Guangzhou to Hong Kong - Sunday 17th July

Our train to Hong Kong was at 1039 from Guangzhou East station. After an early breakfast we got a taxi across town to the station. Some parts of Guangzhou look very nice so maybe our arrival in the rain combined with the area our hotel was located didn't give us the right impression.

The taxi dropped us in front of a modern station building and with our first class tickets in hand we followed the signs to the Hong Kong express, with no need to fight through crowds of people. We passed through check-in and immigration quickly and efficiently and found seats in the departure lounge. There is even a small but well stocked Duty Free shop which is useful for spending those last few Yuan.

The train was very modern, smooth and fast but lacked the, now familiar, bunk beds. 2 hours later we pulled into Kowloon, Hong Kong. Such a relatively short train ride had transported us a long way in terms of westernisation. It felt as if we had travelled many thousands of miles west not less than 200 miles south. The station was very clean, bright, modern and efficient. It had the look and feel of an international airport.

Once we had finished a quick but tasty lunch we took a taxi to the Star Ferry terminal to catch one of the famous green and white ferry boats across Victoria Harbour to Wan Chai and our hotel. The iconic waterfront and skyline of Hong Kong island is spectacular and seeing from a Star Ferry made it even more special.

A short taxi ride got us to our hotel and within minutes we were looking at the Wan Chai skyline and Happy Valley racecourse through the dizzyingly panoramic window of our room on the 23rd floor. It seemed strange to have so many modern facilities - flat screen TV, DVD player, iPod dock, etc. Somehow the historic charm of the Yide Hotel in Pingyao still won over this.

In the evening we caught the MTR (underground) to Kowloon for a stroll through Temple Street night market and then down Nathan Street - what a contrast of shopping experiences - to the waterfront for a view of the glittering Hong Kong lights across the water.










Then we hopped back over to the island and devoured some of the biggest, juiciest steaks on offer in the Wan Chai Outback Steakhouse. Excellent Australian steaks cooked and seasoned to perfection and a rapid reconnection with western food. A good call by Dominic who had a sudden craving for steak.


(blogged from Dubai airport on our way home - still catching up)