For me, the biggest fear before travelling to China was, how I will even speak or read these Chinese letters and words. Because I did not know how I will cope with written Chinese language as I thought all the signs will be in their language and also, I heard they don't speak a bit of English. But as it turns out, China was a big positive surprise for me.
Hong Kong is a city for foodies, luxuries, and has one of the world's most thriving economies, which means it is a hub for international trade and investment. There are almost no cars inside the city centre, but if they are, they are usually luxury cars, such as Tesla. Taxies, double decker buses, trams, and ferries are mostly used in the city centre and between the islands. One of the interesting things in the city centre are 800 metres long escalators, which are the longest escalators in the world, and the journey takes 20 minutes.
The food here is incredible. I could not get enough of noodles and dumplings, and it is not pricey at all. In restaurants, beside traditional Chinese noodles and dumplings, you can order Dim Sum, which means a range of small Chinese dishes. There are also some incredible desserts you must try. I recommend Egg tarts. Tasty, not pricey, a real treat for yourself. I think the most money you will spend in Hong Kong will be on your accommodation.
For drinking and nightlife, Ozone is known as the highest bar in the world and is located at the top of the International Commerce Centre. This is the tallest building in Hong Kong and was one of my choices for the coolest buildings in Hong Kong. The city has the largest number of skyscrapers of any city in the world. Another great view the city is offering is from Victoria Peak. Especially at night you can see all the lights from skyscrapers.
I stayed in Hong Kong just two days as my goal was to visit China, so I crossed the border.
The main crossing city between Hong Kong and China is called Shenzhen. From Hong Kong you need approximately five hours with the fast train. The bullet train had a speed of around 280 km per hour. It is a very fancy train, with big chairs, and conductor on the train came to me and even offered if I would like to eat or drink something during the ride.
The train took me to the city of Yangshuo, which was my stop for the next few days. Yangshuo is a town in southern China’s Guangxi region and is known for dramatic karst mountain landscape and outdoor recreation.
Walking around Yangshuo was easy. I met great people. One girl was Chinese so my problems with the Chinese language went to a minimum for a few days. We spent a great week in and around Yangshuo as we decided that it will be best to go around with bicycle.
Renting a bicycle is easy here, and even though you expect that Yangshuo will be crowded as China has a big population, the country is still very big, so cycling was quite easy, and the countryside was peaceful and almost no cars bothered us.
Karst hills that rise from the valley like giants, were surrounding us the whole cycling trip. It is a really beautiful countryside with lots of rice fields, you can stop and have some lunch or a drink. You really cannot be hungry when cycling these villages, so probably lots of tourists come here. Even in the most remote places you can find a small restaurant.
The best Yangshuo bike routes are the following; you can bike near the Li River in length of 30 kilometres, which will take about 2 hours. Another great option is the Yulong River bike tour, which also takes around 2 hours. The Yulong starts flowing in Northern Yangshuo and runs for over 35 kilometres through small villages. Yulong river is a shallow river of around 5 metres maximum depth and an average of 25 metres across.
As it is not located near any industrial areas, it is clean enough for swimming. Unlike the busy Li River, the Yulong River has no motorised boat traffic and relies completely on bamboo rafts.
We were cycling for few days and the next day we decided to stay inside the city to also explore the city food markets and the city itself.
Food in China in general is quite unusual, whether it is inside supermarkets or outside on the markets. You can find big rice bags (they look like cement), dried fish and dried meat, or even snakes. Fresh meat, which is not in the fridge, it is just hanging there on an outside market, even on a hot day. Therefore, I preferred vegetable noodles or cooked vegetable with rice here, because I knew this my stomach can digest them without any problems.
Yangshuo is a city with some of the best scenes for your Instagram photos for sure and this is an easy spot to get a great shot.
With the girls, we climbed to the top of so-called TV Tower hill. The trail here is steep, and rocks can be wet. It is straight up for the majority of time and the humidity is what really adds to it so take water with you. I am in a decent shape, so I was able to do the hike without a problem, but my traveller buddies had some difficulties on the way up.
Someone actually lives at the TV tower, so there is a gate when you get to the top. He will let you in for a fee of 10 yuan and then you can walk through to see the great city views and mountains around of Yangshuo city.
Rivers floating slowly in the shape of a snake, the karst countryside and the not crowded South China was what I enjoyed the most. I had a bit of language barriers from time to time, but I managed. And guess what, finding a toilet was actually the easiest thing to do here.
After a long week in southern China, I had to say goodbye to my two travelling girls, as I returned to Hong Kong with the bullet train. What a difference when crossing border. In Hong Kong in comparison with China nobody is spitting on the ground, English is widely spoken and here I could eat meat again. After my Dim Sum brunch, I went for a bit of shopping on my last day and on my last night I had my last cocktail at Ozone bar. A bit pricey this time, but this all comes with an amazing view of the Hong Kong city.
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