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by Tara Overzat
The first time I did this South China/Hong Kong trip, it was a result of a lot of chutzpah and some half-assed planning with a Lonely Planet book (I highly recommend getting the most recent version of the book available before traveling to China— their information, while not perfect is pretty spot on). My boyfriend and I followed pretty much the same path as before but threw in Macau and Sanya (where I had traveled on another holiday, over three years ago). I also made sure to see a lot of sights that I simply had no time for before (like the Five Goats Statue and Shamian Island in Guangzhou, and the Times Coast in Sanya).
The most expensive part of our trip was the airfare— about US $1,000 roundtrip per person from Atlanta to Hong Kong, via a layover in Toronto. (This is also a long flight- whereas my flight from JFK to Beijing was 12 hours long, the flight from Toronto to Hong Kong was a little over 15 hours out there, and slightly less than 15 hours back.) After arriving in Hong Kong, our costs began to drop, and dropped precipitously after we received our Visas and crossed into the mainland. To clear up any confusion, Hong Kong is a Self-Autonomous Region (a SAR, not to be confused with SARS) and while the British did return the island to China in 1997, it retains pretty much the same independent status as before, with its own currency pegged to the US dollar and with different rules for travel into and out of its watery boundaries. As such, we were able to land as tourists in Hong Kong without a Visa, but were not able to go on into mainland China without more paperwork and a pair of nifty L Visas (L for the first pinyin letter of the Chinese word for travel).
Just a few short years ago, before the Olympic Games, I could drop off my paperwork and US passport at 9am in a China Travel Service (CTS) office, tool around the city for a few hours, and have a brand new Chinese F class Visa in my passport at 2pm sharp. Hardly cost a thing. Today, not only are the Visas more expensive, but there is no longer an advertised same day service. We had to drop off our paperwork in the morning and come back the next afternoon for our Visas (at about US$180 a pop including “express service”). The good news is CTS will get you a Visa; some Chinese embassies have a limited amount of Visas they can hand out and may have more stringent requirements, not to mention they take weeks, wherein your precious passport is floating around somewhere. CTS is a service, not a government agency, and will take care to ensure your passport’s safe return with the Visa you paid for in it. Their reputation depends on it.
Above is a video clip the world’s largest daily light show.
This picture is of a view from Victoria Peak, which you can reach by a steep slanted tram day and night. The day and night views are totally different, and it is worth doing both, but if you just have time (or the stomach) for one trip, go at night.
View of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak
After we received our US passports from CTS, we took the next ferry out to Macau, a former Portuguese colony that like Hong Kong has SAR status. This means that we could not go from China to Hong Kong to Macau, or any combination of the three without our passports, and for China, the right Visa.
I have never been to Vegas, but I imagine it’s a lot like this, though Macau is smaller.
Lion outside of the MGM Grand
Grand Lisboa & other casinos in Macau
While we did not see a lot of Portuguese influence on this part of the island, my boyfriend, who is ridiculously good at reading maps (whereas I get lost using a GPS) found a place simply called “Carlos’s.” The place was dark and the sign said it did not open until 6pm. We got there at 5:30pm (What can I say? Gambling makes you hungry.). The door was unlocked, so I walked right on in.
A young Chinese waiter went to the back to see if it was okay that we came so early. Carlos, the doppelganger of the establishment came out of the kitchen, saying, “We open at 6 you know but… yeah, yeah, come sit down. Where are you from…”
(I just loved the faux-reluctant I-was-gonna-turn-you-out-but you-look-like-honest-folk deal)
Carlos chatted with us, went to the back to heat up some soup (which was simply superb) and came back out. Everything on the menu sounded delicious, so we asked for his recommendation.
Carlos sold us on Bacalhau à Brás, a typical Portuguese dish of codfish with fried potato strips, eggs, and veggies and a second dish of half a chicken cooked Carlos-style. He never uses frozen chicken, always fresh, and it does make a huge difference.(Though I don’t know where we’ll fit a chicken coop in the apartment…
Tara & Sean at Carlos's, Macau
Mainland China is whole other kettle of fish— will post more pictures and info about there soon.
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