gemisht

3 countries in 7 days will do that to me.

Hubby and I had the opportunity to travel to China for work, so we jumped at it. We also managed to squeeze in some time in Hong Kong and Macau.

Three amazing countries, but really one. Hong Kong and Macau are both Chinese territories but they are run as Special Administrative Regions (SAR). Despite being Chinese territories, travel between them is still international, with customs and immigration to be cleared each time.

They all have so much in common, but so many differences at the same time.

We started off in Shanghai – what an amazing city that is. Words really don’t do it justice. It’s big, its loud, it’s busy and the people. OMG the people. There are 18 million people registered as living in Shanghai but there are a lot of people who work there that are registered as living elsewhere in China, which means the population can be as high as 21-2 million. That’s the whole population of Australia in one city. I struggle to really grasp the concept of so many people in one place. It is also beautiful and I am still feeling entranced by it. I would go back there in a moment if the opportunity arose again. Fingers crossed it will.

We then travelled to Hong Kong which is another amazing place. Still busy, but not nearly as many people as Shanghai and being a passenger in a taxi there isn’t nearly as scary as in Shanghai. The traffic is a little more “disciplined”. There is so much there to see and do that there is no way we could cram enough in in the time that we had there. Again, I would go back in a heartbeat. There is an amazing mix of Chinese and English culture and architecture. And possibly one of the most beautiful cities at night.

Macau is different again. It has a lot of Portugese influence, in the food (Portugese tarts to die for) and the architecture in the old part. It is also aiming to become the next Las Vegas. The casinos are amazing. Think of Las Vegas and that is what the Cotai Strip in Macau is becoming. The buildings are huge, the lighting on the building and inside is amazing and the sounds of a very flamboyant city was something to behold.

The 7 days went too fast, with so much to discover. We were busy every day and the pace was hectic. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. On top of the exhaustion from the busy schedule, we flew home overnight from Hong Kong and sleeping on planes is not something I am good at. Never have been, and I’m sure I never will be. This is where the struggling comes in. I have been feeling like a stunned mullet from the time we got off the plane on Monday and trying desperately to catch up on missed sleep and overcome the 3 hour time difference. After my first decent night’s sleep last night, I have been feeling a little better today but still struggling and very foggy-brained.

I have so many photos to share and I haven’t been able to concentrate enough to download them from the camera and upload them. I have just over 600 to go through and sort the good from the bad and the just plain ugly ones. I promise I will post them soon and more about what we did and what we saw whilst away. I can’t wait to share the photos that I took with my new toy.

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