A Blog About Hong Kong and Mainland China

I was glad to join the democracy march yesterday with thousands of people, not only because it was a way to express myself, but also I saw and felt in the march the diversity and independent thinking that Hong Kong is losing gradually under the post-1997 governments.

I cannot tell you how much disappointment I have in the Hong Kong government headed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang. The latest saga is the appointment of deputy secretaries and political assistants under the so called “accountability” system. When the city is not pushing ahead with its democracy, our Chief Executive is pushing for this appointment accountability system. But when its people have no vote and no say in the government affairs, who are these officials accountable to? Of course not to us. And certainly to Mr Tsang, their boss, who appoints them.

Do you see the irony here? When the people here are demanding democracy, the government is going the opposite way, under the fancy word of “accountability’.

The appointments of deputy secretaries and political assistants have been under barrage of attacks by the wide local community for its lack of transparency and the showing of nepotism. What are these appointees’ responsibilities? How were they selected? Based on what criteria are they remunerated? The government has never been able to give us satisfactory answers. Not to mention that it did not come up with fuzzy answers until pressurized.

When the controversy has evolved to the detriment of his reputation, Mr Tsang came to the Legislative Council, urging the community to let the dust settle, so that the community can focus on the livelihood issues.

Give me a break! Does he know that we people want quality of life as well? We want clean air, clear sky and open space. We are not individuals just wanting to make a living and surviving on this planet. This government knows only to follow the talk of its boss in the mainland and is glaringly out of touch with the pulse of the city that it governs. That is why people here go to the democracy march year after year on 1 July, the Hong Kong back to China day.

Beijing’s Qianmen Dajie (Front Door Main Street) was the city’s busiest and most famous business street during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The street, in decline since the mid 20th century, has recently been restored to its look in its prime, lined with wooden buildings and decorated in “old Beijing” style. Famous traditional Beijing eateries are grouped into a corner of the street.

To be reminiscent of the “old Beijing”, the place has a tram running, which was a familiar Beijing sight from 1924 to 1966. The tram’s whole journey is about 10 minutes, crossing the whole breadth of the street of more than 800m.

The restored Qianmen Dajie has been open to the public since May 2008, after a 2-year facelift work. 

(the express train highway)

Starting 1 August 2008, the intercity express train service between Beijing and Tianjin will be launched, halving the train journey between the two cities from the current 1 hour to 30 minutes. It is said the train departs from either city every five minutes, and can be as fast as 350km per hour.

If you are planning a visit to Beijing and Tianjin, this may be a piece of good news for you.

Do note that the train will start from Beijing South Train Station, due to be opened soon, to welcome in the Beijing Olympic Games.

According to China’s Foreigners Entry and Exit Regulations, a foreigner, if not staying in a hotel, say staying in a friend’s place, needs to go to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) office within 24 hours upon arrival in China to get a Temporary Residence Certificate. You need to bring your passport, and your host’s identity document to the PSB for registration.

The certificate (just a small piece of paper really) shows where you stay and your passport number, and you are supposed to carry this certificate with you all the time. Failing to do so, according to the Regulations, can subject you to a verbal warning or a fine of more than 50RMB but less than 500RMB.

The purpose of the Certificate is for the Chinese government to keep track of where foreigners stay. If they stay in a hotel, there is no need for them to get such a Certificate, as they must register with the hotel when check-in. That registration itself is a certificate already.

This is a true story that has happened to a friend of mine who once stayed in a university accommodation in Hangzhou. He was holding a 3-month tourist visa then and wanted to extend the visa with the PSB. To his surprise, he was told that to renew the visa he must produce the Temporary Residence Certificate, which he was supposed to apply for soon after his arrival at China. He didn’t know the rule and didn’t have one. So he was fined RMB100.

The lesson? If you do not stay in a hotel and you expect that you will need to extend your visa (both L visa and F visa), make sure that you go to the local PSB office to apply for a Temporary Residence Certificate within 24 hours upon arrival in China.

In a city like Hangzhou, there are a number of administrative zones, and in each of these zones, there is a designated PSB office. Take note that you must to the PSB office of the zone where you stay for the registration. If you go to the wrong one, your case will not be handled.

