In the 1st week of March 2001, I and my wife visited Hong Kong, a wonderful city, located at the S.E. part of mainland China. We have booked a tour package with a travel agent at Muscat, Oman by Cathay Pacific Airline for 4days/ 3nights stay first at Bangkok and then 3days/ 2nights stay at Hong Kong. For Indians, 15 days visa is available at Bangkok airport on arrival where as at Hong Kong no previous visa is required for 3 months stay. After our nice stay in Bangkok in Royal Benja Hotel and visiting tourist spots, we boarded the Cathay Pacific plane in the morning hours and arrived at Hong Kong airport which is located at Lantau Island.
The Hong Kong airport is quite big and one has to board a fast train to collect baggage and exit after immigration and customs. It was quite smooth for us and a tourist bus was ready outside to take us to our hotel Royal Plaza in Kowloon where our stay had been arranged by the tour operator. Hong Kong consists of many islands out of which 3 are main and others tiny. The main islands are Hong Kong, Lantau and Kwoloon. Kwoloon is joined with new territories to the mainland China. The distance from airport to our hotel was about 15 km. The road from airport to Kowloon area is quite wide and consists of many long suspension bridges and the mountains and surroundings were so beautiful that we felt as if 50% worth of our tour price was recovered. Tourists come to Hong Kong through out the year but the most popular time is from the middle of September to the end of February, when the weather is cooler.
It is coolest from mid-December to mid February, with the temperature falling to around 10oC and it is warmest from late May to mid-September, it averages 28oC but may reach 33oC. We were fortunately at the best time as the temperature was around 15 to 18oC. Adjoining our hotel was a big shopping mall “Grand Century Palace” which was complete for shopping and variety eating of all types of food. Our stay being very short, we had to utilise the day time in sight seeing in Hong Kong , keeping one day reserve for main land China visit. Being Indian we had long desire to know about China specially when in recent times there is lot of comparison between the two countries in socio-economic development. Since by the time we arrived it was afternoon we went by walk to nearby places to see shops and local market and of course the “Grand Century Palace” Shopping mall, which took us almost half a day and ate in one of the Chinese Restaurant there. Hong Kong is one of the safest cities in the world even at night, when people may walk alone with confidence. English is widely spoken and there was no problems in communicating with people in hotels, restaurants and taxis.
The next day, our tour guide took us for Hong Kong City tour. Due to shortage of time we scheduled the morning half for a cruise in the Hong Kong Harbour and a visit to Victoria Peak and the afternoon half for Ocean park. The tour guide hired for us an authentic Chinese-style private junk boat for a cruise around Hong Kong’s scenic harbour and we made a visit to a fishermen’s village. After the cruise we were taken to a nearby market place for shopping and a gem factory. We bought a few articles and then proceeded to Victoria peak. High above Hong Kong Island on the ’back of the Dragon’, is situated the Victoria Peak, the prime visitor attraction. It provides magnificent harbour and city views. We experienced the dazzling panorama of Hong Kong Island, the harbour, Kowloon and the hills beyond. The Peak offers visitors great entertainment, dining and shopping options. However, we had little time to do shopping and dining there. We then came down the peak by peak tram, which has been in operation since 1888. The tour guide was waiting down in his bus to carry us back to hotel. We had a quick lunch and then proceeded to Ocean Park. The outdoor escalator system is the second largest in the world and the cable-car ride to the headland provides unparalleled panoramic views of the south side of Hong Kong Island’s Riviera-like coastline and some of the 260 outlying islands. Other highlights are the two giant pandas; the Film Fantasia Simulator Ride; Dinosaur Discovery Trail; Discovery of the Ancient World; and Atoll Reef, the world’s largest reef aquarium. Hong Kong has long been the primary gateway to China.
The next day, we had planned to go to mainland China for which our tour operator had obtained one-day group visit visa for that . This is the Shekou/Shenzhen and Guangzhou (Canton)Tour. We boarded a ferry early morning to go to Shekou, where the tourist bus was waiting for us. The sight seeing started with a visit to a kindergarten (which is on school days only)., In the Kinder garten we saw how the Chinese children are taught. The children gave a dance performance and we the tourists also danced with them. At the end my wife applied ‘Bindis’ to foreheads of girls which they immensely appreciated. After this we were taken tp a free trading local market and exhibition centre of terracotta warriors and horses. We had some breakfast there and the tour continued to Guangzhou (Canton) for lunch and a visit to its cultural and heritage highlights. After lunch in a Chinese Restaurant, we were taken by foot in the old narrow streets of Canton which are similar to that of Chandni Chowk in old Delhi but much cleaner. Later the bus took us to Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Chen Clan’s Ancestral Hall and Six Banyan Temple. We returned by train to Hong Kong in the late afternoon and reached by 8 pm in the evening. We were thrilled to see the industrial progress in this province and gave us much information about China and Chinese people. The roads and countryside were really beautiful. We posted some postcards to Muscat and India from there to our addresses to keep as souvenir.
There are many other attractions in Hong Kong which we could not see due to shortage of time. One can get advance information from Hong Kong websites or the tour operator in advance. We wish we had planned for a week’s stay there. The next day we flew back from Hong Kong to Dubai by Cathay Pacific airline and then from Dubai to Muscat by Emirates airways. The Currency of Hong Kong is HK$ and 1 US$ =HK$ 7.8 approximately. There are money changers all over to change to local currency. However, compared to Bangkok where the food, stay and other items are cheaper, Hong Kong is quite costly. It is 2 to 2.5 times the expenses at Bangkok.