Long Weekend in Hong Kong

Caren and I just returned from a long weekend visiting our friend Ka Lok in Hong Kong. We had a wonderful time. For the budget travellers in China, the route from Shanghai to Hong Kong is a little convoluted. First we flew from Shanghai Hongqiao to Shenzhen, then we took a bus to the the border and walked accross the footbridge. On the other side you connect with the Hong Kong metro system. Unfortunately on both journeys, our China Eastern flights were delayed. The worst was the outbound flight where they kept us sitting on the tarmac for three hours while they "waited for clearance". I will try to avoid flying China Eastern in future!

Day 1 - Kowloon
We met up with Ka Lok at our hotel on the morning of our first day. The Eaton Smart is well presented with good facilities, though the rooms are a little small, and the location is great, between the Yau Ma Tei and Jordan metro stops. Best of all, they have a roof-top pool which is a great place to start or end the day. After a quick swim we set out to explore Kowloon. First off, we needed to buy a new camera, so Ka Lok took us to an electronics market area of Kowloon, where we bought a cheap Pentax waterproof camera. Ka Lok did a great job making sure we got the best price:

After that it we had wonderful Dim Sum at the Dragon King reseaurant. This was my first proper meal in Hong Kong and it was close to a revelation. I think the food in Suzhou and Shanghai is good. But the food in Hong Kong was much better. Especially the Dim Sum. Apparently the Dragon King chef is one of the top five in China, and after tasting his Dim Sum, I believe it!

After some more shopping, we met up with Ka Lok's family for dinner at a Roast Duck resaurant. As a vegetarian I couldn't try the roast duck, but Caren tells me it was delicious. The vegetarian food certainly was too. Another win for the food in Hong Kong.

Day 2 - Hong Kong Island
On our second day we walked to the ferry terminal and took the old Star Ferry accross to Hong Kong Island, where we visited The Peak, a 1000M mountain, covered in forest that towers above the Island city. It was a wonderful trip and along with the great views we saw exoitic birds and wildlife. Unfortunately I lost the SD card with those photos, so you will have to make do with some shots of the island from Kowloon. :-(

After seeing The Peak and having a drink in Lookout Bar, we went to the giant Times Square mall, where I managed to find a bottle of 12 Year Old Taketsuru Pure Malt Whisky from Japan for my little collection. Then it was time to test the waterproof camera in the hotel pool:

After our swim, we met up with Ka Lok's family again at a famous vegetarian resaurant called "Light Vegetarian" just off Nathan Road. I don't have any photos but it was the best vegetarian meal I have ever eaten. I now need to go on a diet to recover from how good the food was in Hong Kong.

Day 3 - Stanley Bay
Something that surprised me about Hong Kong, was just how green and picturesque some of the areas are. While Hong Kong is densely populated, only 30% of the land-mass is built-up. Wherever the buildings peter out there is lush green vegetation, and even a couple of beaches.

It was lunch-time when we arrived in Stanley Bay, so we began with fish and chips at the Boat House, which has a great view over the bay:

After lunch we walked along the Stanley Main Road market street to a pair of little temples.

Apparently in Stanley, there is also a temple containing the skin of the last Tiger to be shot in Hong Kong in 1945, but we didn't get time to go there because we were looking forward to swimming in the sea. The beach at Stanley is small but beautifully kept, with shark nets and floating rafts that you can swim out to:

After another delicious dinner with Ka Lok's family it was time of us to return to the apartment and pack. It has been a great trip thanks to Ka Lok's hospitality and I can't wait to return to Hong Kong. Maybe next time, we will see Macau too! Here's one last shot that I took while we were having a drink at 1881 Heritage, a beautiful bar in an converted colonial building down at the Kowloon Harbor.

Snowboarding in Hebei Province, China

After Beijing, Caren and I arranged a trip to the Duolemeidi ski resort in ChongLi county of Hebei Province. A lot of people asked me what skiing is like in China, so I have provided some details below. I hope that the information is useful if you plan to ski in ChongLi and the usual photos follow.

