The occasional traveller

It is hard to sum them up. Hong Kong is very modern and it is now stagnant compared to the rest of China. Mainland China looks like a giant building site, where a couple of mountains are no obstacles if you want to develop an area. China is still behind in terms of openness of mind and social etiquette: there are still few signs in English (and when there are some, the translation can be hard to understand) and as mentionned in past posts, people spit everywhere, children crap on the pavement and people won’t hesitate to shove you on one side if you are in their way. For a country that is host to the next Olympic Games in about 18 months, there is still a lot of work to do. It is very hard to know what to order to eat (and personnally I was terrified of eating dog or cat by accident), and so you end up eating in your hostel if they have an english menu, missing out on what is on offer on the outside. Selling or eating cat and dog in Hong Kong is prohibited, but in China you can eat anything that has four legs and that’s not a table or a chair: turtles, cat, dog, etc…The sordid bit is when you are asked to chose which one you want. The pollution is also a massive issue. On the other hand it is a country that has a lot to offer in terms of resources, culture and history. The landscapes are incredible. Forms of travel are convenient around the country as long as you are organised and know where to go. Accomodation can be either really bad or really good, with very good staff, usually eager to learn how to pronunciate english. The same goes for food. As long as you know what you want you won’t be disappointed. Being able to speak a bit of local linguo goes a long way, as for any other country. Highlights: Beijing Summer Palace and Great Wall, Xi’an Terracotta Warriors, the Muslim Quarter and La Seine Restaurant, Guangzhou’s Shamian Island and Hong Kong’s Peak views, architecture and diversity.

C’est difficile de resumer ces 2 pays. Hong Kong est tres moderne et son developpement a maintenant ralenti. La Chine est comme un champ de construction gigantesque, ou quelques montages ne representent pas un obstacle au developpement d’une ville. La Chine est encore arrieree en terme d’ouverture d’esprit et de comportement social: toujours tres peu de signes en Anglais (et quand il y en a la traduction laisse a desire) et comme mentionne precedemment, les gens crachent partout, les enfants font leurs besoin dans la rue et les gens vous rentrent dedans si vous etes dans leur chemin. Pour un pays qui est hote aux J.O dans environs 18 mois, il y a encore beaucoup de travail a faire. C’est tres difficle de savoir quoi manger (personnellement j’etais terrifiee de manger du chat ou du chien par accident), et donc par consequent on fini par manger a l’hotel s’ils ont un menu anglais, ce qui nous fait rate ce qu’il a dehors. Vendre ou manger du chien a Hong Kong est interdit, mais en Chine vous pouvez manger tout ce qui a 4 pattes / jambes (a part les tables et les chaises): trtues, chats, chiens. ca devient sordide quand on vous demande de choisir lequel vous voulez pour diner. la pollution est aussi un tres gros probleme. D’un autre cote c’est aussi un pays qui a beaucoup a offrir en termes de ressource, de culture et d’histoire. les paysages sont a couper le souffle. Voyager est assez simple si vous etes organise et si vous savez ce que vous voulez. Les logements sont soit tres mauvais, soit tres bons, avec un bon personnel qui essaie de prononcer les mots anglais le mieux possible. C’est pareil pour la nourriture. Tant que vous savez ce que vous voulez, vous ne serez pas decu. Pouvoir parler la langue est un avantage qui brise la glace. Nos endrois preferes:
Palais d’ete et grande muraille a Beijing, guerriers de Terracotta a Xi’an, le quartier musulman et le restaurant la Seine, a Guangzhou l’ile de Shamian et a Hong Kong, Peak views, l’architecture et la diversite.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 22nd, 2006 at 8:04 pm and is filed under CHINA / CHINE, HONG KONG. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.