Before entering Chinese mainland, we spend some days in Hong Kong. First, because we thought it would be a good start to enter into the Chinese way of life and culture and second, because we had to apply for our China visa here.

HongKong offers lots of places to visit, so we decided to do the most popular ones during our stay there. Amongst them were: the Avenue of Stars, Kawloon Walled City Park, Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Nunnery, the Monster Building, the Night Market on Temple Street and of course the Victoria Peak. As the tram was under construction, we hiked up the peak. Temperatures were high and the humidity was even higher, but me made it to the top and could enjoy the nice (and rainy…) view over the city.

We also took the chance to meet up with some friends and enjoyed very nice, typical dinners with each of them. Hong Kong cuisine definitely convinced us from the first day on.

The city was a little like expected – crowded, hot and humid, but easy to explore due to the very well working public transport system and everybody speaking English.

We had a small hostel room in the “famous” Chungking Mansion right on Nathan Road. The room itself was slightly better than its reputation and the location in the heart of the city is just perfect.

On our last day before entering mainland we decided to go over to Macao and visit the Chinese “Las Vegas”. We took the transfer bus over the newly built bridge instead of the ferry and visited different hotels in the city.

The hotels of known brands almost look the same as their American twins. Unfortunately, they are not all on one street like on Las Vegas Boulevard. So you need lots time to move from one hotel to another through the busy traffic by free shuttle buses. We could not resist gambling at least a little at the Venetian hotel, but had no luck this time. Nevertheless, we could enjoy a free drink in the casino area.