Transport to/from Beijing: we arranged a shared car from Beijing with our resort contact and the transfer only took two and a half hours. If you can’t get a car, you can catch a train to ZhangJiaKou South followed by a local bus transfer to ChongLi itself, though this will take almost twice as long. From ChongLi it takes about 20 minutes to reach the ski resorts each morning. A 10RMB bus leaves for Duolemeidi at 7:30AM and returns at 5:30PM, or you can catch a taxi any time for 50RMB (note: you will have to negotiate a price). There was also a bus for WanLong, but I do not know the schedule or pricing.

Staying in ChongLi: heading to ChongLi from Beijing, you pass through spectacular mountain ranges, though when we visited, the unusual lack of snow made for a bleak vista. ChongLi itself is far from a picture-perfect resort town, but there are two good hotels, with decent restaurants: the iSnow and the RongChen. The iSnow is traditionally Chinese, offering good quality rooms at a reasonable price. The RongChen is newer, with a spa and karaoke bar, but it is more expensive. The Duolemeidi and WanLong ski resorts are both around 20 minutes from ChongLi. ChongLi is also surrounded by some spectacular hiking trails and the great wall is only a 30 minute taxi ride away. Unfortunately, there appears to be very little nightlife in ChongLi, so don’t expect much in the way of après-ski.

The Duolemeidi Resort: Duolemeidi covers two 2000M peaks and the maximum vertical descent is about 400M. The resort offers a total of seven major runs, each around 1500M long. There is one black run and five red runs, all of which connect to a 500M blue run leading back to the base. There is also a small snow park with a rail and jumps, but no half-pipe. One of the two peaks is served by a high speed chair lift and the other by a button lift. I was very impressed by the grooming and despite the lack of recent snow the slopes remained pristine throughout the day. We visited during peak period for the resort, but it was still not that busy by European standards. The standard of equipment is fairly good; however, beware if you are tall or have big feet, as the rental store tends to run out of large sized equipment during busy periods. While there is no group ski school, the price of private instruction is low enough to make this a feasible alternative. I was pleasantly surprised by the lodge at the base. You can get cheap beers and good value Chinese, Korean or Italian food. The pizza was actually one of the best I have eaten in China. While we didn’t visit WanLong, from what I heard, it is a little larger than Duolemeidi with similar facilities. On the ride back to Beijing, we shared a car with the lodge manager, who told us that the resort will soon add a condo hotel near the slopes and a couple of new runs from the chair-lift.

Recommendations: the Heibei slopes are similar to the Scandinavian resorts I have visited like Geilo, Hemsedal and Are, being small, but offering quiet, well groomed slopes and good facilities. Given the small size of the resorts, I would suggest spending a couple of days at each. If you have time, you could also spend a day hiking the trails around ChongLi and another day visiting the Great Wall. It is possible to book everything yourself, but if you don’t speak Chinese, I would recommend booking through an agent of the resort. Vivian from Duolemeidi speaks excellent English and arranged everything for us including transport, hotel, ski hire and lessons. You can contact her at (duolemeidi@gmail.com). I also found this site really helpful in planning our trip (http://www.chinaskitours.com/). The official Duolemeidi and Wanlong sites can be found here (http://www.duolemeidiski.com) and here (http://www.wlski.com/). Some photos of the trip follow:

Walking Along the Frozen River in ChongLi

Caren Takes her First Lesson

I Cruise Down a Blue Run

A Beautiful Day on the Slopes

 Looking From One Peak to the Other

Ready for the Big Runs - Caren About to Try her First Red!

View from the Beginner Slope

Bar Blanc Near the Summit

All in all, we had a great time at Duolemeidi. Its not the alps, but I would highly recommend it for a short ski or snowboard trip. Hopefully I will get to try China's other big ski areas WanLong and Yabuli before I leave.

Spring Festival in Beijing

On the first day of the year of the Rabbit, Caren and I packed our bags for a trip to Northern China. First was a city break in Beijing, then skiing at Duolemedi in Hebei province. During Spring Festival, we found it really hard to get a taxi in the Higher Education town, so we loaded two people, a big suitcase, snowboard bag and a couple of backpacks onto the electric scooter and headed to the high speed train station at Yuan Qu.

The Electric Scooter Loaded with Luggage

From Yuan Qu, we caught the train to Shanghai and from there a flight to Beijing. We arrived early in the evening and headed straight out for dinner and drinks..Chinese New Year celebrations don't stop on New Year's day (as I write this four days later, I can sill here fireworks going off), and Beijing was alive wih fireworks.

