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We were awakened around 8:00 to some Chinese pop music & announcements that I didn’t understand at all. Judy’s new friend got off at another stop, 2-3 hours before us. Our ride is 14 hours, arriving in Shenzhen around noon.
The ticketing system on the train is interesting & helpful. When you board, fuyuans come by each car with a folder containing plastic cards in slots, one per berth. They trade you a plastic card for your paper ticket, putting the paper ticket in the correct folder slot. The plastic card is your ticket to move around the train, based on the kind of ticket you have. We could move anywhere. Because they have all the paper tickets, they can easily identify who needs to get off where. When the train is approaching your stop, the fuyuan returns your paper ticket and collects the plastic one. That’s your cue that you’re getting off at the next stop.
Upon arrival in Shenzhen, we lugged all our stuff onto the platform. Dan went to the ticket office to book his return to Changsha the evening of the 7th.
Shenzhen train station is the border crossing into Lo Wu in the New Territories, and it’s our only reason for being here. But the city is the richest in China. To quote The Lonely Planet:
“Shenzhen was no more than a tiny fishing village until it won the equivalent of the National Lottery and became a SEZ [Special Economic Zone] in 1980. Developers added a stock market, hotels & towering blocks, and the world as Shenzhen knew it came to an abrupt end. Indeed, the only fishnets you’re likely to see here nowadays will be on the legs of the city’s formidable hordes of whores… It’s true that Shenzhen is a commercial success, but it’s devoid of culture or spirit.”
And I’ll bet you $100 that you’ve got at least a dozen things made in Shenzhen within easy reach in your house.
But we just walked from the train, following signs saying “Hong Kong” until we got to Chinese immigration, where we officially exited “real” China, then Hong Kong Immigration, where we filled out a departure card to turn in when we leave again, and then Customs, where again we just breezed through to Lo Wu. From there, we boarded a KCR train to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. Then, we transferred to the MTR (subway system) to cross to Hong Kong Island.
Unfortunately, we didn’t look carefully at where our hotel (the Ramada Hong Kong) was, even though we had a street address. So we got off at Admiralty and tried 2 cabs, neither of whose drivers could speak English or understood “Ramada.” Then we looked at the Lonely Planet map & got back on the MTR to Central. Off again, and walked a mile or 2 with luggage past the next station, and finally grabbed 2 cabs whose drivers did recognize “Ramada” at the Western Market. They took us the rest of the way. For all our Hong Kong pics, click here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069620/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.
The ticketing system on the train is interesting & helpful. When you board, fuyuans come by each car with a folder containing plastic cards in slots, one per berth. They trade you a plastic card for your paper ticket, putting the paper ticket in the correct folder slot. The plastic card is your ticket to move around the train, based on the kind of ticket you have. We could move anywhere. Because they have all the paper tickets, they can easily identify who needs to get off where. When the train is approaching your stop, the fuyuan returns your paper ticket and collects the plastic one. That’s your cue that you’re getting off at the next stop.
Upon arrival in Shenzhen, we lugged all our stuff onto the platform. Dan went to the ticket office to book his return to Changsha the evening of the 7th.
Shenzhen train station is the border crossing into Lo Wu in the New Territories, and it’s our only reason for being here. But the city is the richest in China. To quote The Lonely Planet:
“Shenzhen was no more than a tiny fishing village until it won the equivalent of the National Lottery and became a SEZ [Special Economic Zone] in 1980. Developers added a stock market, hotels & towering blocks, and the world as Shenzhen knew it came to an abrupt end. Indeed, the only fishnets you’re likely to see here nowadays will be on the legs of the city’s formidable hordes of whores… It’s true that Shenzhen is a commercial success, but it’s devoid of culture or spirit.”
And I’ll bet you $100 that you’ve got at least a dozen things made in Shenzhen within easy reach in your house.
But we just walked from the train, following signs saying “Hong Kong” until we got to Chinese immigration, where we officially exited “real” China, then Hong Kong Immigration, where we filled out a departure card to turn in when we leave again, and then Customs, where again we just breezed through to Lo Wu. From there, we boarded a KCR train to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. Then, we transferred to the MTR (subway system) to cross to Hong Kong Island.
Unfortunately, we didn’t look carefully at where our hotel (the Ramada Hong Kong) was, even though we had a street address. So we got off at Admiralty and tried 2 cabs, neither of whose drivers could speak English or understood “Ramada.” Then we looked at the Lonely Planet map & got back on the MTR to Central. Off again, and walked a mile or 2 with luggage past the next station, and finally grabbed 2 cabs whose drivers did recognize “Ramada” at the Western Market. They took us the rest of the way. For all our Hong Kong pics, click here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069620/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.
The hotel itself is 5x as much as we’ve been paying, but the rooms are great, and we have towels, and showers with walls, and coffee (instant), and hotel staff who all speak English, and we can pay for everything with credit cards. We even called the staff to come up & open a couple of beers for us. Living like kings.
After checking in & cleaning up (being rather rank after 24+ hours on the road), we hopped the MTR to Central where we took the world’s longest escalator up to the "Mid Levels." Hong Kong is a mountain island jutting out of the sea, so very little is on the flat. The escalators end at Conduit Road, near the Zoological & Botanical Gardens, but we got off less than halfway up for dinner at one of Dan’s favorites, Taco Loco. Good tacos, high prices – at least what you’d pay in the U.S., and more for margaritas. We’ve gotten way to used to feeding 5 (with beers) for $20!
The weather was looking good and we headed for the Peak Tram, some distance to the northeast of us. The line was huge, but the wait was worth it. We boarded around dusk & reached Victoria Peak as Hong Kong and Kowloon were lighting up.
This site has changed a lot since I came here with Leon Zhao in 1996. The tram now ends at a high rise shopping mall & galleria, but if you go to the top & can push through the crowds, you get breathtaking views of one of the most impressive city skylines on the planet. There was a steady cool breeze, with light clouds and very clear views. We hung out & walked around for awhile, then waited in another long line to get back down. While there, I checked out a Hong Kong guide in a bookstore and looked up the double-decker electric trams. These run along the lower levels of the island & some stop in front of our hotel. I learned that (1) Hong Kong & Brighton, England are the last two cities with these vehicles, and (2) you can get on & ride any distance for $HK 2. We got to the bottom of the hill and got on a tram that took us right to our front door, which it turns out is in Shek Tong Tsui.
Quick aside: you may have noticed that the Chinese names violate my previous statement that the only ending consonants are “n” and “ng.” The reason is that they speak Cantonese in Hong Kong, not Mandarin.
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