CHINA 2005: The End of this Travelogue Approaches. 12/30/2005

It’s Friday night, December 30… we arrived in Hong Kong this morning.. from Xiamen..  I’ll spare you all the details on Hong Kong, as it’s a return visit for us, so except for the fact that it’s a city that is always changing and growing (in place), I don’t have any really startling information.. It’s as bustling as I remember it to be; as vertical as it looks in pictures; as dense as the reports reveal; and as cosmopolitan and contradictory as one can imagine…  The political turnover to China in 1999 doesn’t seem to have made much difference on the surface of things.. although the local newspapers are abuzz with the fact that China has suggested that Hong Kong focus on the economy (rather than on any efforts toward additional democracy). 

The streets are jammed with people and the city is alive 24 hours a day (or at least during all of my waking hours)… (So I’m in heaven.) The hotel we are at is the lap of luxury compared to where we’ve been for some of this trip.. and we are both taking full advantage of all of the amenities.. Our room has a spectacular view of the harbor; we’re a two-block walk to the metro.

Arriving in Hong Kong from China is still officially like going to another country.. different currency; and about 4 forms that must be filled out prior to departure and entry.  One of the forms asked a lot of questions about whether or not you were in rural areas and had any contact with poultry….  we sort of ignored our Yongding period…  I figure that walking among the chickens is not like touching a chicken. We were unable to convert our RMB (China money) to Hong Kong dollars at the Xiamen hotel, and had to wait until we arrived in Hong Kong…

And despite Shanghai’s acquiescence to (indeed its apparent love of) commercialism, shopping, and “show”, it’s still China.. and Hong Kong remains a totally different and unique city.

We’re getting antsy to return home… already thinking about what awaits us — mostly work-wise.. Our wait list cleared, so we will be back on New Years Day.  Wishing you all a very Happy New Year…

Peace — Fern