March 15th
I woke up around 6 am to leave Dongguan and catch the bus to Hong Kong. After hearing such wonderful things about Hong Kong I was very excited to experience it first-hand. We drove across the border from China to Hong Kong and boy was it an experience. Even though Hong Kong is a part of China there are stringent restrictions on who can go in and out of the area because of the large number of mainland Chinese wanting to go to Hong Kong, as well as the economic inequality. Arriving at the Chinese border we unloaded all of our stuff, filled out customs forms, and got in line. After making it through the passport check and baggage scan we boarded another bus and continued on to the Hong Kong side. Once in Hong Kong, we repeated the earlier process with a much longer line and less personal space. In order to keep the group together and to hold our ground, we all strategically spread out to keep the Chinese behind us. They don’t believe in queuing up and cutting in line is standard practice. This is totally opposite of Western ideas and can be a little disconcerting if one isn’t prepared.
An hour and a half later we were in Hong Kong at a wonderful dim sum lunch. It was definitely one of my favorite meals of the trip with an array of dumplings, buns, and greens! Following lunch we attended a lecture at the City College of Hong Kong. It was given by an expat who moved to Hong Kong and has been teaching at the university for 15 years now. We had an interesting discussion about China’s past, present, and future as well as, relations with Hong Kong and Macau. As if the day weren’t packed enough, we also visited Victoria’s Peak to see the best view of the city. It was incredible to see all of the city, the harbor, and the mountains at one time. Hong Kong is a very dense and urbanized city however it is surrounded by a lot of national forests and green mountains.
From the beginning, I was interested in visiting Macau, the world’s gambling capital and former Portuguese island. Even though the day had been long, taking the ferry to Macau was an obvious choice for me. I have never been to Las Vegas, a casino, nor gambled so I had no idea what to expect from this experience. I imagine Vegas looks really similar, a lot of lights, huge buildings, and prominent casinos. In a rush we scarfed down some McDonald's (don't judge) and ran to catch the ferry (literally, a mad dash). While casinos are hardly as glamorous as I hoped and I am way to risk averse to be a real gambler, I did have an awesome time and even won some money playing craps!
However, arriving back at the hotel at 4:30 am was not fun!
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