Where has the time gone?! It's hard to believe that reading week is here already. Reading week is essentially a fall break - a week off of school before midterms begin. I'm especially excited for reading week because my friends and I are going to Korea! I've spent most of the past two weeks getting ready for our trip. My friends and I did a lot of last minute planning - while we bought our plane tickets a month in advance, we didn't do anything else to prepare after that until this week. I highly recommend starting much earlier than we did, as by the time that we started looking for places to stay a lot of the places that were low-cost but highly rated were already completely booked. If you plan on going traveling and want to stay at a hostel, I recommend using a site like booking.com instead of Hostelworld, since booking.com usually gives you free cancellation until a week before your planned stay and often doesn't require a deposit. Another useful tool for trip-planning that I recommend is Google Maps's My Maps tool. You can view the map I made for my Korea trip below. I created four different layers and used icons to organize my map, so that I could separate locations based upon our reason for visiting. It's a great way to see where different places you want to visit are in relation to one another so that you can plan out your days.
Aside from planning for our trip, I've also spent the past two weeks working on group projects and assignments. Group projects are extremely common at HKU, especially in their business school. I have group projects in all of my classes. While it's a great way to get to know more people, it can also be really stressful trying to organize times during which everyone can meet. The groups also tend to be fairly large - I have a group of 8 in one class and 5 in another - which makes it hard to keep everyone responsible. I really enjoy the projects that we're working on though since most of them are case studies through which we get to apply what we learn in class to real situations.
If you want to take a break from studying and projects Hong Kong has lots of outdoor adventures that are perfect for unwinding! Last weekend we made our way to Sai Wan beach in Sai Kung. Sai Kung is about an hour and a half from Kennedy Town, where I live. To get to the beginning of the hike to Sai Wan we had to take the MTR with two transfers, a bus, and a taxi. The hike itself was really easy, it was shaded by trees and the path was paved for the entire way. The views from the hike were also stunning, making it well worth the hour-long walk.
The hike ends at an adorable beach town where you can buy food, drinks, and boat tickets back to Sai Kung. If you walk to the end of the beach and hike inland for about 5 min you'll reach an adorable waterfall swimming area. It's really popular amongst college students because you can jump from the rocks into the pool. The water in the stream was really cold though, so I preferred swimming in the ocean. The beach itself was nearly deserted while we were there and seemed a lot cleaner than other Hong Kong beaches. It was one of the most beautiful beaches I had ever seen and so worth the journey to get there.
Arguably the best part of the day was taking the boat back to Sai Kung. While the boat was more expensive than hiking back the way we came and taking a taxi, it was one of the most exciting experiences I've had in Hong Kong. A one-way trip on the boat was about $15 USD, so I was expecting a ferry. What we got was a small 20-person motor boat. The boat ride was not for the faint of heart or for those who easily get seasick. However if one of your favorite rides at Disneyland is splash mountain, then I can guarantee you'll find the boat ride to be worth every dollar. Sai Wan was one of my favorite adventures so far!
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When I decided to go on exchange in Hong Kong it had never crossed my mind that I may need to worry about natural disasters. I certainly had never expected that one of the strongest storms ever recorded in Hong Kong would hit during my stay here. When I heard that a T10, the highest level for a typhoon, was headed our way I wasn't sure of what to do. My roommate and I bought lots of water and noodle bowls, as we were told that we would likely be unable to go outside during the storm. When Typhoon Mangkhut arrived, I watched as videos were posted to social media of cranes falling off of buildings and of windows shattering. Luckily, the storm wasn't nearly as devestating in our part of Hong Kong as it had been in others. Below are a few photos of the aftermath of the storm, when I went into town the next day. Although the storm hit on a Sunday, all classes were cancelled the following Monday because many roads had been blocked by fallen trees, making it difficult for students to get to school. Luckily, all was back to normal by Tuesday. At the end of the week, my friends and I decided to tackle Suicide Cliff. We had heard that hiking to Suicide Cliff promised beautiful views of the city, from Kowloon all the way to Hong Kong island. According to a few websites, the hike was only supposed to take 3 and a half hours. We ended up taking nearly 6 and a half hours. On top of taking much longer than expected, we also ended up getting caught in a storm on our way down! It made a daunting hike even more perilous. Although some of us slipped a few times, we were lucky that no one got hurt. Despite these unexpected hurdles, the view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking. I would highly recommend doing this hike! Just remember to pack a ton of water and to check the weather forecasts. If you go on exchange during the fall semester, you'll get to experience two holidays: the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. The Mid-Autumn Festival is kind of like Thanksgiving - the roundness of the full moon symbolizes