Around the world in 106 days: China Day 3 and 4- Hong Kong and Reflection of China

Hey Everyone! My schoolwork is pretty much done and just in time because tomorrow we pull into Vietnam!

February 7^th

We pulled into port pretty early and went upstairs for breakfast. We were docked on opposite side of the main downtown area of Hong Kong and could see the city in full view from our dining area. Although it was foggy and humid outside, we still all became very excited as we realized we were actually in Hong Kong. They started announcing that we were cleared to get off the ship pretty early. By around 9am we were good to go. The port was attached to a really nice shopping mall which provided free Wi-Fi. We were all pretty happy to sit and enjoy Wi-Fi for a good 30 minutes before heading out into the city.

Since the main art of downtown Hong Kong was located on the other side of the __(River, Bay?)… I honestly am not 100 percent sure. We took the Star Ferry to the other side. The ferry was really cheap but also a fun experience. It was pretty small compared to our ship, probably held about 150 people and only sail for about 10 minutes. Once we got to the other side we decided we would walk to our next destination: The shopping district and Dim Sum for lunch. We walked and took in the city around us. The crazy traffic, people J walking, and the huge advertisements everywhere. It was actually quite a modern city, although a lot of the city around us was new because we had never been here, I felt like It was a lot like any other modern industrial city like Tokyo or NYC. We walked about 3 miles and got to the shopping area. But it wasn’t open yet, we did find signs for an area nearby called “Times Square” so we went in that direction to see what the buzz was about. It was just a large building, but did have a bunch of large TV’s, lots of people and in the front was some New Year decorations, including a bunch of really pretty fake trees that had pink flowers and was on fake pink grass, all in front of the building. We stayed to take some pictures and people watch. People were so interesting. I found family interactions most interesting. Mostly how parents and children interacted.

The parents were really into taking lots and lots of pictures of their kids and with lots of silly poses. The kids played a models and came up with a ton of silly poses that they smiled and posed for their parents with. It was so cute to see and overall was just a reminder how similar we are as humans. We left “Times Square” and decided we wanted food. Our friends who are Asian said that we need to try Dim Sum while we were at Hong Kong. Dim Sum is a meal that is family style, you order small portions of many different foods to try and you all share it. The place we found was decently priced and was also very nice. We could have probably dressed up a little more if we had known. We chose 11 different things to try because each food item was about 2 dollars and there was 5 of us. The Dim Sum we had for lunch was definitely one of the best meals I have had in Asia so far. I really enjoyed trying lots of different foods in small portions and being waited in for one of the first times.

We ate our lunch, but took our time since we were really enjoying it. But after about 90 minutes we decided to head out and split up. 3 of us planned to go to Victoria’s Peak, so we could take a tram to the top of the mountain and look out. the other 2 had to go back to the ship because they had to meet up with another SAS group for a performance. Victoria’s Peak is the highest point in Hong Kong and on a clear day you can see out for miles. So we looked at our map and navigated our way around HK until we got to the tram station. We took the tram up the mountain which was about 10 minutes. That in itself was an adventure because they shove about 100 people into this tram made for like 50, so everyone crams to get in and get a seat. But we took it up and were bombarded by shops…which we walked around. We went outside to try and see out, but by the time we left the building there was fog, fog everywhere, it seemed like it was miles thick. So needless to say we didn’t stay long because we couldn’t see anything.

We left the mountain by 6pm by Tram, then took a taxi to the ferry and then the ferry back to our port. We ate dinner at a small restaurant near the ship and then relaxed on the ship until our friends got back so we could go out for drinks. The 6 of us girls got ready and headed out around 11pm. We didn’t really have a plan of where to go, but after wandering around we found a place locally that had some other SASers and local people. We got an unlimited drinks deal for cheap and had a really nice time chatting with the locals, playing dice games and talking. We left sometime around 3am and went to bed after arriving to the ship around 3:30am.

February 8^th

The next morning most of us had plans to get up at 7am, do some more exploring…maybe hiking and more. Buuuut that didn’t happen because getting out of bed was a really hard task the next morning. Both of my roommates were throwing up almost all morning while I tried not to. We ended up sleeping until noon, once we felt better though we made new plans, to head to the Art museum nearby which had an exhibit dedicated to Andy Warhol and his influence on the pop world. It was perfect to stroll around and see some of his famous works and learn about his life. Me and Bridget spent almost 2 hours here before heading back to the terminal/mall to have food. We walked by a pizza place and decided to be American and eat pizza. We were both pretty hungry, it smelled amazing and it had Wi-Fi. We ate our pesto pizza and bruschetta and then headed back to the ship because we had to be back on at 6 to be “on time”.

Reflection of China

Although my first impression of China in Shanghai left me with bad vibes. I left Hong Kong really wanting to see more, especially Beijing. Hong Kong was truly beautiful and was such a nice modern city but still full of great culture. Some things I noticed was that the people were pretty “standoff ish” they overall stayed away from us or didn’t want to be bothered by us. Some people could come up, but overall it was rare. Advertisements were huge in china. In shanghai I was put off by how dirty a lot of the city was, but Hong Kong was very clean. i had a really good time in Hong Kong and Shanghai. I can’t say I met a ton of nice people but the ones I did meet were very friendly and helpful. I wish I had traveled overland to see more of mainland China, but I also enjoyed a few days of peace and also saving money. I really liked the food in China, although it was nothing like the American Chinese food, it was different of course.

I feel like there is a lot more about China I need to learn, a lot more I need to see and next time I go I need more time. After all China is an enormous country and is such a big part of American life. China and America interact a lot and so with that I think it would be important to return someday. But for now I will prepare for Vietnam which happens tomorrow!