The mince pies are ready, presents under the tree, movies on cue and Queen's speech on auto-download. Wishing you a very merry Christmas from Shanghai!
Really Great to be back in Hong Kong again - and so close! Felt a little more expensive, though, now that our penny-barometers have dropped to a Shanghai level. The highlight again was taking the star ferry from central to TST at 8pm and sitting on the harbour promenade.
To get from Hong Kong you can either fly from Chek Lap Kok (HK international airport) or cross the border and fly from Shenzhen [or if time is no problem, take the day long train].
It turns out that not all of Hong Kong is covered in Sky scrapers. A 45minute roller-coaster coach ride away from Tung Chung MTR station, on the dark side of the mostly green Lantau is Tai O, a fishing (related) village that time forgot, where the locals would probably be surprised to hear what hashappened to the mainland in the last 50 years.
In People's Square park on a weekend morning Shanghai locals gather to speak English. The group's larger than life leader grabs any passing foreigner with humorously provocative statements about European politics and English television.