reunion, so families celebrate together. In Tai Hang, near Causeway Bay, they hold a fire dragon dance every year. The tradition began when the village was faced with a plague, so they created a fire dragon to dispel the disease. Before the fire dragon entered the streets there were lantern displays, drumming, and a seemingly Irish river dance (it included bagpipes). At the end of the dance, they take all of the incense off of the dragon and give it out to people in the crowd. We were told that if we burned it, we would have good luck. Very close to where the dance occurs is Victoria Park, where they hold even more festivities for the Mid-Autumn Festival. There were lantern exhibits and performances across the park. My favorite part was right behind where all of this was taking place. There was a large grassy area that was filled with people, many with candles or lanterns, all spending time with their family or friends. I felt that it was the best representation of the holiday because it embodied the meaning of the holiday. I had always known about the Mid-Autumn Festival because we celebrate it in Hawaii through sharing mooncake, but I hadn't understood the meaning behind it until celebrating it in Hong Kong. I wish we had festivities similar to those in Victoria Park, or even just the tradition of coming together in the park to spend time with those you love under the light of the full moon. Just one week later was another holiday - National Day. National Day marks the anniversary of the founding of founding of the People's Republic of China. In mainland China it is the start of the "Golden Week", as many people have the entire week off for the holiday. In Hong Kong, we get one day off. National Day fell on a Monday this year, giving us a three-day weekend. My friend and I decided on a whim two days before the weekend began that we would go to Shenzhen, the province in China that connects with Hong Kong's border. To get to Shenzhen you can take the high-speed rail or the MTR. We took the rail going there and the MTR coming back. The high-speed rail only takes 20 minutes, although you may have to stand in line for a while to get tickets. The MTR takes nearly 2 hours, but doesn't require purchasing a ticket (you can just use your Octopus card). If you go on the MTR, you can get a 5-day visa at the border, if you don't already have a Chinese visa. I would recommend getting a Chinese visa beforehand, since the border visa is around the same cost as the 10-year visa. Before we left, we were uncertain of how we would fill three days. We hadn't heard much about Shenzhen, and it isn't a popular tourist destination. By the end of the weekend we realized that three days actually wasn't enough time. I would recommend Shenzhen for three reasons:
3. Sightseeing. There are a lot of really cool places to go in Shenzhen. My favorites were Fairy Lake Botanical Garden, Splendid China Folk Culture Villages, and Dafen Oil Painting Village. Fairy Lake Botanical Garden is so much more than what it sounds like. Within the park there are hikes, a Buddhist temple, a petrified forest, a river where you can ride in a boat, and tons of plant exhibits. You could spend all day there! The entrance fee is around 20 RMB, but if you show your student ID you can get a discount. If you don't want to walk, they also have shuttles that you can buy tickets for that will take you to different parts of the park. Fairy Lake is a great option if you want to get away from the city for a little while. Splendid China Folk Culture Villages is kind of like the Polynesian Cultural Center of China. They have exhibits of how different ethnic minorities in China used to live, and examples of their cultures. I had never learned about many of these groups, so I found the experience to be really enlightening. We went in the late afternoon, so the park was relatively empty. If you go earlier in the day you can watch exhibitions and may be greeted by people in traditional attire. I would recommend going around lunchtime, as many exhibitions happen around then. The entrance fee is relatively expensive, around 250 RMB, but I thought that the experience was worth it. If you're interested in art, Dafen Oil Painting Village is a must-see. The Oil Painting Village is a neighborhood in Dafen with tons of art shops and artists. The paintings here are both original works and recreations of famous scenes. It was fascinating seeing artists work in alleys, creating beautiful pieces. Some were creating commissioned pieces, while others were creating pieces to sell to passerby. Some artists also did portrait work, with portraits so realistic that they looked like photographs. While walking through the neighborhood is like walking through a giant art gallery, most paintings here can be purchased. While it was tempting to buy the spectacular giant pieces of art that we came across, I had to remind myself multiple times that I could only take back what I could pack. One thing to note about traveling in China is that many people don't speak English. I was lucky enough to go with someone who spoke Mandarin, making the experience a lot easier than it would have been if we could only speak English. Another thing to note is to prepare for China's censored internet before leaving Hong Kong. Google, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and many messaging apps don't work in China. I also recommend buying a SIM card that works in China while in Hong Kong, since it's a lot easier to get there. Even though it was just a short trip, I feel that I learned a lot about traveling in other countries. I know that I'll be more prepared for future trips thanks to the lessons learned on this one.
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Emily BallBorn and raised in Aiea, HI, traveling to Hong Kong to study Human Resource Administration. Archives
January 2019
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