Day 18 - Yangshou to Hong Kong

Our last day in mainland China! We were picked up by our guide and driver, and along with our many souvenirs and presents (we must buy a case in Hong Kong!), we were dropped off at Guilin station. After passing through security and opening the cases for Catherine’s scissors (again!) we grabbed a coffee before boarding the Maglev train to Hong Kong.

We had a good window seat and snacks on the train, so the journey passed quickly catching up with programmes on our iPads, and we were looking forward to seeing Hong Kong from the train. However 5 miles outside we entered a tunnel and didn’t emerge until we were in Hong Kong Kowloon West station!

We were surprised to have to go through passport control - twice in fact for some reason - and customs, however our guide and driver were waiting, and after a brief drive we were checking into the very swanky Intercontinental Grand Stanford hotel. We even got upgraded to a room with a fabulous view of the harbour!

After a quick freshen up, we ventured out - it was just the right time as the light was fading and we were treated to a wonderful display from the skyscrapers and boats as we walked along the Kowloon waterfront, looking across to Hong Kong Island. The waterfront was very busy, with much more of a western vibe than Shanghai. At times we had to pinch ourselves that we had made it here - the scale of the harbour was like nothing we had ever seen before.

We walked along as far as the Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal, then grabbed something to eat at an open air restaurant, before ambling back along the front and retiring for the night.Read more