I arrived safely in Hong Kong last night after the 14 hour flight. Despite the length it was not too bad; I managed to get a lot of reading done as well as catch up on a recent James Bond movie. The Hong Kong airport was easy to navigate, and despite some minor missteps I met up with a client colleague and we made it to the bus terminal for the ferry. The ferry terminal itself was a fairly drab white building, but was decked out with paper lanterns and large flower displays, apparently for Chinese New Year. Everything from the boat to the hotel and taxi had similar decorations which leant a festive air to our arrival.

I had a mental image of an overloaded boat, livestock and choppy seas, but the boat was a modern catamaran and was not particularly crowded. Lists of rules and regulations on the wall admonished mariners that they could dump their trash overboard as long as they were 25 miles from the mainland, except when they were in the Antarctic, Caribbean or North America. Luckily the 30 minute ride did not deviate into any of those waters and we arrived at the mainland in one piece.

Customs was surprisingly low-key as well. No submachine-toting members of the People’s Liberation Army or patriotic music, and other than asking if this was my first visit to China, no questioning from immigration. A poster of Jackie Chan admonished us to avoid counterfeit goods, and with that, I walked out of the ferry terminal in Shekou into mainland China. I had pictured hustle and bustle and a highly urban environment and was instead greeted with lush greenery swaying in the ocean breeze, and tree-covered mountains rising up just beyond the hotels and skyscrapers. Shekou is where China first dipped its toe into a market economy, setting up a free-trade zone in the city in the 1970’s. Being right across from Hong Kong, Shekou provided access to international capital and markets, and provided a buffer between mainland China and those pesky remnants of the British empire in Hong Kong, like a free press.

Our hotel was right next to the ferry terminal, so check in was easy. We met up with a third person from Denmark and hit the town to grab some dinner. My request for Chinese food (we are in China after all) was panned by the group, and we headed for where else, but an Irish pub. I did have some Chinese beer to wash down bangers and mash, and with that we called it a night. On the walk home I picked up some cash, and was pleased to get a fist full of 100 yuan notes with a benevolently smiling portrait of Chairman Mao on them… Finally some proper propaganda. We did manage to be accosted on the walk home, first by a woman and her 7-8 year old child, who walked up saying “MONEY! MONEY!” while the little boy grabbed each of our arms in turn. A few hundred yards later, a toothless woman avoided the formalities and simply locked onto my arm with a kung fu grip. I squirmed my way out, and was comforted that the scantily clad ladies in the local red light district kept their distance.

Beds in China are deceiving. The one in my hotel room was large and comfortable looking, yet warnings I had heard that Chinese beds are a bit firm were absolutely true. Despite the comfortable appearance, the bed was hard as a rock. Firmness aside, I promptly fell asleep until 4AM, when a barrage of fireworks was launched from a nearby park, apparently an ongoing salutes to the Chinese New Year that was followed up with another volley around 7:30am.

This morning we were off to the office after waiting for our car. We had a quick introduction to driving in China, when our driver went through a red light and then went into what appeared to be oncoming traffic. Apparently the four lane road we were entering had alternating lanes in each direction, so while we were facing three lanes of cars, technically the middle lane should have been going in our direction. A bout of horn honking ensued, and not giving up his ground, our driver eventually prevailed.

The office I’m in is fairly generic, save for the bright red New Year’s decorations. Despite my gentle suggestion, my two colleagues again opted out of actual Chinese food in China, and had Papa John’s pizza ordered. I can’t say I though my first two meals in China would be from an Irish pub and Papa John’s, but I am trying to go with the flow, although I may mutiny if they suggest McDonald’s tomorrow. We have our first bout of meetings in fifteen minutes, so I’ll close for now and update all of you later in the week.

Categories: Travel