I flew to Hong Kong about 10 days ago from Malaysia in order to get my visa for China. It was sad saying goodbye to Indonesia after having stayed there for so long. But I felt I must visit China as I have never been there before.
It was tough when I first arrived in Hong Kong. I had some kind of fever, which I initially thought was malaria. And when I got to Hong Kong, the place where I always stay when I am there was rather full and it was nearly impossible to find a room. The few rooms that were available were really inflated in price. Finally a nice young African man allowed me to sleep on a mattress in the hallway of one of the tiny little guesthouses.
The next day I applied for a visa and had no trouble getting a six month multi- entry visa. I guess the Olympics period regulations are finished. I spent a few more days in Hong Kong looking for a new camera before setting off to Macau by ferry.
Macau is a nice little place- I actually prefer it to Hong Kong since it is not so crowded. I made the mistake of coming on a Saturday, though, which drove up the hotel prices quite a bit as many mainland Chinese visit for the weekend. I began to encounter difficulty finding anyone who could speak English, and I felt self conscious as a result. I soon realized how little Chinese I actually can speak, even though I had studied a little before. I had forgotten everything already and still needed to brush up on what I know. I also wasn’t sure if people in Macau can speak Mandarin. At night I spent a while talking to some of the Filipino migrant workers living in Macau.
For some reason I felt a real hesitation about crossing over into China and kept delaying little by little. Perhaps it was that I was recovering from the fever, as well as the language problem. I also had to find a guidebook as I knew it would be almost impossible in China without one. That done, I finally set off over the border, taking a bus to the crowded crossing from Macau to Zhuhai.
With all my bags, it is really quite hard to get around, so after crossing the border I opted to take a taxi to the place that supposedly had youth hostel. Well, it either no longer exists or was already full. So, demoralized, I started walking down the street looking for a hotel. I finally found a reasonably priced place- 108 yuan (about 15 US dollars). I kept double checking with the clerk to make sure it was really 108 yuan. When I saw the room I couldn’t believe it- it was so huge- especially compared to the room I stayed at in Macau for 20 US dollars.
Zhuhai was very quiet where I was staying. I went to a restaurant and encountered another problem- the entire menu was written in Chinese (which of course I can’t read). Fortunately a guy at the next table was a foreigner and helped me order something.
Another problem I soon realized- Chinese people don’t seem to drink coffee (they’re big tea drinkers). My first few days in China I was half awake until I figured out how to get some coffee.
The next day I delayed some more, and finally set off for Guangzhou, and onwards to Wuzhou in Guangxi province. The clerks at the bus station could either speak a few words of English or managed to point me in the right direction nevertheless. I started to glimpse China from the windows of the buses. So far though, I had hardly spoken a word to anyone- a strange experience after Indonesia, where everyone is so friendly.
Wuzhou was a little more exciting than Zhuhai since I was staying downtown. I walked around a lot just to get an idea of street life, used the internet, bought some coffee at McDonald’s, a little fruit… Still, my entire time in Wuzhou, I didn’t meet anyone.
Well, I will write more updates later. I can only comment that it has been a long itme since I had this many challenges entering a new country. But by now I have settled in (its been about 5 days now) and started to pick up some more Chinese. I have many more observations but am writing now on a limited battery while I still have access to an internet connection.
