Hong Kong to Beijing

The overland adventures began on Saturday with the train to Beijing...

After a silly all-nighter on Thursday my last couple of days in Hong Kong were slow and I was hoping to catch up on some sleep on the train, but wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I had feared a train full of people occupying every available space; a train in which I would not be able to stand up lest I should lose my seat, where the floor would be covered in spittle and the iron bunks would fold out from the wall with a creak or two giving no confidence in their supportive abilities. As ever, I was entirely wrong. It was a through train so there was no-one standing in the aisle eyeing up my seat, the hocking and spitting was restricted to the toilets and the bunks were better than the ones in the hostel in Hong Kong. Although we did see a few that would pass for the Tube in rush hour, like this one with people climbing out the windows.

The whole experience was thoroughly civilised. Air stewardesses (or whatever the train equivalent is called) kept us in line, barking orders at us in Mandarin (English has all but disappeared), pointing out the sights, serving up some rank looking rice and gristle for purchase. They even turned out the lights at bed time and came in to wake us up in the morning - possibly slightly unnecessary.

Outside we left behind the skyscrapers of Hong Kong and headed into the land of the identikit tenement block. From the sunshine, through the snow...

and thankfully out the other side (Beijing is cold but dry at the moment). Two words to describe the view - flat and grey.

24 hours later and I stepped off in Beijing - awesome.

alo missee copee watchee??

No I don't want a watch or a fake gucci bag or a chess board or any other item of clutter that will add to my already excessive 17kilos of luggage. Wandering the markets and malls of Hong Kong without the ability to purchase (for fear of never making it up any hills ever, let alone anything bigger than a hill) is a bizarre but vaguely liberating experience. There is no doubt that this city is all about consumption - clothes, bags, shoes (mmm new shoes), cameras, computers, you name it. And its all very cheap which makes it even harder to resist, but resisting I am.

Having managed to get a visa for CHina before I even left the airport (main purpose of this little detour) Ive been enjoying my unemployed status, reading, walking, seeing the sights, people watching, going to museums and galleries and honing my people dodging skills....the list goes on. My fear of not being able to cope with so many people after the space of New Zeealand were largely unfounded (once a Londoner...). It is great to be in a big city again, and one with a functioning public transport system although I could do without the pollution - the air is rank with fumes which create an atmospheric haze (aka smog) across the city.

Ive also been to Macau, the old Portuguese trading port just across the water. Hong Kong doesnät feel particularly British to me (if you ignore the presence of English and double decker buses), but Macau feels very European at least in the old part of town. The streets are tiny and there are almost as many igrejas as there are mopeds. The new part of town is basically one big casino now (no I wonät be returning early having blown all my hard earned cash...).

The olympics are everywhere over here, advertised by some latern pandas doing every sport imaginable. Said pandas are to be found at every major attraction (will add some photos when I have my technical issues resolved). The government is clearly going all out on this one. I read in the paper the other day that they are currently looking for 18-24 year old women to hand out medals at the games. Not just any old women, no...these women must have equally proportioned faces (equal distance from forehead to nose, length of nose and nose to chin. eyes three tenths the length of their face etc etc) and their body must not be an abnormal shape (it didnät say what constituted an abnormal shape...) comedy - think they'd let me try out?

Anyway times up. Will post photos soon.

PS Keyboards are Qwerty, some have characters as well, but having some trouble locating punctuation as you may have noticed!

Kit list

Well needless to say I have packed light...there will be no swanky restaurants (not even moderately swanky ones).

The abridged version:

I have the lightest tent I could find (featured above it is TINY), a sheet soaked in some hideous poison which apparently will stop me being eaten alive by bed bugs should I happen to end up in any less than salubrious guesthouses en route. Also coming with me is what looks like half a pharmacy to protect against all kinds of ailments (and that's in addition to the 20 odd jabs I had).

I will be wearing an assortment of lycra and merino (yes I will be looking truly delightful...). I have a pair of hideous sandals which are super practical but not very pretty - clearly an incentive to stay on the bike as much as possible if only so I can wear my bike shoes instead. A down jacket to help me transition from the New Zealand summer to the Chinese winter.

A spanner, I resisted buying this for sometime because they're heavy (yes even the small ones). I also thought it was probably something I could borrow, but I was convinced by someone a little more sensible than me (thanks Sean) that self-sufficiency is a bonus particularly when there are all manner of communication issues. An assortment of other bike tools which you'll be pleased to hear I do actually know how to use. Spare spokes, tyre, tubes etc etc.

A couple of books, I'm assuming that I will have read some before I get on the velo from Beijing, only one will be boarding the bicycle with me. A picture communication book complete with a picture of an alien - quite what this is for is beyond me (feel free to post any comedy suggestions). My best guess is that its for entertainment value - I have no idea what I will be presented with/pointed to when I approach an unsuspecting observer with that picture, but I fully intend to find out one day when I'm in need of a laugh.

Plus all the other usual things including an iPod charged with music capable of motivating me up the biggest of hills (or mountains)...I hope. A toothbrush.

Of course I do also have a bike which is meeting me in Beijing.

The complete list:

Camping:

Terra Nova Laser Competition tent

Primus Omnifuel stove

Fuel bottle

Pan

Penknife

Cutlery

Collapsible bowl aka sink

Water filter

Water treatment stuff

Water bladder thing

Sleeping bag

Self-inflating sleeping mat (3/4 length - I may regret this space saving measure when I get cold feet...)

Bike:

Avanti ridge rider bike

Spare spokes

Spare Schwalbe Marathon XR tyre

Spare tubes

Pump

Puncture repair kit

Bike tool

Chain whip

Cassette remover

Pliers

Spanner

Spare gear cable

Lube

Chain links

Water bottles

Lock

Lights

Ortlieb panniers and barbag

Helmet

Clothes:

Bike shorts

Bike leggings

Merino tops

Bike shoes

Sandals

Hat

Gloves

Down jacket

Waterproofs

Travel towel

Toiletries

Medical kit

Camera & film

iPod

Notebook

Wordless travel book

Reading book

An assortment of credit cards as well as travellers cheques and some cash

Passport

Maps that will hopefully get me as far as Europe, where I will pick up some more, or failing that just follow my nose after all it can't be that far...