60. HONG KONG & MACAU

My China visa was about to expire, and on the last day, I had to leave, so I decided to take a train from Guangzhou via Shenzhen to Hong Kong. The iconic city of Hong Kong was just a 50-minute speed train ride away, and the immigration process took just a few minutes.

Hong Kong is a city with multiple faces: Imagine a mainly Cantonese population, visible British influence from the past, migrants from all over the world bringing their own culture & food, a gigantic skyline with hundreds of high buildings all around the city, rocky islands all around and subtropical climate. Add gigantic shopping malls, narrow alleys with flashing colorful signs and super busy people rushing from their office jobs to eat Siu Mei for lunch. All of that together was Hong Kong for me.

Space is very limited in HK and some of the restaurants, shops and apartments are so tiny that you can barely move there. Some restaurant owners remind you to leave as soon as you finish your meal to make space for the next customer; generally, life happens very fast. The public transportation system is excellent and cheap. The city has the world's highest use of public transport, with around 92 percent of the population using it.

The first thing I realized after leaving Mainland China and stepping into HK was the attitude of the people. People let you exit the metro before entering; there is much less shouting around everywhere, and their fashion sense is very different too. Some aspects of Hong Kong reminded me a lot about Malaysia: Milk tea, the vibe of some districts and some British aspects.

I spent only three days in Hong Kong, but from the second I arrived, it rained for 72 hours. My photos show the city's cloudy and rainy atmosphere. I stayed with Alex, a really cool guy who gave me a lot of insights into the history and culture of Hong Kong.

From Hong Kong, I took a one-hour ferry to Macau. Macau is internationally well known for two things: its Portuguese history and the endless number of Casinos, which, together with Las Vegas in the US, make it the biggest gambling destination in the world. Mainland China and Hong Kong had very tight gambling limits, but Macau worked like the Shangri-La for Casino Players all around Asia. Macau grew a lot, it got richer and richer and one 5-star hotel & Casino after another opened to satisfy the huge demand of gambling tourists. Today, Macau is the only part of China where casinos are legal under the auspices of the "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement.

I don't like gambling at all, and in my opinion, it's stupid to waste your money on bullshit like that and risk psychological addictions but walking around the hotels and checking some Casinos from inside was, of course, very interesting.

But Macau is not only about gambling. Many tourists come for the charming colonial architecture, and the Largo do Senado makes you feel like you're standing in the middle of Lisbon (you just have to ignore the people around you and all the Chinese kitsch). Portuguese language, food, and architecture are all over the place, but only a very small minority still speak Portuguese.

I found Macau quite a cool place to explore for two days. It is worth coming over for two days if you are in Hong Kong or the Guangdong province of Mainland China. The Macau Pensinsula is easily explored by foot and full of interesting things to discover. It's quite hilly, and many of the rocky stairs and streets remind me of the ones in Lisbon. I also enjoyed some good Portuguese egg tarts (Pasteis de nata) and Caldo Verde.

3 Highlights:

- West Kowloon Art Park with stunning views of Hong Kong and no crowds

- UNESCO Historic Centre of Macau

- Walks among the gigantic skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island