A Blog About Hong Kong and Mainland China

Shenzhen was being labeled as one of the dangerous Chinese cities because of its large migrant population. In response, the municipal government has been aggressively setting up video cameras in public space to monitor its population to curb the crime wave. 

According to the report in South China Morning Post magazine, over the past two years, more than 200,000 video cameras have been set up along main streets, in train stations, in shopping malls, in parks and along highways. And to disguise the surveillance cameras, many of them pass off as lighting columns. The cameras then beam live video to a central city database.

It is projected that within two years, Shenzhen, a city of 12 million, will have as many as 2 million surveillance cameras, the highest concentration in the world.

The deputy police chief of the city boasted that this surveillance “social experiment” was paying off with crime rates having fallen by more than 10% since 2006 when the surveillance cameras started to emerge.

Of course, the surge in the surveillance cameras in Shenzhen is only part of the Central Government’s move to monitor its vast population with latest video and internet technology, especially ahead of the Beijing Olympics, as stepped up security measures. It is worried that this surveillance campaign will only further gather up pace, not lessen, after the Olympics.

But first of all, image touring or living in a city where you are monitored everywhere. In fact, the increased surveillance has angered some residents in Shenzhen. News broke out in May that a rooftop surveillance camera set up just 3 km from the Hong Kong border, was used to scan an apartment block and shots of naked women getting in and out of bath, images fed from the camera, later splashed across a local newspaper.

This is no coincidence. For in a city or country where its people are closely watched , incidents like this - violations of privacy - are bound to happen.

The hotels in Hong Kong are not cheap. Even a very small room in a youth hostel, without window, costs at least HK$300. To find a hotel in a convenient location, with comfort and reasonable price, is no easy task. A tip is to the set sight on the Western District on Hong Kong island.

Western District is adjacent to Central, Hong Kong’s banking and financial centre, and nearby there are some Hong Kong attractions such as the dry seafood street and the open air market in Graham street.

Its only disadvantage in terms of location is the lack of MTR (Hong Kong’s railway system) transport. But the Western District is linked by tram and bus to Sheung Wan or Central, from where you can take the MTR. It is about 15-minute tram ride from the Western District to Central.

Because of the lack of MTR transport, the hotels in this district are not as expensive as those in, say Central, or Wanchai, or Mongkok. So you can find hotels of reasonable price in this area, and some hotels seem to offer good quality and service as well.

One advantage of staying in this district is that you can easily observe the daily living of Hong Kong people, for the area is a residential area, and is an old district, with some of the traditional stores still being kept and run. 

There are four major hotels in this area:

Hotel Jen

the street where Hotel Jen is

 Jen Hotel

 Jen Hotel

This 4-star hotel is far into the Western District, in an area called Kennedy Town. They provide free shuttle bus going from the hotel to various points in Central. The hotel is getting popular over the past year since renovation and change of ownership.

There is no price on their website. And the staff told me that their price is quoted on a daily basis. The price I asked on a Saturday is HK$580 plus 10% service charge, for a single or a double room. Some of their rooms command seaview, which will be charged more.

This hotel has a modern look and is freshly decorated compared to other hotels in the district.

Ramada Hotel

This hotel is situated in the middle of the Western District, closer to the Central than Hotel Jen. It looks a bit old-fashioned, though.  Hotel room price is quoted on their website, which seems similar to the price of Hotel Jen.

Island Pacific Hotel

This hotel is nearest Central and situated more towards the side of harbourfront. The price would be the highest in the district, more catering to the business travelers. It offers special price for long stay, though. Say for July 2008, for a standard room, the rate is HK$21,000 a month. 

Cosco Hotel

It does not have its own website. But you can check here for detail. The price would be the lowest in the district, with some good comments from users. See here.

This hotel, operated under a Chinese capital group, is the farthest into the Western District. A tram ride to Central from the hotel is about 15-20 minutes, though.

From reading reports, comments and experiences on this blog and others, it is obvious that Hong Kong and Macau are no longer havens to get a China visa – at least not until the Beijing Olympics is finished in October this year.

You must take note that if you are only given a 7-day China visa in Macau, as reported by many, once you are inside China and you want to renew the visa, it is most likely that you will have an extension of 7days only, based on the first issuance, and not more. So be prepared for it and think again when you want to get a China visa in Macau or Hong Kong.

It is ironic that while the Beijing Olympics is intended for an opportunity to welcome the world to China, visa regulations are being tightened up for security reasons and the outside world experiences only the unfriendliness and inconveniences.

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.