Hong Kong

Trip Start Jul 08, 2008

117

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of China Hong Kong, China
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I returned to HK with one mission, to secure my visa for China. It was meant to be the easiest place to achieve a visa and I was hoping to get a three month visa there. I was only given a one month visa which meant that I would have to renew as I went along. Not ideal but it meant I had a visa and was off to China.

I returned to the infamous Chung King Mansions whilst waiting for my visa. That place really is unique. Chung King Mansions comprises of five high rise blocks joined together on the first three floors. The first two floors proximately comprise of small shops selling fake phones and mobiles or serve India food that is cooked somewhere in the flats above. The remaining floors either serve as living quarters or very cramped hostels. This time I was staying on the third floor so I would go out on to the roof of third floor to smoke and it took me a while to work out when I was on the roof that it actually was not raining. Hundreds of AC’s would drip down from above giving the impression that it was raining.

Robin was sharing my dorm and was doing a project on Chung King Mansions. If I remember the numbers correctly approximately 4,500 live in the place, 10,000 people pass though the buildings every day and around 130 different ethnicities live within the place. The place is mainly full of immigrants from India, Pakistan and Africa and it’s a strange, but enjoyable, place to hang out. Robin lived in China and was very patient and generous helping my hone some of my Chinese phrases making me feel slightly more confident about speaking Chinese.

Anyway with my visa in my hand it was time to catch a train and head mainland China.

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