A Bryson in China: Back to Hong Kong

Friday, June 03, 2005

Back to Hong Kong

I’m back in Hong Kong for the weekend. Nice to be in the big city. But what a trip to get here. No van available with management this time. So I got the “professionals ride”.

To get all the engineers and mid-level professionals back to Hong Kong weekly, the route is a little different. It’s bus and trains. And a lot longer time. The express van service is about two hours. The bus and train combination took over three hours for me to get to my hotel.

First, since there are so many professionals (about 20 each Friday and Saturday), the company owns a small size bus for transport. So we piled into the bus for an over hour ride into downtown Senzchen on the border of Hong Kong. There I had to pass through customs and immigration out of China and then got to repeat the process into Hong Kong.

Next it’s a train ride into downtown Hong Kong. Then transfer to the subway. Then transfer subway lines. And finally a walk about a mile to my hotel entry, for an arrival just after 8:00 PM.

Hotel is a little different this time too. I feel like I’m back in a Japanese business hotel. Its not worth the money to put up in the Excelsior every trip here. So this time I’m in the Hotel Ibis. It’s certainly much smaller and less affluent. But that’s okay. It is convenient and comfortable. Although I may barely fit into the opening to the shower.

But it’s a day in the city. I have to get a six-month visa. So back to the subways Saturday to the China office for visas.