Traveling to Hong Kong

[Guest rttocs77]

Hey, I wasn't sure where to post this, but I was thinking that here is my best bet. So anyways...


My mother and I will be traveling to Hong Kong (and possibly Japan also) during my spring break. We are going for some good mother-son bonding..heh. I was wondering if one can easily travel into China from Hong Kong. Will we need to get our Visas stamped again if we do go into China? I was thinking we wouln't considering Hong Kong is now part of China. Will we need any special documents if we need any to go into China?

Has anyone else been to Hong Kong? Is there anything that is a 'must see'/'must do'? We won't be there for very long though, my break is only a week.



A note to Dagger...We're flying from JFK to Seoul, South Korea for a 2 hour layover ;)

[Guest lavalamp]

Very exciting. I wish I were in your shoes.

I've never been to Hong Kong before, so I can't offer advice in the way of what to do or whatever, but I can say...

Buy prerelease Japanese merchandise! Buy bootlegs of popular software and enjoy the fact that you can get a massive amount of bang for your buck. Have a great time.

[Angelus_Necare]

I can't say if there's anything good to do in hong kong, but If you're in Japan visit some of their temples, I hear they're beautifull.

Other than that, if you don't know how to use chopsticks, bring a fork, it could save your life.

;)

Have fun on your trip!

[Sir Kyle]

Hong Kong is a very large and albeit very active city. I'm sure there are things there to do that you could find to do in any major city around the world, with a little Chinese flavor thrown in for good measure. Hong Kong, just like Tokyo and other cities in the east, is a wonderful blend of East and West culture mixed together to make a brilliant city with tons of stuff to do. I sugest discoverhongkong.com/eng if you want to know about the city at it's finest.

As for Japan, if you guys do choose to visit it, make sure you get the most out of it as you can. There are lots of things to do in Japan, but a lot of really fun stuff happens in Tokyo, one of the biggest cities in the entire world. Tokyo, like Hong Kong, is a blaze of lights and pop culture with a mix of eastern civilization thrown in to make quite a wonderful city indeed. Make sure you visit downtown Tokyo with all the masses of people there, it'll blow you're mind! Also, make sure to take note of Japanese culture and the norms of what they do over there, because though it's kind of like our society it's also VERY different. Note the different styles of houses, rooms, streets, hotels, phones. Learn how the people interact and find out just how different our neighbors across the Pacific really are from us. I guarantee you, it'll be something you'll remember for a long time. Also, if you can, check out the Japanese countryside while you are around. There are many large temples and houses in those areas that show off the magnificent Japanese architectural style that is quite unique to the area. And of course, Mt. Fuji (Fuji san for all you Japanese students and speakers!) is the crowing jewel of the islands and is quite a site to see indeed.

I somewhat envy you and your opportunity to go see such a beautiful country, but I wish you and your mother the best of vacations. And yeah, Hong Kong became a Chinese possesion not too long ago when the British contract on the city ran out and they had promised to return it to China. Fun Fact!

[Swordsaint]

China. The very beating heart of the fireworks production. BUY ASSLOADS OF FIREWORKS! their probably cheaper their, than in the U.S. with import and exporting and all that stuff.
I'd say try to check out the bamboo forests, those are supposed to be pretty cool.

In Japan, like Angelus_necare said, check out the temples, they're very beautiful. Crime is low (except rape and drunkeness) in Tokyo, and It's the very beating heart of anime production! I think it's safe to say that just about everyone here on OB would be trying hard to buy DvD's of their Fav anime with english translations. :D

Try not to forget to enjoy yourself though! Wish I were you! he y maybe you could smuggle me in your bagage! Hey!? where are you going? Wait!...

[terra]

I've been to Hong Kong; actually, I lived there for two years when I was much younger (holy crap, that was ten years ago now. I am old) and just went back over Christmas. I love that city. It is awesome. The culture and the atmosphere are just very unique, and it's a wonderful place to visit.

As for your questions, as far as I know you don't have to get your visa stamped again to go into China. From what I hear, it's kind of annoying to get there if you're going to be on the island, which is generally what's considered "Hong Kong proper," if you will. Though nobody calls it that. The part of Hong Kong that is the mainland is called the New Territories, and I'd guess you usually go into China from there, and it's kind of far from Hong Kong Island, which is what I would traditionally think of as Hong Kong. It would take at least half an hour to get to the New Territories from Hong Kong, and I'm not sure how much longer to get to China. But of course, it can be done.
I don't know enough about it to tell you how easy or hard it would be, let alone if you need any special documents, though -- sorry.

Anyway, as for must-do or must-see things in Hong Kong ... There's this one very tourist-y place known as The Peak, which both refers to an area of the city and this actual, like, building. I don't like going there, but my family always ends up going because there's a really great view (hence the name, I suppose) and some good stores.

Probably one of my favorite Hong Kong things (and things in general) is the shopping; Hong Kong shopping is awesome. I don't know if you'd be interested in that or anything, but things are cheap and in typical Asian size. And I'm typical Asian size, so it makes me feel normal at last compared to American stores :p.

What else ... I don't know how easily you'd be able to get access, but going boating in Hong Kong is also great. (I have extended family who lives there, and they have boats, so they take us out, but it might be a little less practical for visitors.) Stuff like fishing and wakeboarding are fun. Wakeboarding in particular has gotten really big in Hong Kong recently.

Yeah, I don't know. You'll have a good time. :)

[Guest rttocs77]

Thanks so much for your replies everyone, especially Terra for the good tid bits. I think we're just going to go to Hong Kong considering I only have a week of vacation. I think the place would be perfect because it's not [i]that[/i] large and I'm sure we could see all the sites in 5-6 days.

I'll be sure to post pictures afterwards.

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]Wow. I hope you have a good time on your trip! My mom lived in Hong Kong for a year, many years ago, in the late 70s. She said it was a nice city. I'm sure it's changed a lot, and many things have been rebuilt, too, but I'm also sure it's still a great place to visit.

I don't know if a lot of people speak English there (I will assume they do), but remember that Cantonese is a lot different than Mandarin. Cantonese speakers have a hard time communicating with Mandarin speakers because the dialect is quite different. If you do speak Cantonese, be sure to know [b]exactly[/b] what you're saying and the [b]tone[/b] you're supposed to say it in, or else you'll be asking for a prostitue instead of a chicken. I'm serious.


But yeah, I do hope you have a really really good trip!! ^^;[/color]

[Guest rttocs77]

I speak English and maybe a little French (French III at school) I suppose that many people will speak English considering that it was a British colony/protectorate? for 99 years.