In Hong Kong, herbal tea shops like the one shown above are common. A bowl of herbal tea sells for about HK$7. The locals just drink it, standing on the pavement outside the shop. And pay when finished.

In most of the herbal tea shops, they also sell “tea eggs”, which you will see simmered in a rice cooker filled with spiced tea. As they have been soaked overnight, the shells are cracked to allow the flavors from the spice tea to leak in.

Though I often pass herbal tea shops, and see these cracked-shell eggs simmering in the soy sauce-like spiced tea, I have not been motivated to try just one.

But today, I finally had my first taste of the tea egg. I tell you, it tasted really good. Though the eggs are called tea eggs, don’t be fooled, they do not taste tea at all. That is all I can say.

So if you are visiting Hong Kong, try go for the tea eggs. It costs HK$3 for one, and HK$5 for two. Not every tea shop sells tea eggs though.

My tip is that, don’t go for the herbal tea,which you probably won’t like.  Go for the tea eggs.

 

In the Hechi (河池) city of Guangxi province, there is an autonomous county populated by Ba Ma Yao (巴馬瑤) ethnic group. The county now boasts the highest longevity rate in the world – every 100,000 residents, 31.7 are 100 years old or older. Now, 81 people are 100 years old or older, of its current population of about 240,000. 

According to a renowned nutritionist in China, the elderly in the county live a long life because they follow a so-called “five-low, two-high” diet – low in calorie, fat, animal protein, sodium and sugar, while high in vitamin and fiber. 

Guangxi province, in southwestern China, is among the poorest provinces in China. The ethnic group of Ba Ma Yao surely does not live in luxury. Their simple and low calorie diet has helped them live a longer life, coupled with the green and beautiful environment there, the experts say.

Another reason behind the longevity, according to research, is that the Ba Ma Yao people live in red-brick houses, which release a kind of natural energy, helping to improve human’s immune and digestive system. Houses made of cement of modern days do not release such beneficial energy. 

Here’s a glimpse of the beauty of the autonomous county of Ba Ma Yao ethnic group.

 

I do not usually file favorable reports about China, but this news is worth posting. Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou just held a direct election of the president of the university’s students’ union. It is the first direct election ever held in a Chinese university. 

Four student candidates vied for the post and each was given RMB2000 for their campaign. The polling took place on 11 November and the result announced the following day. Turn out rate is 61%. 

The elected student leader’s platform is based on one key message – the university should have a mechanism to allow student participation in its major decision making process.

 

Newcastle University in the UK has orderd fifty Chinese students to leave the university after their academic certificates, basing on which they were accepted to study in the university, were found to be fake. 

Forty nine of them are from mailand China, one from Taiwan. 

Everything can be fake in China, from CD, brand bags and clothes, to food, and certificates. The scandal underscores that the fake culture has permeated into the youth generation. How can they not, if they live in an environment that almost everything is, and can be, fake. 

Is this the price China has to pay for its economic growth and prosperity? Has the country leadership counted this price?

 

The easiest way to go between Hong Kong and Zhuhai is take the ferry. There are two terminals to board the ferry in Hong Kong, the HK-Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan, and the China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The ferry departs every hour, from Sheuang Wan and from Tsim Sha Tsui alternately. 

From HK-Macau Ferry Terminal: 08:40 10:30 12:30 14:30 16:3018:00 19:30 21:30

From China Ferry Terminal: 07:30 08:30 09:30 11:30 13:3015:30 17:30 19:00 * (*more than 1 stop)

From Zhuhai Jiuzhou Pier to China Ferry Terminal:  08:00 10:00 11:45 14:00 16:0017:00 17:30 18:30

From Zhuhai Jiuzhou Pier to HK-Macau Ferry Terminal: 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:3018:00 19:30 20:30 21:30

Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes

Price: HK$180/RMB170

No need to buy ticket in advance. There will always be seats.

© 2012 Journey to Hong Kong