Hong Kong

So, Spring festival for me started with my family coming to Pingxiang on Dec 31st for 3 days before we went to Hong Kong on Jan 3rd. I think if they were to describe Pingxiang in 1 word it would be 'Interesting'..I took them to all the hotspots - town and Wal-Mart, Goose Park, the Tea house and the college where they saw my apartment etc. They also met Bob (my boss), Andy (one of the co-teachers) as well as Brian, Taz and Jorvik so it was really nice to show them where I live & work, although a bit strange to be walking around campus with my family in person, when I've been used to seeing them via a computer screen!

Overall, although slightly odd to visit the places I'm used to going to with the co-teachers or friends, it was really nice to show my family as well & for them to sample some of the typical Pingxiang food: 'Spicy' & to experience the driving habits of Pingxiang's taxi drivers - something, I think they'll agree, will stay with them for a long time :P simply because the majority of the taxi drivers are mad & see what rules of the road they have in China, as more like 'guidelines'

After our 3 days in Pingxiang, we left the taxi drivers & spicy food for Hong Kong. This was my first visit to HK & i'd heard from people lots of good things so I was looking forward to seeing the sights & to see how Western it really was! We arrived & went to a very nice little Italian restaurant near our hotel; I had Lasagne which was a real treat after many months of Chinese food!

The next day (wednesday) we bought our Octopus cards & set off for Victoria Peak. Octopus cards are like Oyster cards but they let you use the buses, subway and trams in Hong Kong so getting around's really very easy - you can also use them to pay in some shops too. Travel in HK is fairly cheap like other places in China as well which is always useful when you're in a city. We got the tram to Victoria Peak & then a tram up to the peak itself, where the views were, of course, fantastic. HK's such a cool city because you've got massive skyscrapers all around you, symbols of modernism, along with these vintage trams as a way to get around so it really does mix the old & the new.

On Thursday we went to Stanley market, which is on the south coast of HK island. The bus journey was v.picturesque & it was interesting to see more of the island & its landscape, which is quite tropical. The market was v.good - great for souvenir shopping. We also went on the famous Star Ferry over to Kowloon to the night market there, and went on a sampan (type of boat) around the harbour to see the famous Jumbo floating restaurant.

Saturday (my birthday) saw us visiting Shek-O and its beach, which is another coastal area on HK Island. Again, it was v.picturesque & can imagine in the summer its a great place to spend a day out. We also went to the Times Square shopping area, the main hub near the Central area of HK which was v.busy & bustling on my birthday as well.

I flew back to Changsha on the Sunday, and my family to the UK. The 5 days we had in HK did go quickly towards the end, even though now it seems like a month ago we were there! But it's a great city & another really memorable experience to add to my time here; from simply walking around the streets to having supper in a tiny Indian restaurant where it really was very cosy! I spent a night in Changsha on sunday night & caught a train to Pingxiang on monday. I then had Monday to un-pack, re-pack ready for my train to Hangzhou the next day. I had mixed feelings about my travel this time, as I had managed to get a ticket there but, due to it being Spring festival season, was one of the many who couldn't get a second ticket. Quite a lot of the news coverage leading up to chinese new year is about train tickets, as the demand is 100 times bigger than supply & people say it really is just a case of luck (or criminal connections) whether you can get tickets or not. So, at the time, I could get to Hangzhou but had no way of getting back..