Hong Kong day 1

Hong Kong – Day 1

7^th March

Today we arrived early in Hong Kong.  The weather was overcast, windy and cold.  Somebody told us that we were sharing the Monsoon with China – well I think they can keep it to themselves.

We had decided to walk through downtown Hong Kong and we caught the local ferry to Hong Kong Island.  We walked along the efficient elevated walkways, spotting our first shop of the Apple Store, before arriving at the Western Market, where they were selling every fabric imaginable on one floor.  Doreen succumbed to the efficient sales pitch and purchased more materials for dresses and skirts.  (She needs to find a good dressmaker when she gets home).

We then continued into downtown Hong Kong, travelling along the longest travelator in the world, and after a quick lunch we got on the Metro and went to Mong Kok, where we found the Ladies Night Market, which opens from Midday to Midnight.  After buying some craft punches and walking the whole length of the market,  full of cheap Chinese bits and pieces, we returned to the ship, again via the Metro, after seven hours of walking. 

After dinner we watched the spectacular light and laser show on Hong Kong Island from the vantage point of the top deck of the ship.  Afterwards we took a short walk along the front of Kowloon, where Doreen met “some friendly locals”, and it was still windy and cold.  So we soon returned to the warmth of the ship to enjoy the views from our balcony.

Xiamen

Xiamen – 5^th March

Unfortunately today was still overcast and misty with temperatures around 14 degrees.

Our excursion today was Traditions of Xiamen, which we thought was going to be a visit to a Palace and a Temple with a scenic drive along the coast road.  However, it turned out to be a visit to a temple in honour of a doctor that could ‘heal the dead’ and the South Putuo Temple, the home of the Statue of the Laughing Buddha , which is an active Temple with over 200 monks and was built a thousand years ago.

Our first stop was the temple in honour of the healing doctor.  We were faced with a daunting task of climbing 700 odd steps to the statue in his honour.  Doreen declined the challenge, however Geoffrey managed the climb, with many stops on the way.

Our second stop was the South Putuo Temple where we paid homage to the Heavenly King Hall and listened to the chanting of the monks.

All in all not a very exciting excursion and not what we were expecting ( we may discuss with P&O tomorrow !! )

Shanghai

Shanghai – 28^th February – 3^rd March.

We had an eventful flight to Shanghai.   Our plane was found to have, as the pilot put it, a small fuel leak in the wing.  The plane was surrounded by fire engines whilst they investigated the leak and changed a leaky fuel valve, before we took off two hours later.  Needless to say this did not do too much towards Doreen’s nerves and it took all of Geoffrey’s persuasion to stop Doreen getting off the plane.

Day 1

However, we eventually took off and arrived 11 hours later to a very wet, cold and smoggy Shanghai. At about mid-day we booked in to our five star hotel with an interesting en-suite arrangement.

After a quick freshen up we went to the “Soft Spinning Market”- which is a building of three floors full of hundreds of small outlets selling various materials, including cashmere, silk, wool, etc plus accessories, and tailors who would make up any outfit in any material.  Hence Doreen ordered a hand-made dress which would be ready for collection in 24 hours.

Day 2

We were up early and jumped in a cab across town to a Government run silk company, where we learnt how silk was grown and made into thread and Doreen joined in the silk stretching, which was required for making duvets.  We were so impressed that we purchased two silk duvets and covers.

We walked, along with all our purchases, to the Jade Buddha Temple, where we joined thousands of locals all celebrating the first day of the lunar cycle.  Here it was a tradition to purchase food and feed the thousands of Koi fish.

We again jumped into a cab and returned to the hotel for a quick lunch at the hotel before walking to the world famous Bund area, where we had views over the financial centre, including the Oriental Pearl Tower.  On the way back to the hotel we walked through the Old Town Area and found a wholesale Pearl Market, where Doreen forced herself to buy a necklace or two!!  Whilst Doreen was choosing her pearls, Geoffrey was discussing politics with the owners husband and drinking tea.

By now it was night time and we walked back through the illuminated Yu Yuan Gardens Bazaar area to our hotel about five minutes away.

Day 3

Today the sun was shining  so we had an early start and walked to the nearby Yu Yuan Gardens, which was full of bonsai Cherry Blossom plants, very pretty, but very few other interesting plants.  On leaving the garden we again went to the Bazaar area where it seemed that half of the 23 million people living in Shanghai had decided to spend a Sunday afternoon at the Bazaar.  Jet lag seemed to catch up on us, so we returned to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon/evening, before we joined our cruise ship in the morning.