China 2019 – Day 28, Wednesday, 14th August
With a taxi booked to Guilin airport for 10am, I decided to get a bit of extra early morning training in by myself for a couple of hours before departure. I was also joined by Hotpot, so we got to hang out and say our goodbyes for now while I went through a warm up, stretch, basics, and new forms.
After saying goodbye to Kim and Ping and what the Chinese would refer to as my Tai Chi brothers and sisters, I enjoyed the comfort of a nicely air conditioned taxi to Guilin train station, where I collected my ticket and had an hour and a half wait for the train to Hong Kong West Kowloon.
I felt a twinge of sadness as we left the village and the views of the karst mountains and stunning Yangshuo scenery faded.
On way the to Guilin I saw lots of construction, including a huge theme park being build. I hope the essence of what made this area so special for me can be kept. I am told that over the last 10 years it has become busier and busier. However, that’s China – rapid development juxtaposed with natural wonder. I hope the right balance is struck.
(A note on the comfort and the efficiency of Chinese trains. Coming from England where the service, price, quality…in fact practically everything regarding the railway service is beyond embarrassment…China is incredibly well organised, very comfortable, relatively cheap and fast! Maybe post-Brexit Britain should look East rather than West when it comes to improving our infrastructure.)
Partly watching some amazing scenery and partly reading as the super-train sped its way down to Hong Kong, the journey flew by.
My first impression of Hong Kong after a month practically living in a village in the middle of the countryside was, ‘wow, it’s a bit busy!’
After a quick taxi from the station and dumping my bag at the guesthouse, I made my way out onto the streets for some exploring.
I decided to make my way down the harbour and after being offered about 20 fake Rolexes and several tailor made suites (Me! Really??) I found my way down and was blessed to have timed it right to watch the sun set and night-time descend on Hong Kong Island, which was lit up like a Christmas tree on the other side of the harbour. Photos are below…and they came out pretty well! I’m a pretty bad photographer generally, but China and Hong Kong really help me out!
After hanging around for a while, I decided to head back up inland a little to check out some street markets and get some food. I settled on a street stall and tucked in to some delicious noodles, spring rolls and a beer.
It is such a stunning view, so I couldn’t resist another late night walk back to the harbour and here I am sat writing the blog post for today.
Every year we have a fun competition at White Crane Academy where anyone who goes on holiday is asked to send in a holiday photo of themselves in a Kung Fu pose. You’ll see my entry below…😀
