Hong Kong Bang a Gong

I arrived in Hong Kong just after 11pm, Friday night. I went through immigration without any trouble and it was fast, friendly and easy. On your flight, the airline will provide customs forms that you show to immigration with your passport. This just helps your host country keep track of you and people coming into the US have to do this as well. It is all a part of global travel and we are lucky to live in an age where this is even possible.

As I write this, I am being driven to my hotel across the border in mainland China to a city called Shenzhen. It is quite hot here and the first thing I did was take off my coat. :) second thing I did was to make a mental note that nothing in my megatron suitcase is appropriate for this warm weather. Ah, live and learn. It feels like Houston and my wardrobe is anything but Houston-appropriate. Kinda funny. Not... But I will manage.

When I left home "today" it was 1 pm Thursday afternoon. China is 14 hours ahead of us (Central Standard Time). That means that I have lost some time, right? I will make that up on the flight home and it just could happen that my arrival back in the US will have me arriving before I left... :) by the time I make it to the hotel, it will be around 1 am Saturday. I left on Thursday, arrived on Saturday. Whew, what happened to Friday?

My Chinese visa allows me multiple entries into China, as I mentioned in my previous post. That means I can explore Hong Kong with friends or a hired chaperone (more on that later) on the weekends or perhaps on my way home, without losing my visiting privileges in China. often times with work visas, you are allowed one entry only which means if you drive across the border into Hong Kong for the weekend, you will not be allowed back into China.

You can apply for different entry types and mine is the most flexible. I was told that I would not be granted this type of visa, but I called the Visa Processor in charge and asked. Not a problem, as long as you have an invitation (which I did) and your passport isnt too close to expiring (mine wasnt), so despite being told otherwise, I was granted this privilege.

We are now stopped at border patrol where they will review my documentation: passport, visa and customs forms. That was easy. My driver handed my passport to the agent and rolled down my window so they could see my face and make sure I wasnt the Queen. A young Chinese man greeted me, validated my documents and waived us through. Hardest part is over. I have arrived in Shenzhen safe and sound.

We are stuck in traffic now that we are across the border in Shenzhen. I am ready for a shower and bed and actually, I am quite hungry so perhaps a bite to eat is in order before bed. I may be too late for the hotel kitchen but I have an energy bar in my bags, just for that reason.

I was told it would take an hour and a half to get to the hotel and with this traffic, I can see why that might indeed be true. Not a good sign when your driver gets out of the car to wait and have a smoke... Guess this might take a while. I am feeling relatively good considering I just spent 20 hours in a plane. I slept the whole way fom Tokyo to Hong Kong, thankfully.

Ah, the delays are because we have hit the Immigration inspection patrol. People are popping the trunks of their cars. My luggage may be inspected or searched. Hope they dont find the bodies... :) it looks routine and no one is actually searching the cars, guess you just need to open the trunk in case they want to take a look. Oh nope, they wanted to look at me again. I smile. Even though I am not the Queen.

Next stop, Wonton Soup. I hope...

Hk