Hong Kong

In the morning we caught the high speed train to Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong is now part of China, it is still "autonomous" and thus entering Hong Kong from China still involves a border crossing and different visa laws.

Noodles for lunch in one of many shopping areas

Hong Kong is famous for shopping and the main shopping area stretched along Victoria street for miles. Almost every major brand in the world has a store. We spent the day wandering the streets and shopping malls.

Street view in Hong Kong

In the recent past Hong Kong was known as a cheap international shopping destination with all the brands of the world on offer. In the days of the internet and ubiquity of chinese exports, I feel this claim to fame is fading away. The prices overall weren't really that cheap, and were Hong Kong offers a global marketplace, availability of international goods is no longer the logistical problem it once was.

The city itself is positioned inside a ring of mountains next to a large harbour. With little flat land for expansion, the city has expanded towards the sky, skyscrapers sticking up everywhere.

Harbour view from the airport bus

We only spent the day in Hong Kong. We tried to save some money by catching a bus to the airport rather than a taxi. Had a bit of an issue in dealing with an exact money only policy and getting change in Hong Kong dollars that we would never use again, but eventually made it the airport and on to our flight to Singapore.