Hong Kong
The journey officially began from Zhongshan where I took the ferry at the Zhongshan Port to Central City Terminal in Hong Kong. You can purchase tickets either online in Zhongshan at ZHONG SHAN – HONGKONG PASSENGER SHIPPING CO-OP., LTD or at the Ferry Terminal. If you’re entering from the airport, then you may choose Trip.com I use Trip to make many bookings on my journeys and so can you.
Bear in mind, that by making a booking through this or any affiliate link on Crimson21.com means if the booking is successful-I will receive a small commission which is of absolutely no cost to you.
Once you have your ticket you are then allowed to go through customs and board the ferry. After being seated, I was flipping through my passport and I realized it has been three years since I last left the mainland, this dawned on me the moment I saw where Customs stamped my passport. It was a wondrous moment this thing which may seem small to most but for persons who never left in all that time to reconnect with family or friends, it is pretty significant. I made it off the ferry and it was time to go through customs in Hong Kong Central.
A woman said“Passport holders, this way” and indicated the place I should fill out my arrival card. It came as such a shock to hear English spoken to me before I realized, Oh right, you’re in Hong Kong. Duh, they speak English and Cantonese here.
on-the-go
Hong Kong is a fast-paced city. As soon as I got a sim card at the nearest 7-Eleven, I noticed people aren’t just milling around. It seemed to me people were walking with purpose. There seemed to be a natural order to how pedestrians walk and I simply found myself following suit as if I was living in Hong Kong all this time. I noticed incoming foot traffic on my left and outgoing foot traffic on my right. The whole thing reminded me of a colony of ants marching and stopping when they meet each other along the path they follow.
The only time you cease walking in Hong Kong is when the traffic lights turn red. I don’t see how you could be lazy and live there. HK is the one place I know that is both a city and a country to me. You walk a lot in Hong Kong to get to where you want to go. That is not to say there isn’t a surplus of taxis, trains, and ferries.
People take ferries back and forth like I take Didi on the Mainland but I spent most of my time taking the MTR (subway). There are various apps you can use to find out which station is nearby, which line you should take to get there, and which exit you must use once the journey is over. Moovit, Metroman Hong Kong and MTR Mobile are just a few.
In Zhongshan, we don’t have any subways so taking the MTR took some getting used to. I mainly relied on Google and Apple maps to guide me. Out of the two, I found Google to be more reliable as it gave the most accurate and precise information.
You can purchase single tickets inside the station but what I found most useful was buying an Octopus card which lets you do pretty much everything in Hong Kong. One can pay their bills, buy food and take the train with it. I paid HKD200 for mine but they retain HKD50 until you deem it necessary to no longer use the card. At that point, you can return it and receive the HKD50 back. Shout out to Taneisha for helping me purchase my card and letting me know you can top up said card at any 7-Eleven Store. Muchas gracias hon!
clean and safe
The second thing I noticed about the city was how clean and safe it is. They say cleanliness is next to Godliness and my spirits are always lifted in a clean environment. From the streets above to the MTRs below, Hong Kong is a clean place to be. For this reason alone, I’d take the train. I never once felt uncomfortable being there.
Once, after leaving the waterfront I was returning to my hotel moments after dusk and I saw children running back and forth across the middle of the street. Swiftly, I looked left and right for surely their parents were not far behind. I waited to see if anyone was going to come rushing to scold the children for being so carefree in the street but no one came. The kids who could not have been more than 6 or 7 were on their own going home.
How amazing is it that you can live in a place where you don’t need to worry alot about the safety of your kids outside your home, where you can trust them to know what it’s like to be so independent at such an age? I don’t have children yet and the very thought of it makes me wonder in amazement. When seeking to cross the street, you can look down and notice signs on the ground telling you which way you need to look before crossing the road.
I also found it helpful to hear sounds at the traffic lights telling you when the light’s on green and when it’s on red, oh so very useful if you are visually impaired. I wish more cities had this feature at their pedestrian crosses.
Read More: Discover The Best 5 Star Hotel in Hong Kong
Hong Kong prices
Hong Kong is tax-free but not because it is tax-free means things are cheap. Far from it, when locals on the Mainland knew I was making the trip to Hong Kong they’d say “Hong Kong, ooou expensive!” with an eyebrow shrug.
I visited during the Chinese Spring Festival before China fully scrapped the quota for daily arrivals. When this was no longer the case, hotel prices skyrocketed to double their prices. A five-star hotel went from under US$100 per night to easily over US$200 per night. Hong Kong is a shopping hub for all the latest designer products from Boss, Piaget, Burberry, Moncler, Celine, Armani, Dolce and Gabbana plus more.
At present, one blueberry muffin at Hong Kong University goes for HK$22 whilst a small latte is HK$38 with the large being sold for HK$46. At the Starbucks in Hong Kong City, I saw a blueberry muffin for HK$2 more its university price, and a small latte for HK$41-this is just above a dollar for what a medium latte at HKU costs.
The Venti in Hong Kong City is priced at HK$49. Breakfast at my favorite Cafe in HK, (Cafe Revol) once cost me HK$190 but I was feeling rather ravenous that morning. However, should you keep your budget in mind on your Hong Kong trip, I dare say you’ll be fine.
Take the subway instead of the taxi if you can for this will save you money unless you’re going with a group of people then I don’t see where it’s an issue for all that is needed is just to split the bill. Let me know if you ever make it to Hong Kong, what were your first impressions of this Special Admin Region? Feel free to drop a comment about it below.
April 3, 2023
Akiellia
Thank you for sharing. This definitely gave me some insighty on what to expect when I decode to visit. What got me was when you heard the English speaker😅😅We have been so accustomed to hearing mandarin that must have been such a moment❤️
Crimson
You’re most welcome Akiellia! The change of pace to English was definitely a surprising shocker when it should not have been. I hope you have a blast when you visit Hong Kong, I honestly can say it’s one of my favorite cities.