the hotel had a really nice location, we decided to go walking around and reach by noon the Victoria's Peak.
The territory of Hong-Kong is quite small and I was really impressed by the size of the buildings: tall and tiny.
We visited on the road a park and then we tried to get the cable car to go to the Victoria's Peak. However, as the queue was huge we went there by cab...
The view from the Peak was splendid. We were able to enjoy all the Hong-Kong buildings, the harbor and the airport from there.
In the afternoon we went back to the hotel and at 20h we went on the coast to enjoy a firework show for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Well, that was the moment when you understand that Chinese people were the creators of fireworks. It was an amazing show of 30min offered by 5 boats in the middle of the sea. You will find below the video from the fireworks from Hong-Kong (and from the day after in Macao).
We went again to the bar street for a dinner in a nice Italian restaurant (where I probably ate the most delicious tiramisu in my life so far...) and then some party in the bar and clubs around. The funny part about HK, I was not feeling such as I was abroad... the foreigners were maybe more than the locals in this area.
We went again to the bar street for a dinner in a nice Italian restaurant (where I probably ate the most delicious tiramisu in my life so far...) and then some party in the bar and clubs around. The funny part about HK, I was not feeling such as I was abroad... the foreigners were maybe more than the locals in this area.
The next day we went to Macao by boat (40min to 1h by speed one). Click here if you want to have a look :)
The day after Macao (the 3rd of February) and after a breakfast, I left to Shenzhen to get my plane back to Beijing... and surprise! it was late again. I was regretting not taking my time for a lunch in HK...
In conclusion, i loved this trip for several reasons:
The day after Macao (the 3rd of February) and after a breakfast, I left to Shenzhen to get my plane back to Beijing... and surprise! it was late again. I was regretting not taking my time for a lunch in HK...
In conclusion, i loved this trip for several reasons:
- we met with Grigor in a place 10 000km away from Europe... Who would be able to say this 6 months earlier ?
- it was my first trip outside of the Mainland China where I was able to discover two very nice cities/countries. Quite different one from each other with their own culture and soul.
- I have been celebrating the New Year in 3 different places in 4 days (Beijing, Hong-Kong & Macao)