Hong Kong

Hong Kong was tossed into the trip almost as way point rather than a destination. Anthony had been there before and loves the city so he was willing to return, and I didn’t really have any unique interest, but was up to visit.  So we hopped on an overnight train and nearly 24 hours later, we were in Hong Kong.

Darin in his Bunk on the Overnight Train to HK

Trying to Walk Through the Cars; One of the Many Looks Anthony Got For His Mohawk

In no time, I started to like the city as well. There is something familiar about Hong Kong, which probably has something to do with the 130 years of British rule. Because of this, there is less of a language barrier and it makes traveling that much easier. I would guess that around one third of the menus are written in both English and Chinese, with almost all expensive restaurants having both languages. The cross walks have beeping noises, subways remind you to "mind the gap", and double decked buses swarm the streets. Although the city has over 7 million inhabitants it never felt that crowded.

Tall, Skinny Trolleys of Hong Kong

There is a good big city/small city balance that seems to have been struck. Also, the people of Hong Kong are friendly, polite, and considerate. It could have been because we had just come from mainland China where there exists a different set of social norms to Hong Kong but it seemed to have a much more laid back feel.

Overlooking the Hong Kong Skyline from Victoria's Peak

One day as Anthony was resting from traveling, or resting from me, I went out and explored Hong Kong. I visited a park called Nan Lian Garden in the center of the city. The garden is located next to Diamond Hill subway stop and is surrounded by a shopping complex, schools, and some high rise apartment buildings. Outside the garden you can feel the full force of modern Hong Kong, but inside is an oasis. The garden is one of the meticulously maintained gardens that I have ever seen, so much so that many of the plants look plastic. While walking around the inside of the garden you can't hear the traffic and no one is in a rush to get by, the air almost feels cleaner. The juxtaposition of the calm garden against the big city is as bright as the sun and I tried to capture that contrast in these photos.

Shopping, Hong Kong Style

Shopping is one of the biggest attractions of Hong Kong. When Anthony posted on Facebook that we would be visiting the city, most of the comments included "I just love the shopping in Hong Kong". Even though neither of us are big shoppers we went out and explored this highly diverse shopping. Like most big cities, Hong Kong has all the big name luxury brands: Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Coach, and whole host of stores with names I could not pronounce and store fronts too expensive for me to walk into. It also offers Chinese made shirts for a few dollars and Louis Vuitton (or Luis Vitton) for a few dollars as well.  You can get a good quality tailored suit for only 100 USD. Not needing suits, and having only one set of clothes to wear since we were having our laundry being washed, we ended up in what we think to be a local Hong Kong brand store, Samuel & Kevin.  There, we bought two shirts, a belt, and six pairs of underwear for 425 Hong Kong dollars (55USD). Hardly a bargain but we look great!

Showing off our Snazzy New Outfits at "Dialogue In The Dark"

Dialogue in the Dark

Speaking of "Dialogue in the Dark," its not the best place to show off cloths because the entire exhibit is in complete darkness. Coming highly recommended on Tripadvisor and Wikitravel for activities in Hong Kong I booked us an English tour and we set off. Dialogue in the Dark has nothing to do with Hong Kong per se, since there are exhibitions all over the world.  It's an exhibit/activity that helps you understand, through experience, what it is like to be blind. You are given sticks and explained how to properly maneuver them side to side and then led into complete darkness where you meet your tour guide. Our guide walked us through different recreated urban environments and would ask us questions like, "When can we cross the street?" and "Are there any men's adult magazines on the newsrack?" At the end of the tour, still in the dark, we ordered some drinks, sat down and talked with our guide who informed us that she is in fact blind. Paying for drinks in the dark in Hong Kong is easy because all the bills are different sizes and have various textures that are easly recognizable. I asked our guide if it is hard to tell the money apart in the United States and she responded that its hard because to her they all feel the same, so she separates the bills in her purse and places different denominations in different parts of her purse. 

This was a wonderful experience that we both recommend. It not only helps you understand some of the daily challenges of being blind but it provides a new way on "seeing" the world. On our trip we are constantly running around when sightseeing and to look at one building or another. This exhibit reminded us to listen, taste, touch, and smell the sites as well. 

Chinese Food Makes Me Hungry

I've always liked Chinese food and so it was a real treat to experience non-Americanized Chinese food.  And though we've read that there are far numerous variations on Chinese food than what we're used to in the US, since we didn't get to much of China, we only got to try a small portion of what the country has to offer.

I LOVE DUCK!!!

Beijing, formerly known as Peking, is known for their Peking duck.  You can walk around the city and see duck hanging from butcher shops as you can see in most Chinatowns in the US.  So around the corner from our swank Hilton hotel was Quanjude (pronounced Shwan-jhu-de), one of the well known places in the city for their roasted Peking duck.  So we made a reservation and off we went.  As we've experienced in Japan and South Korea, there was a language barrier.  They did have an English menu, but not being able to communicate to the waitress properly, we were pushed onto the set meal.  So for 630 Ramibi/Yuan (a little less than $100), we got a 5-course meal.  

