"Amazing Hong Kong" Hong Kong by angiebabe

One week conference with Nurses Christian Fellowship International - nurses from all over the world came - an amazing experience - included a visit to a psychiatric hospital and a day trip of sight seeing

5 weeks with a missions organisation with people from around the world and Hong Kong - travelling around Hong Kong and many trips into Guangdong - Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhongshan - meeting many locals on our travels - lived in a house in the suburbs - had time off to see things after the days schedule and on days off, so I got time to travel all over Hong Kong, a friend also came over from Sydney who was originally from HK years before so took him travelling as well - he marvelled at all the changes and at the variety of places I was going to visit as per the Lonely Planet guidebooks recommendations ie out in the areas that are still countryside - also shouted me one of the most memorable meals ever at HK Planet Hollywood!! and some beautiful HK silk, also went to Macau to visit a friend I made from this missions organisation and stayed with her a couple of days - she worked for Teen Challenge in Macau that had an excellent success record with helping Teenagers get off drugs and helping with their social issues.

Highlight of my stay would include a visit to Pastor Samuel Lam in Guangzhou who ran one of Chinas largest house churches and had a long history of imprisonment for his Christian belief and activities.

Flew to Beijing for a few days seeing the sights, flew on up to Harbin for the Ice Carving festival, flew down to Chong Qing and took a 3 day boat down the Yangtze river to Wuhan, train to Guangzhou and another train to Hong Kong to meet and join a group from Australia and New Zealand flying to an orphanage in the middle of China for 2 weeks.

• Pros:fast pace, so colourful and so much happening - a fantastic place for photos, excellent food - famous for wonderful cuisine of South China, beautiful harbour - appreciate it with fantastic views from Victoria Peak, public transport is excellent
• Cons:accommodation is very expensive, sometimes the number of people on the streets can become overwhelming - an ordeal to get anywhere if you are in a hurry and a pedestrian, some outlying areas the buses are a bit infrequent
• In a nutshell:so much going on - exhilerating! a feast for your senses and for your camera!