So, I've arrived in China after a veeery long trip, the flight was slighty delayed and I sat next to two frazzled Swedish women who were downing wine.
After a long wait for my luggage I managed to locate the "Go Go Bus" company takingn me to the border and beyond:
http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/transport/transport-connection-with-mainland-china/mainland-coach-services.html
Hong Kong was beautiful, what I saw of it, very green and lush and beaches and cool bridges
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attractions/nt-tsingma-bridge.html
After about 30 mins we arrived at the border. The driver, who had taken our passports when we got into the car, handed them over to a guard at a check point. After everything was ok we went on to the border control itself, where I had to fill in another landing card, queue to get the visa checked and x-ray all luggage.
Then on the other side another representative from Go Go Bus (!) met me and we got on another mini bus who took me to the hotel.
Very pleased to finally arrive and to have some food and a shower!
This morning I got a taxi to the office. Thank God I had the address in Chinese written down that I can show to the driver. He stopped at a corner of a very busy street and pointed "there" (his only words in English)
I could have been anywhere in this massive town. I went in through the closest doors and luckily it was the right building. Only downside is that I was there at 8am and noone turned up til 8:30. Now I have a swipe card so I can get in though!
Daisy, in my team, and I went out for lunch. We had some noodles, veg and dumplings. The most chaotic ordering system, basically you squeeze up to a counter with an ordering slip and receive various stamps on it and after a few minutes the food appeared. I treated Daisy to lunch - at a steep £4 for two!
The office has a driver who took me back to the hotel this evening. The traffic is mental here. Cyclists cycling against traffic speaking on their mobile phones, people lane cruising and squeezing in. I wouldnt last 5 minutes.
Now I'm off to one of the hotel's restaurants for some dinner, then book and bed me thinks! Everything is well back home. Vera is happy and has even made an Easter drawing. Miss her loads.
Here are some photos that Mark sent, plus one that I took in a local shop. Guess which ?!
(seems I cant upload any pictures at the moment - will try again in a while)
Hi Therese,
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it safely. Food tips as promised! One of my favourites is hong shao quiezi (紅燒茄子 in Chinese) which is an aubergine and red sauce dish. Also try dry fried green beans w sichuan peppers (gan bian dou jiao.) It's a Sichuan dish (obviously) but they do it most places. It's hot but lovely!
One thing I used to avoid was fish. Although it tastes good, the Chinese always use river fish and it's FILLED with bones, not easy to eat - especially w chopsticks!
I've found it's hard to go wrong w prawns (both chao xia wei and tie ban xia - the first is flavoured similarly to the aubergine dish, the other is spicy with onions) and also recommend ordering chicken soup for the table - not for the flavour, though it's nice enough, but for the fact it comes with the whole chicken and you can get good pics of the head floating on top!
If you go to a hotpot restaurant, my favourite flavour of dip was suan ni zhi ma jiang (a kind of peanut and garlic sauce.)
Mmmm, all this is making me wish I was back in China, eating all the lovely food.
Anyway, have fun there and enjoy trying out the different stuff available!
love Kirsten xx
Hi Therese,
ReplyDeleteWe hope you are having a fab time in China.Not too sure I could handle Chinese food,but,still you enjoy it!!!Can't wait to see you again!
Love Pat xxx