A Well-Stocked Firework Stall in Beijing

Afer a great Indian meal at Ganges, we headed down to Glen Bar for some Japanese and Scotch Single-malt whiskies. I would highly recommend both.

Good Whisky at Glen Bar

The following day, we walked from our hotel to Tianenmen Square, where Caren tried the legendary Peking Duck (now Beijing Duck). Afer a hearty meal, we toured Tiananmen:

The Imposing South Gate

Revolutionary Statues

South of Tiananmen, Portrait of Mao

Tiananmen is an imposing public space, in the middle of which is Mao's mausoleum, where it is possible to see the preserved body of the man himself. Unfortunately it was closed for spring festival. Leaving Tiananmen to the north, you walk straight into the impressive Forbidden City:

Entering the Forbidden City

The First Square

Heading North through the City

Royal Chambers

Pagoda on a Hill to the North of the Forbidden City

The following day we intended to visit the great wall, but unfortunately, we couldn't get a train ticket, so instead we visited the excellent Beijing art district, where we bought ourselves an orginal oil painting. Here are some of the more outlandsih highlights:

Want a Sports Car? Build your Own out of Bricks!

Angry Naked Westerner!

A Drunken Rabbit.

After two and a half hectic days we left Beijing for northern Hebei province... stay tuned for photos of our ski trip.

Escaping Winter on Sanya Bay

Caren and I decided to escape the harsh winter of Jiangsu province and head to Sanya Bay in Hainan province. Hainan is a tropical island just accross the South China Sea from Vietnam. This trip, we stayed in the Howard Johnson Resort, which was really nice. Some photos follow:

 The Pool Area

The Lobby Bar

Looking Towards the Sea from Our Balcony

We spent most of our four days relaxing at the resort, swimming in the pool or soaking in the hot tub or fish-nibble spa where lots of little fish eat any dead skin you may have:

 

Little Fish Nibble my Feeet in the Spa

Caren Warms Up on a Sunbed After Swimming

When we arrived in Sanya, the weather was a little cool - perhaps 18 degrees, but it soon warmed up and hovered around 25 for the rest of our stay. As well as relaxing in the hotel, we would take long walks along the beach. Heading west you pass picturesque and quiet beaches, eventually ending up at the Narada resort. Heading west, the beach becomes less picturesque, though you eventually reach Sanya bay's 'walking street', which is good for shopping.

Walking East Towards the Narada

I tackle a Refreshing Coconut at the Narada

One of Hainan's Many Small Islands

Looking West Towards Sanya City

Caren Cools her Heels in the Surf

There are three good restauraunts at the HoJo Resort: Chinese, Korean (my favorite) and Western. So, we mostly ate there during our stay. On the last night though we fancied something different, so we took a cab to the Paulaner Brewhouse at the Narada for German food and good beer. It was a great end to a great trip.

Our Little Banquet at the Paulaner Brewhouse, Sanya Bay

Christmas 2010 in the UK and Ireland

I just returned from a nice Chirstmas break in the UK and Ireland. Luckily I arrived  home just before the big freeeze, with an on-time flight to Heathrow and an on-time train to Wigan, but the snow fell that night and I woke up to deep snow the next day:

A White Christmas in Merseyside

After a couple of days at my parents house in Crank, I flew to Ireland to meet Caren for her PhD viva. Caren's incoming flight was diverted due to snow, but thankfully she still managed to get to Galway on time.

Nervously Waiting for the Viva Exam to Begin

After a lightening quick viva (1 hour, 45 minutes), Dr. Caren Crowley emerged triumphant (subject to the usual minor corrections of course).

Success! Champaign with the Examiners

After flying back to England I met up with Kev and Kiel, friends of mine from Lancaster University in Liverpool for a night on the town.

A Flaming Long Island Iced Tea

Heading Home on the Train after a Big Night Out

The following day, I collected Caren from Manchester Airport. That night we stayed at the historic Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, before heading down to Nottingham to spend the New Year at David and Zoe's house. We had a beautiful room in the Adelphi with a four poster bed, as you can see below:

A Delux Room in the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool