Mom and Jo's visit to China 2017/2018

It has really been a long time.  I am trying to catch up on my blogs.  To be honest, I have been lazy and very busy at the same time. A lot has happened in a year as you will see as you read my blogs.  So, here we go ...

As I said in the previous post, we left Hong Kong  December 2017 and Stephen and flew to Beijing to meet my mum and twin sister.  Their first time in China.  It was a quick visit to three different cities.  2 days in Beijing, 2 days in Shenzhen and then 2 days in Hong Kong (however Mom and Jo stayed 2 extra days before flying back home to the UK and South Africa).  

We arrived first, checked into the hotel and then returned to the airport to collect them when their plane came in.  The hotel in Beijing was fantastic.

Meeting Mom and Jo at the airport.

At the hotel.

 

You cannot come to Beijing without visiting the Great Wall of China.  And that is just what we did.  It takes about one and a half hours to get there by car.  It was a freezing cold day.  But walking uphill to the cable cars to take us to the wall, it gets warm when you have many layers on.

It was so cold that even the waterfall on the way was frozen.

Walking up to the entrance to take the cable car to the Wall.

Eventually at the top where we get the cable cars.

What a view!  The ride in the cable car.

We made it.  One to mark off the bucket list.

We enjoyed the views from the Great Wall of China.

When we were down we had a little photo shoot.  

   

 

We also did a bit of a walkabout in Beijing.  Walking around the hutongs.



The staff at the hotel always ready for a photo.

I love this part of Beijing.  The old and the new joining together.  And of course, the little stores and side stalls that sell so many curios.

Jo's attire can tell you something about the temperature we were experiencing.

While in Beijing, we had to take Mom and Jo to one of the best restaurants in Beijing.  It is in a mall at the top of Wangfujing Pedestrian Street.  It is called "The Grandma's".  We ordered so much food.  But enjoyed every dish.  

Jo and Mom showing off their chopstick skills.

We also visited the Madame Tussauds.  We had fun walking through.  I was surprised to see a lot of western figures at Beijing's Madame Tussauds as the one in Hong Kong had more Asain famous figures.

Mom treated us to Peking Duck at the hotel on the last night.

It was then time to leave Beijing.  So off to the airport.  I know that Beijing's airport is very strict.  So we had a few problems going through customs.  Mom's bag was nearly emptied by customs trying to find something in her bag.  Which they did not find!  And Joanne had her bag searched too.  They found her power bank and took her aside.  I was busy with Mom, so Jo had to go by herself.  They said her power bank was too big.  She could either go back out and post it back to South Africa, or they confiscate it.  And so it was confiscated.  We were eventually through and on our way to Shenzhen.

Whilst in Shenzhen, we stayed at our apartment.

Shenzhen's weather was so much warmer. at least 10 degrees warmer.

All the restaurants were full for New Years so we ate at the restaurant below our apartment.  It is not a bad restaurant.  The food we ordered was delicious.  They are sometimes so busy that there is a queue waiting outside for service.  Joanne ordered the first dish, which translated at chicken casserole, but instead, it was Sichuan pepper chicken dish.  Extremely hot.  These types of peppers tend to numb your mouth and make your tastebuds go haywire.

 

 

  

We also visited the five-story market in Louhu.  Well, there it was bargaining and shopping.  We have a friend there called Michael.  If we are not in the mood to bargain, we give him a call beforehand.  We send pictures of what we are looking for.  When we get there he has the shops already sorted and just takes us around to those.  But we still have to bargain.  He speaks English and even greets us in Zulu.  

At the Indoor market, there is a lovely restaurant called TASTE.  Serves western food so that where we had lunch that day.

 

We also had two options for theme parks.  It was either go to Window of the World or go through to Splendid China.  Mom wanted to go to Splendid China as there were miniatures of the Country's landmarks there.  The window of the World has the landmarks of different countries around the world.  It definitely was a good choice.

At the entrance.

 

It was so colourful and represents China accurately.  A lot of different ethnic groups are also represented in this theme park.

 

A Tibetian Temple

House built into the mountains.

There was a lot of walking as the theme park is very big.  I think we only walked half of the park.

This was part of the Forbidden City model.

Another famous landmark in China is the Terracotta Warriors in X'ian.

 

This Pagoda reminds me of the famous one in Hangzhou, at the West Lake.

A mini Great Wall of China.

It was a short stay in Shenzhen.  Once our time was finished there we went through to Hong Kong via Ferry.  It was so much easier than using the metro.  The customs is also not as busy as the customs at the metro.

 

When in Hong Kong we visited two Markets.  One is called the Electronic Market and the other the Women's Market.

The Electronic Market is only a market for anything that is electronic.  There are a lot of stalls selling their wares and its a lot of twists and turns.  Make sure you know where you have entered as it can be hard finding your way out again.  At the woman's market, you can find everything else.  It is not a market just for woman.  This market closes off roads, at least four blocks, at a certain time and becomes a pedestrian street.  Both markets need lots of bargaining.

Mom buying her Laptop/tablet at the Electronic Market and then the rest are of the Women's Market.  Jo got her bargaining on and did very well.

We also visited the Soho.  This is an escalator that goes on for 800m with an elevation of 134 meters. Now the escalator runs downhill in the mornings and then uphill the rest of the day.  We went in the evening.  The only thing is that once you are way up, you have to walk downstairs to get back to the bottom.  

  

We found this restaurant to have supper.  It was small and quaint.  But served the most awesome western food.

We also went to the Victoria Peak or the Peak which is the western side of Hong Kong Island.  This is the highest hill in Hong Kong. With an elevation of 553m.  We took a taxi up the hill and then we took the tram down (scary stuff).  When going up or down it feels like you at a 75-degree angle.

This is the inside of the Peak Tram.

At the Peak, there is a shopping mall.  In the shopping mall, you have a viewing platform.  There is also a small Madame Tussauds and a small indoor market.

The views of Hong Kong are fantastic if it is a clear day.

Mom was ill from this day, the day we left.  I had to be back at work and Mom and Jo stayed another 2 days.  They said they stayed indoors for those days and got themselves ready for the long flight home.  It was lovely having them out visiting us.  

Please keep reading and I will keep writing.