Our time in Hong Kong was lots of fun and a great introduction for the girls to China. But nothing prepared us for the mainland!
We belong to a Facebook group of travellers that share tips with each other and we learned that it was possible to get our Chinese visas in Hong Kong within a business day. Oliver dropped off our pictures and paperwork early one morning at Forever Bright, and we were able to pick them up by the afternoon. We purchased a group visa since there were 4 of us, which was a lot cheaper than buying them individually.
To get to the mainland, we had to take the train to the border crossing. It looks like a gigantic airport – but they don’t have the same rules…for example, we were able to bring anything across. The only limits they have are on baby formula powder! We waited patiently at immigration as it took time for a supervisor to approve our group visas (not the norm). Lucky for us – we made it – and our adventure could continue!
Back at the beginning of our trip, a wonderful family from Guangzhou, China reached out to us through Couchsurfing and offered to host us at their home. We weren’t sure we would be able to work it out…but knowing the great experiences we have had with CS – we were determined to make it happen!
Our hosts “Amy” and “Dave” (English names) met us on their side and we drove in their Jeep Commander to their lovely apartment. Amy runs a car paint export business and deals mainly with English speaking countries such as South Africa, North America and Dubai. Dave is a project manager for a construction and restoration company. The two of them are able to work from their home and enjoy spending time with their 14 year old son “William” when he’s home on the weekend from boarding school.
Amy and Dave were great and helped us really see their city and get to know the Chinese culture. That first evening, we went to a local restaurant where we tried a variety of authentic dishes. One of the first things we learned is that in most Chinese restaurants, the trend is to unwrap the plastic from the dishes and wash them with either hot tea or boiling water. This ritual guarantees the dishes and chopsticks are clean.
We then enjoyed duck, chicken, meatball soup, beef, noodles and some delicious veggies. We’ve eaten Chinese before in Toronto – but it’s the Western version – so it was fun to learn about and try the “real thing”. I must say, I think Amy and Dave were impressed with our ability to use chopsticks…we passed our first test!
After dinner, we went a lovely evening cruise through the Pearl river. We were very surprised by how modern everything looked. Our stereotype of China is that it is very much a traditional country and only Hong Kong was modern….boy have we been proven wrong!
The following day we did some amazing touring that Amy helped us to organize, (check for Mik and Zoe’s posts in the next couple of days). We learned how to use their fabulous Metro and make our way around the large city of 6 million.
When we returned in the evening, Dave and Amy had made us a wonderful home cooked meal of traditional corn soup, chicken, potatoes and veggies – it was delicious!
We also had a chance to meet with their son William and their friends Lilly, Mr. Joe, and their son Tom. We chatted all evening about China and learned so many things. For example, did you know that if a couple comes from a “one child family”, they are now allowed to have 2 children? Also, the government has quite an extensive firewall and blocks all Google products, (gmail and youtube) along with Facebook, Twitter and other social media apps. To get around these blocks, we found out that we had to download a VPN onto our computers – otherwise we were out of luck! This took us a few days to figure out, and caused a lot of anxiety….as we are totally addicted to our tech to do our trip. But eventually, we found out Yahoo is acceptable and created new email accounts to use while here. It has been very interesting experience indeed!
Amy was also very kind to show Mik and Zoe an ancient Chinese instrument called a guqin she herself is learning to play. It was interesting to see the Chinese sheet music.
We look forward to our mainland adventures and will keep you posted as best we can! We can’t thank Amy and David enough for their kindness and hospitality – another Couchsurfing success!
Comments
8 responses to “We Made it to the Mainland!”
With their businesses being in western countries, I assume they speak a decent English. Also judging by the smiles, communication was good? How does sleeping accommodation work in these homes? I thought that generally Eastern homes were smaller (sq. ft) than western.
Other than that, what an interesting way to learn about how mainland China has changed in the last 20 years! When we were there in ’86 it was not a modern city at all!
Hi Herta,
Interesting comments…Amy could speak English very well, while Dave could understand but is still working on his oral. They were super with trying to help us navigate to the places we wanted to go and wrote directions out in English and Chinese so we could show people where we wanted to go if they couldn’t speak English…it was a great help!
As for their home – it was a 3 bedroom condo. Their son William stays at a boarding school during the week (comes home on weekends) so we used his room, while the girls stayed in the spare room. When William was there, he stayed on the couch. It all worked!
As for being modern – all of our stereotypes have been shattered….we really had no idea how modern Chinese mainland is…..our eyes have been opened!
Cheers,
Kat:)
Hi guys
Wow, your amazing adventure is so interesting to read, I don’t get much time to leave comments, but try to read your blogs when I can.
Photos are amazing and it is so interesting to hear about life in China, I look forward to reading the girls blogs.
PS. Eleanor had her kid a few days after I last emailed you, two girls now; Kirsty (after my sister because born on her birthday) and April.
x Kim
Hi Kim,
So nice to hear from you…we are all excited to hear about Eleanor’s new baby! We hope the new moms and kids are doing well!
Cheers,
Kat:)
Hello, my name is Sharon and I used to work with your aunt Mary Papoulkas. I have been reading about your amazing adventures through Sharon Faulhaber.
What an incredible journey! Your work with the school children in Cambodia melted my heart. Great job! Continued success and good fun with a lifetime of memories. Can,t wait for next story, Sincerely, Sharon Howting
Hi Sharon,
THanks for your kind comments – I’m glad you have enjoyed reading about our journey….it has been an incredible year for all of us!
Cambodia, and the children at SHAC, certainly made a big impact on all of our lives:)
Cheers,
Kat:)
Hi Kat,
It was great to meet Amy and Dave, their son, William and their friends!!! I loved all the photos and the wonderful commentary. I love the how everything in the city is lit up at night!
The TV tower looks beautiful!!!! Love, Mom
HI Baba,
The city at night is awesome….the night cruise was certainly something to see!
Cheers,
Kat:)