Flight of the dragon
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2008
1
9
40
Trip End
Oct 31, 2008
Xianyang,
Shanxi,
China
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
This morning involved a brief walk around the centre of Hong Kong island to stare at some of the enormous skyscrapers then it was back to the hotel to finish packing (6 nights in the same hotel is a rare luxury for us, we almost took things out of our cases) and then it was off to the airport.
Some thoughts on Hong Kong:
I like it - it's mad.
It's a mixed city - green hills next to masses of high rise buildings, some old (18th / 19th century) and a lot of ultra modern, English and Chinese (specifically Cantonese with, almost begrudgingly, a smattering of Mandarin) and it manages to be both hectic and calm.
It's an easy place to get around with a good public transport system and lots of signposts and the culture shock is low (though this may be influenced by our visit to Singapore last year which perhaps prepared us).
It's a place to shop (and the shopping centres are air conditioned so that's a big benefit). Shops range from the very basic to many designer labels.
It's very structured (though not as much as Singapore) - lots of signs on behaviour that kind of thing.
There's a wide choice of food and everything we had was very good.
There have been many little traumas - all down to Sarah mis-counting our cash or forgetting payments made. But all the beans added up in the end so she is happy.
It's great to look at...
It's hot and humid.
A short and fairly comfortable flight and we're in Xian. The flight was with DragonAir (renamed especially because Sarah was on board).
We arrived early evening - no change in time zone as the entirety of China is on the same time.
First impressions are that we are in a different part of China - this is no longer Hong Kong. There is a lot less English text, it's not as glossy and the traffic rules are interesting (there seem to be none). It also seems to be a continuous traffic jam.
Xian is the historic capital of China and the centre has a Ming dynasty defensive wall surrounding it. Our hotel is directly opposite the Bell tower, another Ming dynasty building.
