First stop: City life in Hong Kong

Background

We will have a 4-week study trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzen starting from mid June to mid July. I took one week off to see Hong Kong and hike in Southern China before the actual program starts. 

First stop: Hong Kong

I had to pack way too much, cause need clothes for business, hiking and for free time.
I'm gonna hate carrying all this!

Day 1: Arriving to Hong Kong

I had a 2,5h layover in Helsinki, long enough to have a coffee with my little brother at the airport and shops some Finnish snacks for travelling and hiking. My flight left from Helsinki at 16:40 and landed in Hong Kong 7:30 in the morning. Since my body didn’t really understand that it would be wise to sleep around 18 German time (wonder why :D), I arrived to Hong Kong dead tired after just napping a bit.

Little brother in Helsinki <3

Hong Kong Airport was a very pleasant surprise: it’s huge, but super convenient and fast. It took me only about 40 min to walk through the terminal, get through immigration, get by bag and find my way to the bus terminal, even toilet break included. Public transportation in Hong Kong is really good, and from the airport you can easily take an underground train or bus to the city. Bus was a slower option, but more attractive for me since I wanted to see more instead of travelling underground, and the also bus took me directly to the hostel while train would have required a change. With all the luggage I always try to minimize walking, especially in these places where you sweat like crazy the second you leave the air-conditioned spaces.

While I was super tired, I also knew that the weather forecast said it should be nice during the day and then just raining from the late afternoon, so just decided to suck it up and go out. Like I always do in new cities, I just started walking to some direction and ended up seeing the avenue of stars (like Hollywood boulevard with stars) and some pretty parks. Took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong island and there hopped on a double decker tram to do some DYI sightseeing. It took like one hour and with about 30 cents gave me a good idea of the business city and then the more residential areas. Btw, it’s crazy how high and narrow all the buildings are, no wonder why HK has like the biggest density. Also saw the place where the demonstrations took place the day before (and 2 days after). Hopped on a metro to drive back to Central (HK island city center).

Hong Kong island

Double decker tram. Public transportation in Hong Kong is really good, cheap and safe

Hong Kong gave a whole new meaning to 'concrete jungle'. The city has basically only these crazy high skyscrapers, SoHo was the only a bit flatter area.

Walked a bit in SoHo to see street art and then headed to Victoria Peak cable car just to find out that it’s not working at the moment. The QR-code for more info didn’t really help me cause I had no internet but found out that there are busses going up. Found the bus and this time even had the exact amount for the ticket (you get no change in buses/trams). The bus ride was quite scary one with really narrow road with huge drop on the other side and wall on the other, and crazy wannabe F1 driver. But we made it. The view was amazing once the rain started and the thick fog disappeared. Also met some guys up there who used to live in HK and they took me to this hidden restaurant that had no signs or anything to know that it exists. After more dim sums it was time to go to bed after staying awake for almost 40h.

Skyline view from Victoria Peak

Mad skills: managed to capture a lightning twice!

About the weather forecast: learned the first day that if it says it’s going to rain the whole day, it’s probably raining like 10-30 min some times during the day, so no need to skip all the outdoor activities. Just take your umbrella with you, and if it rains enjoy some amazing food or a cup of tea. The rain will most likely be over before you get a sugar overdose. Hong Kong has some amazing hiking places, but had to skip those because of the rainy weather. Maybe next time then!

Day 2: Shopping

Normally I try to force myself to get up quite early to overcome jet lag faster, but today I just needed to sleep so bad that I shut the alarm at 9 and slwpt til 11. Great decision. I was planning to walk around in the Mong Kok area and then head to HK island ro see mire of the street art. Somehow shops and cafes in Mong Kok caught me and ended up spending most of the day there. Bought e.g. a new carry-on bag since my old one's wheel was broken. I got really excited when I realized that most of the clothes were designed for short people. Midget heaven!! I found a bit weird that it's not allowed to try the clothes on, but some stores offered a possibility to return the clothes if they didn't fit. 

On my way to Mong Kok along the crazy long main road in Kowloon. Also my hostel was located by this road.

Since the train tickets need to be picked up from the train station, I decided to do that already the day before so I wouldn't have to worry about it the next day. The train station was huge but like the airport, very well organized. It reminded me a lot of airports. There was no line so picking up the ticket with reservation code and passport took me only about 2 min. 

Like mentioned, the weather in Hong Kong changed super fast from sunny to cloudy to foggy to super heavy rain. It started drizzling when I was about 30 m from the train station and had to run the last 10 cause it rained so heavily. Still wanted to see the music and light show (every day at 20, free) so dropped my shopping bags to hostel and headed to riverside (don't know if the water between Kowloon and HK island count as river or sea) with my umbrella. It rained like crazy but the show was nice. Afterwards I wanted to get Hong Kong specialty, roasted goose, but couldn't find the place with my offline map and ended up going to a local place for dim sum soup (which is always a good option).

My feeling in Hong Kong. Can't believe how much I can sweat :D Pic from Comic Street in Kowloon Park.

Day 3: Travelling

Headed for breakfast with some new friends from the hostel and then directly to the train station. I thought I had more than enough time when arriving about 45min before the train departure, but got really in a rush. First I had to go to ticket and passport check, then security check to rush to the immigration line (had to pass the tax free shop in between). After waiting for a while and clearing the passport and visa control, had just enough time to walk to the line when the boarding started (yes, there were 4 gates and a boarding time for long haul trains). High-speed train was super comfortable (even 2nd class) and every car even had own "flight attendant" (looked exactly like one) who served food and drinks (for extra pay). 

The 3,5h train ride from Hong Kong to Guilin was super comfortable except the literally constant announcements e.g. to mind the gap. The warning announcements and signs here are then another story and allow you to have a good laugh almost wherever you go.

Food

Tasted local treat pineapple bun (just like a Finnish bun with no cardamom) from the first bakery I found (and there are many in HK!). Other than that, I tried local tret: egg tart and pineapple bun plain and with butter and with pork (pork was the sweetest one, funny). Egg pancake was mentioned as a must, so did try it but for me the "pancake" tasted like paper and mostly enjoyed the ice cream. Let me know if you know a great place so I could give it another chance when going back to HK in July!

Left: Top: pineapple bun (with pork inside), Bottom: egg tart
Right: Top: pineapple bun with butter, Bottom: egg pancake

For lunch I went to the famous dim sum restaurant Tim Ho Wan. It was totally worth the little search, while I had some trouble with navigation. Btw, there are 4 of those restaurants in HK, totally recommend.

Dim Sum at Tim Ho Wan

Might not look so good, but it was delicious. Like most of the times, had no idea what's really in it :D

Passion by Gerard Dubois was a cute French style boulangerie with great coffee and delicious pastry, quiche, sandwiches, etc., huge recommendation for this!

For my next visit: roasted goose (a must try in HK)

Accommodation: Rainbow Lodge HK

Really good location right next to underground stop and only 600 m walk to main train station. By the noisy main street, so make sure to take earplugs with you. Cozy place, but quite tiny dorm (like every apartment in HK, so if you want more space be ready to pay a lot more than 130 HKD (~15 €)/night. For my 2-night stay it was great, just wanted an easy location, bed and shower.

Ready for my next adventures!