In Hong Kong, there are three major Chinese fast food restaurants：

Cafe de Coral
http://www.cafedecoralfastfood.com/eng/main/index.jsp

Fairwood
http://www.fairwood.com.hk/jspwww/NEWWEB/eng/whatsnew.html

Maxim’s
http://www.maxims.com.hk/html/fastfood/index.htm （in Chinese only）

There are a few reasons why I recommend to you these fast food restaurants.

To try the local food in local restaurants is not always easy, since the menu is not always in both Chinese and English. But in these fast food restaurants, their menu is shown on the wall in big Chinese characters, and small English letters. So foreigners should have no problem ordering the food. Warn you though, the staff at the cashier is not always good in English and maybe you need to point at the menu to order the food. I saw this happen a few times already.

Second, the food is inexpensive and tastes quite okay. Well, it is fast food and so you shouldn’t expect too much anyway. Sometimes some dishes taste really good. Say the curry rice from the Cafe de Coral. These restaurants are always packed for lunch and dinner.

Third, their branches are in every corner of Hong Kong and you can easily find them.

Fourth, these restaurants not only offer Chinese food, but also “Chinese style” Western food, such as spaghetti, or “Chinese style” Japanese food, such as Ramin. The choice is not limited anyway. And the Chinese food choice also comes in Hong Kong style and mainland Chinese style, such as Shanghai food.

Fifth, visiting these restaurants will let you experience the epitome of Hong Kong efficiency. Try standing at the food counter and you will see how quickly the staff put the order together for customers and keep the always long queue moving. There are usually three to four staff working behind the counter and they work so fast, and so seamlessly. I bet you will not forget the scene.

Some more tips：Hong Kong style milk tea is unique. These restaurants offer tasty milk tea. So try them. Also, if you are on budget, try coming in from 2pm to 6pm. These are afternoon tea hours and the tea set is offered at a very low price. Say, a hot dog with a cup of milk tea costs about HK15.

I find this an interesting story. A university student in China, called Zhao C, just won a court case to have his unconventional Chinese name – with letter “C as the first name – used on his identity card. Previously, the police rejected his request for a new identity card, saying regulations do not allow names to contain letters of the roman alphabet.

Reportedly, Zhao C’s father gave him the name, who when interviewed, said that “C” symbolized his hope for his son. “C is the first letter of the English world ‘China’, and its pronunciation is the same as the word “west” in Chinese. I hope my son will go to study in the West while not forgetting his Chinese root,” he said.

The hope represented by “C” is also the hope of a majority of youngsters in China: go overseas to study and yet very proud to be a Chinese.

After the “train” way, it is time to get to the “bus” way. In fact, personally, I like the bus way best. This is because, it is comparatively convenient and not that expensive. 

But when I say the “bus” way, I mean the direct bus from Hong Kong to Guangzhou.
You can always take the train from Hong Kong to Lowu, and then take the bus from Lowu, Shenzhen to Guangzhou. Buses depart hourly from Lowu bus station, Shenzhen, next to the immigration building, for Guangzhou. But this way is not convenient, so I don’t recommend it.

There are at least a few Hong Kong bus companies operating direct bus between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. But the one I usually use is the China Travel Service (CTS) bus service. The buses are frequent, and you can get on the bus at many locations across Hong Kong island and Kowloon.

I usually go to the CTS branch in Sheung Wan for the bus. There is a booth outside the branch, overlooking the road. Get the bus ticket there and you can right away get on the bus – at the scheduled time. Wan Chai and Mong Kok CTS branches are also hot spots for getting on the direct bus.

One way journey costs about HK$100, and lasts about 2.5 to 3 hours. But do note that the drop off point in Guangzhou is different, depending on where and when you get on the bus.

Check out the CTS Hong Kong – Guangzhou bus fare and schedule here:
http://www.ctshk.com/english/bus/zhonglv.htm

Also note that since the bus will go via the Huanggang port of entry, passengers will have to get off and get on the bus twice for the immigration formality of Hong Kong side and Shenzhen side. But there will be staff on hand directing you to go back to the right bus. So no worries.