Good bye to the South. I am on the way back North, back to Tianjin. Bye to the boiling heat… back to dry heat. I will miss the green landscape, the touch of western feeling, people who speak English. Though it was not always easy travelling (China is China) the two weeks were full of impressions and comfort level was, thanks to my travelmate, unusual high.

 

Hainan… is a nice tropical island and probably really the best choice for a relaxed beach holiday in China. Nice sandy beaches, palm trees and scenic mountains in the inner of the island. Nevertheless, in my view, it lacks a bit the laid back charm of other holiday islands in Thailand, Malaysia and probably also Indonesia and Phillipines. What bothers me: whenever there is a sight or scenic spot in China the area is restricted and you are guided to hang around with huge groups of Chinese tourists. You cannot really explore the places like Ximao island, a small island off the Hainan south coast. Only a small part is accessible and this is packed with facilities and people. Yet I had a nice unique experience in the end when I rented a bicycle and cycled to the inner of the island. Small farmer villages, water buffalo, gooses and cattle on the street and, within 3 ½ hours: hundreds of kids shouting ‘Hello’ or ‘Lauwai’ (foreigner). The beautiful scenery and the adventure totally made up for climbing the steepest pass I ever did, and this in the still quite hot evening hours.

As very interesting was what the German manager (a young guy from Cologne) told about Hainan: Within the next years every 6 months a 5 to 7 stars hotel will open at Sanya beach. Mandarin Oriental etc. Hotel business is booming all over China – so much money waiting for investment. Second language for German apprentices of hotel business after English: Chinese.

 

Hong Kong…I already wrote some words. Hong Kong has the busy flair of an American megacity. Well (business-) dressed man and woman in the streets. Best in HK is climbing (tram or taxi) Victoria peak (we did at day and night) and looking down on the skyscrapers cramped along the coast, trying to imagine life and business going on in these bank and commerce centres.

 

Macao…was originally not on the schedule and only possible because we short-cutted the Hainan stay by two days. The trip was worth it. Macao is a pleasant city, good for shopping and walking around. Nice for me: the Portuguese influence gives the city a touch of southern Europe / -America. Lots of small attractions – churches, the fort and a number of ‘Plazas’ in this picturesque place. Pity for us: because the centre of town is packed with Casinos – Macao is a gambling Mecca, a second ‘Las Vegas’– we were not able to find a regular bar of pub. After more than an hour seeking we gave up and drank our ‘Carlsberg’ in the lobby of the Casino attached to Wynn hotel. It looks that the Asian casinos are real gold mines – we took a short break to view a single Asian guy at a black jack table who exchanged about 50.000 Macao $ (ab. 5.000 €) to bet it all in one game. Taking the spectators’ reaction only a middle size bet in this casino. An Australian, Hugh, to whom we chatted the next cay in Starbucks café, confirmed this impression. There is so much money to be spend. ‘Sands’-casino is already making more money than the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. In a few months the ‘Venician’ Hotel and Casino will open up, owned by SheldonG. Adelson who will, according to Hugh, soon take over from Bill Gates as richest man on earth (by now he is No. 3 in the Forbes listing). He bought a vast land between two Macao islands, filled the water with earth to create space for this venue. The ‘Venician’, with its 3000 suites and 38 restaurants is expected to cost 2.5 billion US $, an investment which, according to our well informed conversation partner (who also claims that his wife is the manager for the hotels services) is expected to be equalled within one year.

 

Guangzhou…is mainland China again. Less hype even though ‘Tee-Mall’, where I met Stefan, my former roommate in Tianjin, is quite impressive and the whole city is more modern than Tianjin. Thanks to my cold I spent this day in a traditional bathhouse with sauna, massage and chill out in the big recreation area.

 

Sunday 8:30 p.m. I am just in time finishing to get the flight to Tianjin. I will live in Jingwan hotel this week and hopefully find a pleasant apartment soon. I am prepared for daily life again. Even though I was told about two bad news from last week: 1. the father of Mr. Cao, our ‘best man’, the driver, has died and he took off last week. 2. Our best and only German speaking translator Martin announced the he will go back to university for further studies starting at August.