The Saga Continues

After nature, mountains, rivers and small villages we headed back to the big cities. We humped on the train back to Shenzhen. Once there, Ben parted with us. He wanted to spend some time with his friend Eric before heading back home a day or two later. So Isabelle and I headed to Hong Kong. From the train station, there was a sign Hong Kong that way. We followed it thinking that it would lead to some bus terminal or something. Walked a bit more and then a visa gate followed by a security check and before we knew it, we were already there. We knew Shenzhen was close to Hong Kong but never thought that it was that close, not walking distance. Of course we had to take a city train to get to downtown but still, we just couldn’t believe that it was so close.

Downtown Hong Kong was a bit of shock. There were so many people, dense crowds, narrow streets and it was much more cosmopolitan than anywhere else in China. At every 2 steps there was Indian guy nagging you to sell you watches and stuff in the streets. Another big shock was the size of our hostel room. It was minuscule, less than 2 square meter of “free” space. The rest was entirely taken by the bed and the bathroom/shower which was nothing more than a showerhead over a sink and a toilet. Of course the bed was rock hard and the sheets paper thin. Well at least it wasn’t too expensive, very well located and only for 2 nights.

We didn’t have much time before our next train to Shanghai so we basically walked around town. I was pleased to see all the streets’ sides filled with neon lit signs in big Chinese characters. That was something I wanted to see since I got in China but there aren’t that many of those in Beijing. During the days in was just another big city but at night it took a whole new look. Across the bay, laid a massive wall of skyscrapers, all lit with huge publicity billboards and corporate logos. Much more commercial and developed than any place I had been. It dwarfed even New York City. It was Time Square everywhere...

The next day, we took the ferry and went on Hong Kong Island. It was even more developed than the mainland portion of the city. It really was a vertical city with extensive networks of pedestrian over paths. The streets were narrow and the tramways were funny looking thin double deckers. We took it for a ride not really knowing where we were going but it was a fun and quick way to visit. We got off at the far end of it where we found a typical Chinese food market. That’s when I realised that we were still in China but up until then it didn’t feel that way at all. We could see the usual hanging organs, cut open fish with their hart still beating, live toads getting picked up from a bag full of them then decapitated hacked up and sold. All good stuff...

That night we took the famous Peak Tram to the top of a mountain overlooking the city. For me, that was the single thing that I unconditionally wanted to see in Hong Kong, this breathtaking view of the metropolis. That was it; we were in Hong Kong with that amazing view.

After only about 50 hours in town, we jumped on another overnight train to another major city, Shanghai. I would say that our experience there was somewhat similar to our previous stop but slightly smaller scale. At least in terms of development because size and population wise Shanghai is two or three times the size of Hong Kong. There too there was a Quebecois to welcome us, my friend Patrick. We all went for a drink in the French quarters. The architecture in that neighbourhood was more European like. So much so that many streets felt like old Montreal or maybe even Europe. There was also a brand new development made to look like old Chinese architecture. It was pretty and all but so touristy and obviously new that it took away from its charm.

There too we only spent 2 nights before heading out and that time back to Beijing. That time, however, for the first time we couldn’t get beds so we had to rough it up on seats. Even though they were called “soft seats” it still was a rather sleepless and uncomfortable 12 hour train ride.

Isabelle left after a few more days spent visiting Beijing and some of its main attractions. We had a nice party on her last night and she left early the next morning, or should I say that same night… Then it was just me, home alone once again after almost 1 month constantly surrounded by Quebecois Friends and travelling around. My apartment felt a bit empty for a day or two but now it’s ok. I’m waiting for the next visitors for whom that might interest…

Three Quebecers on the Go

Almost immediately after we came back to Beijing, my Quebecois friend John was also coming back home after a few weeks spent with his family in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He had the marvellous idea to bring back a few bags of cheese curds with him. I still had some dehydrated poutine gravy left from what Stef had brought me a few months earlier so the three together, we made ourselves a poutine dinner at my place. It was delicious. So long had it been since my last good poutine. Later that night, it was Isabelle’s turn to land into town. She was also a friend from Quebec coming in to visit China.


Definitely, there was a lot of Quebecois around all the sudden. So I took advantage of the momentum to invite yet another Quebecoise for a Spaghetti dinner the next day. Actually you might have heard of her from a Radio-Canada documentary about her (http://www.radio-canada.ca/audio-video/pop.shtml#urlMedia=http://www.radio-canada.ca/Medianet/2008/CBFT/ALheureDeLaChine200808151900_2.asx&epr=true). The five of us had really good time that night.

The next morning, Isabelle, Benoit, and myself were in a plane on our way to Shenzhen. Shenzhen is the Chinese frontier city into Hong Kong. It’s a rather large and prosperous city. We spent the evening with Eric, yet another Quebecois but this time friend of Benoit. We strolled around town a bit but not so much. We stayed there only one day there. The next evening we were on a train to Guilin.

Guilin truly was a love at first sight. It was much smaller, just over 1 million people. It was surrounded by luscious green mountains. The city was intertwined with parks and wiping willows boarded rivers. This city is famous for its beauty and often serves as base for tourist that come to visit the area and its numerous attractions and sights.

We spent the first day walking around in parks and other. Our first lunch was quite memorable. Isabelle insisted that wanted to taste dog meat. Yes some people do eat dog in some places in China, especially in the southern parts like where we were. Personally, I could have gone without it even though I was too a bit curious. As for dog owner and dog lover Ben, he was to the contrary totally horrified and discussed at the idea. Majority won, we ordered a plate of it. How to describe? Well either I did have some before without knowing it or they used a common spice but the taste wasn’t unfamiliar to me. I wouldn’t know how to describe it further. It was edible but I don’t think I’ll ever reorder it again.

The next day, we went visit the famous mountain side rice fields of Longji. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best time of the year to go visit them which would be spring well the fields are filled with water. At that time it was more the harvest season but it was nonetheless quite impressive. We were able to wander around as much as we wanted, not only in the village but in the fields as well. We tried the some of the local cuisine which consisted of rice and chicken cooked inside a big piece of bamboo thrown in a small fire. These villagers truly are irrigation geniuses to be able to cultivate such a huge mountainous area.

On the third day, went down to a small but very beautiful touristy town called Yangshuo, about 1 hours south of Guilin. It offers many attractions and pedestrian market streets with lots of restaurants and bars. The monolithic mountains are omnipresent there, even more so than it Guilin. It was by far the most beautiful place I was given to visit in China. The area is also known for its numerous and spectacular caves. It was sumptuous.

For our last full day in the area, Isabelle and I decided to go on a private raft cruise on part of the river that links Guilin to Yangshuo. We wanted to be on the boat just in time for sunset and not before so in the mean time we went visit a tiny fishermen/farmer village called Daxu. We the right time came, stepped in a small raft made to look like it was made of bamboo but wasn’t. It was quite enjoyable. The view was amazing and the water rather calm. Even though the reflection of the mountains in the water with the sunset was breathtaking, my favourite part was when we came across a horde of buffalos grazing on aquatic plants in the river. For 2 minutes I felt like I was in a safari or some animal documentary.






















































Stay tuned for the rest of the trip on my next blog post!