What started out as just a basic Chinese visa run (my latest working permit having just expired) has spiralled into a love affair with a city that I don't want to leave.
(Old meets new; a classic Chinese junker ship meets the hustle and bustle of the Hong Kong Island skyline)
Let me set the scene. Around a month ago I realised my working permit was soon to expire, so my manager at the English training school gave me two options; I could either go home back to the UK and apply for a new visa there (which could be great because I'm missing my family and friends quite a lot), or I could go travelling and try and apply for a new visa (having been recently binge-reading Jack Keroauc and Paul Theroux, I was itching to get away from the monotomous daily grind of work)!
It was a no brainier, I swiftly packed my rucksack and said 回见 (see you later) to Chengdu.
The plan was to go to Hong Kong first, a place I'd always wanted to visit since first moving out to China but had never had the chance to. Then apply for my both my Chinese and Vietnamese visas while there before flying to Hanoi in Vietnam. The chance now had been delivered, slap bang right in front of me (like a plate of mouth-watering Cantonese cuisine - that I would soon be able to taste in Hong Kong)!
But after just under a week in Hong Kong, I had lost the initial spark and the nagging feeling to get out there and travel. You might think that I wanted to go back to Chengdu and carry on working (pfft far from it), but it was actually I didn't want to leave this spectacular place.
Hong Kong for me is Asia. She conjures images of the Orient; that mystical and often opium hazed representation I'd imagined reading colonial and Victorian literature at university. The badly-dubbed kung-fu films starring Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li I remember watching when I was younger. Even the towering metropolitan cities in sci-fi movies like 'Blade Runner'. All of these (and more) are Hong Kong for me; a melting-pot, a crucible of ideas, cultures, history, food, architecture, people, the list is endless...
(Mong Kok at night)
(The spectacular night view of Victoria Harbour from the Sky100 tower - the tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong)
(The Peak Tram - an almost vertical ascension to the summit of the Peak)
(The classic view of Hong Kong from the Peak, a sight not to be missed)
However, Hong Kong is far from the constant hustle and bustle of the metropolis. She offers quaint and peaceful escapes from the city itself. The Chi Lin nunnery in Kowloon is a tranquil Buddhist temple that quickly makes you forget that you're standing in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world.
(The Chi Lin nunnery was rebuilt without a single nail!)
There are also plenty of beaches on offer to go and relax on (unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to go to any of them - but I'll be back)!
The Tian Tan Buddha, resting away from the city on Lantau Island, is a sight to behold. At 112ft high (despite sitting) it's a immense statue and well worth the 268 step climb to the top!
(The Tian Tan Buddha)
(The cable-car up to the Buddha offers some amazing views of the surround islands of Hong Kong)!
I'd love to keep rambling on about Hong Kong (there's so much to do here that you'll run out of time - like I did) but I'm about to board my plane to my next destination; Hanoi.
One thing for sure though; it isn't 'Goodbye, Hong Kong', it's 'See you soon...'!