Storefront of Quanjude

Unfortunately, most of the courses were ok.  But fortunately, the duck was amazing.  As we were eating through our first three courses, a carver wheeled out 2 roasted duck and started carving (the other duck was for another table).  He meticulously took off the skin and cut them into perfect bite sized pieces and presented us with our plate of duck skin.  The waitress directed us to dip the skin in sugar that they provided.  Sugar?  Never heard of that before.  But WOW!!!  The skin was perfectly crisp and the sugar just brought the right amount of sweetness to bring out the full flavor of the skin.  I have always loved duck skin but this was on a new level of love.  And as we were being blown away by duck skin dipped in sugar, the carver continued to carve up our duck and serve it to us.  And of course, that too was amazing.  After our duck was fully carved, the waitress gave us a card that contained the number for our duck.  I guess they track these things.

Our Duck us No. 078051

And having to eat 5 courses of food, there was actually still a good chunk of duck left over.  So we had it packed up so that we can eat it later.  I've always found duck skin to not be good on the second day, but I thought it best to at least take it to go and we can throw it out later if we didn't like it.  But the next day, as we were packing to switch hotels, we start nibbling on the duck and found that the meat was still as tender and juicy as the night before and the skin was still surprisingly a little bit crispy.  Can you say, yummy?  

Street Food

As we've done in every country so far, we pass along numerous vendors selling various foods on the street and so we can't resist the delicious smell and the experience of eating like the locals.  In China, our first experience with street food was coming right off the metro for the first time, where a lady in her food cart would cook chopped up meat (beef, we think) in some sort of sauce and slop it on some bread. The smell alone convinced us to buy one and to our surprise it was only 5 Yuan (<$1).  Not sure what it was or what it was called, but what it was was delicious.  "I think we're going to like eating here," ran through my mind.

And we weren't disappointed.  In Shanghai and Hangzhou, we saw hordes of Chinese (because they only come in hordes during their holiday weeks) eating away at what looked like whole crabs dipped in batter and deep fried.  Again, the smell of alone convinced us that we had to partake.  Besides, deep fry anything and you know it would be good.  

But how does one eat crab as a street food?  Well do as the locals and just start biting off pieces of the crab and spitting out shells.  Since we've seen Chinese people just normally spit anywhere (be it spit or bits of corn), it would be well within social norm here to spit out your crab shell.  I'm just glad that most Chinese actually spit out their crab shells in trash bins placed around these food stalls.  Greasy and oily and messy to eat, the crab was oh so good.  And we got to eat another variety in Hangzhou where the crab was of a smaller variety that you can eat through most of the crab shell.  

We also got to eat our share of dumplings and other meats on sticks walking the streets of China.

Pineapple Fried Rice in a Pineapple

As we finished our pineapple fried rice, we notice people walk around with ice cream cones.  So we follow the trail to...McDonalds.  Not really street food but as I like to say, "Do as the locals."  And for 3 Yuans (50 cents), how can we resist.

Dim Sum

Dim sum is a Guangzhou style meal, usually for breakfast, that made it's way over to Hong Kong and eventually to the US (though only in major Chinatowns in the US).  The meal are bite sized morsels of meat or vegetable wrapped in dough and steamed cooked.  Traditionally, women push around carts with various dishes and you can either ask for one of the dishes or wait for another cart for something you like.  

 

So a quick google search and we come across an article on Wall Street Journal listing some dim sum places in Hong Kong.  And surprisingly, we were again staying around the corner from one of the best in the city.  So one of our Hong Kong mornings, we stroll over to Lin Heung Kui and have ourselves some dim sum.  We get seated on a 4 person table who we initially share with a lovely older lady and later replaced by two older gentlemen and we start choosing foods.  One of the things that this dim sum restaurant is known for is ma lai gao, a lightly sweetened steamed cake that was just absolutely delicious.

Darin and Our Ma Lai Gao

We also order the normal dim sum fare of shiu mai, dumplings, and other yummy dsihes.  Darin and I agree that this is the best dim sum place we've ever been to.  We wanted to try and go the next morning, but our flight was too early in the morning.  If you find yourself in Hong Kong near the Sheung Wang metro, go to this dim sum restaurant.  You won't regret it.  But if you do come to Lin Heung Kui, bring a newspaper so you can blend in with the locals.

Having Tea (of course) With our Dim Sum

Tally Up

Looks like we've been a little lax in our tally updates.  So we're in Veitnam now, but this list will just go through South Korea and China.  So that puts our countries tally to 4.

At the last time we left you, we were at 16 cities.  And below are the list of cities we've been to since Japan:
17. Busan, South Korea
18. Seoul
19. Suwon, South Korea
20. Beijing
21. Badaling, China (where we visited the Great Wall of China)
22. Shanghai
23. Hangzhou, China
24. Hong Kong

South Korea Map With Busan in the Lower Right Corner, Seoul  Near the N Korea Border, and Suwon  Just South of Seoul

Map of China & South Korea

Beijing to Badaling

Shanghai with Hangzhou to the SW

Here is our transportation tally:
Plane rides: 5 (previously at 4 plus flight from Seoul to Beijing)
Car rides: still at 7
Bus rides: still at 4
Ferry/boat rides: 5 (previously at 4 plus ferry from Fukuoka, Japan to Busan, South Korea)
Train rides: 15 (previously at 7 plus train from Busan to Seoul, Seoul to Suwan, Suwan to Seoul, Beijing to Badaling, Badaling to Beijing, Beijing to Shanghai, Shanghai to Hangzhou, Hangzhou to Hong Kong)

China is Huge!!!, part 2

When travelling in Europe, you jump on a train and 2-3 hours later, you're in a different country.  That's not the case in most places in the US and Canada.  So being the huge country that China is, you jump on a bullet train travelling 300 km/h and and 5.5 hours later, you've made it to Shanghai from Beijing.

Shanghai - The Bund

As mentioned in a previous post, Shanghai felt a little more personable, so we liked it more than Beijing.  Though Shanghai doesn't have the big well known sites, there were still a couple of things worth checking out.

We jumped on one of those hop-on/hop-off buses and found ourselves at the Bund.  The Bund is a stretch of road along the Huangpu River that faces Pudong, the financial sector of Shanghai.  So we joined in with the large swarm of Chinese and enjoyed the view of the Pudong skyline.  

The tower in the skyline is the Oriental Pearl Tower.  My brother Jeorge tells me that the view from the tower is amazing.  But you can see from our own pictures that the view would have been obscured, so we didn't go up the tower.  So feel free to google Pudong and you'll see that the skyline would have been even more impressive.

Shanghai - Yuyuan Tourist Mart and Yuyuan Garden

We then jumped on the bus again and found ourselves at Yuyuan Tourist Mart.  This was an area of shops in old Chinese-style buildings.  Again, we fought through the crowds and admired buildings and popped our heads in at various little stores.

Darin popped his head into a tea store and bought these bulbs that when dropped in hot water, they will "bloom" into flowers.  Leave them in there long enough to brew yourself a pot of tea, which we were also able to do as we went into a traditional tea house.

Tucked away near the Yuyuan Tourist Mart is a traditional Chinese garden.  While it was still being visited by a lot of tourist, it was quite manageable and made for a very peaceful visit.  

 

Bird's Nest

Remember when Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008?  Remember the opening ceremonies?  Remember the fireworks shooting out of the stadium they dubbed the Bird's Nest?  We got to see the Bird's Nest, minus the fireworks and the thousands of Chinese people dancing and drumming in the center.  Actually, we only got to see the outside.  Sadly, it looks better in pictures than it does in person.  Up close it kinda looks plasticy.  And so did the aquatic center.  Perhaps it would have looked better at night, which we weren't fortunate enough to do.  It was just a cool experience to have gone there since it was so iconic during the Olympics.

Great Wall of China, or as the Chinese would say, Great Wall

So China is the largest country in the world and has the largest city (Shanghai) and the largest square (Tiananmen Square) in the world.  Can a country claim any more large-ness?  Oh yeah.  They have the largest wall.  Ok, I'm not sure if that's true, but they do have a great wall.  The Great Wall, actually.  Of China.

For me, being on the Great Wall was actually a bit surreal.  It is just one of those sites that you've heard about all your life.  Like the Pyramids of Giza or the Eiffel Tower.  They're in practically every world disaster movie being blown up, ripped up, washed away, or destroyed in one form or another.  But here it was.  And there we were standing on top of it.  And then walking on it.  And then hiking on it.  Then resting on it since some of those steps were just so damn steep.

Notice how the steps just disappear

Just a couple of tips when going to The Wall.
1.  Wear plenty of layers. It's pretty windy up there but you heat up rather quickly when you want to walk along the wall.
2.  People will sell you stuff on the wall.  Feel free to haggle.  I got a set of 10 postcards for 10 yuan.  That's like $1.20.  And she started off at 45 Yuans.
3.  Take the train or the bus to Badaling (the closest city to Beijing to visit The Wall).  It's cheaper than taking a tour bus and you can spend as much time as you want on the wall and not just 30 minutes like you would if you were w/ a tour group.  You can find information on taking the train here: http://www.seat61.com/China.htm#Great Wall of China

Darin Posing as a Builder

By the way, I don't think the Chinese actually call it Great Wall.  It's probably something else in Mandarin that I would butcher, so I won't even try.  But perhaps if it was translated it would be "Great Wall."  Who knows.