World Foodie Guide

Apart from the all-important food aspect of the upcoming trip, which I’ve covered in great detail in Where To Eat In Hong Kong, Where To Eat in Macau and Where to Eat In Beijing, other more practical matters have also had to be dealt with. I find it all quite fun, generally, and as I used to be a TV producer, drawing up travel plans and production schedules come naturally to me. I now have a detailed hour by hour itinerary covering the entire 16 days, outlining all the proposed sightseeing, shopping and of course restaurants (finally shortlisted from the three lengthy eating posts).

PLANES:

Months ago, I booked direct flights from London to Hong Kong on Oasis, a low-budget Hong Kong airline recommended by my father-in-law and other family members. Unfortunately, Oasis went into liquidation not long after, so I had to rebook using ebookers.com, flying with Cathay Pacific, and am now in the process of claiming a refund for the Oasis flights from my credit card company. I’ve flown Cathay many times before, and am looking forward to a comfortable journey (passengers can check in online up to 48 hours before departure).

TRAINS:

We (the husband more so than me!) thought that it would be an adventure to take the 24 hour express train from Hong Kong to Beijing. My father took this route in the 80s, although it took considerably longer then, and the conditions were not quite the same as they are now. Seat61.com brilliantly provides all the information I needed (have a look at the 1200 mile long train route!), and I asked my friend in Hong Kong to help me with the booking, as I wanted to book the deluxe 2 berth soft sleeper compartment.

The HK to Beijing journey on the T98 was simple to arrange, as all she had to do was buy them from her local China Travel Service (CTS) branch (60 days in advance is the earliest that train tickets can be purchased). The Beijing to HK journey was more complicated, and had to be done by CTS HK asking CTS Beijing to organise it. The tickets on the T97 returning to HK were also much more expensive (HK$1072 per person from HK to Beijing, but HK$1650 per person from Beijing to HK).

All I have to do now though is pick the tickets up from CTS Beijing (fortunately not from Beijing West train station, which is chaotic even with the ‘foreigners only’ window) 5 days before the day of travel. As we’re not sure what the restaurant car food is going to be like, and whether they cater for the vegetarian husband, we’re going to take our own food with us. There’s also an endless supply of hot water for making instant noodles and drinks. The only thing that I’m not absolutely sure about is whether the 2 berth compartment comes with its own little private toilet and washroom. Seat61.com says it does, but this wasn’t the case a few months ago. Please let this be the case, as it will make all the difference to the journey!

BOATS:

For the day trip to Macau, we need ferry tickets. The journey takes about 75 to 90 minutes, depending on what type of transport we choose. There are so many different types of vessel on this route that I wasn’t sure which to choose, and I found hardly any information online on the pros and cons of each. I found this page from the Macau Tourist Office quite useful though, and my friend in HK emailed me a lot of practical information on how to book the tickets.

However, in the end, I asked my hotel to book them for me (for only a tiny service charge of HK$30), and the tickets are already at the hotel. From Hong Kong, it’s easy to buy them from various MTR stations or over the phone, but it’s not so easy from abroad, as there is no online booking system. And although my aunt kept reassuring me that ferry tickets can be bought on the day, I didn’t want to take any chances, as we only have one day on which to make the Macau trip.

VISAS:

Being British, we don’t need tourist visas to visit Hong Kong or Macau. However, we do need visas to go to Beijing. The Chinese Embassy in London now has a new section, the China Visa Application Service Center, with a useful website providing very clear information. I made an online appointment to visit their offices at Chancery Lane and downloaded and filled in the application forms (these can also be filled in online and printed off, but I encountered printing problems).

All the required documents were printed off, including details of the train bookings, and instead of proof of hotel booking (a recent new requirement), a letter of invitation from the friends with whom we are staying, plus a copy of the friend’s ID card, or residence / work permit (depending on whether they are Chinese or not).

The office is nice and modern, fully staffed with many counters, and I spent all of 15 minutes in there after being handed a ticket (number 8, what else?!). I also think I was given priority because of my online appointment, so make one just in case. For the regular 4 day service, it cost £30 per single entry visa, plus the application service fee of £30 + VAT per visa (you pay on pick-up, which took about 40 minutes). If you’re in a hurry and are willing to pay extra, there are also the options of same day and next day service.

ACCOMMODATION:

In Beijing, we’re staying with old friends in their house. They’re my ex-neighbours from my 1996-1997 Beijing days, and we share many unforgettable experiences. In Hong Kong, we were going to stay with friends in the Mid-Levels, but a few weeks ago, we decided that it would be more convenient to stay in a hotel. Having left it so late to book a room, I was slightly worried, but tripadvisor.com was fantastic and I highly recommend it as a one stop shop.

Lanson Place stood out immediately as a place we would like, and I’ve subsequently had many email exchanges with both reservations and concierge, who are incredibly helpful. The Airport Shuttle bus has been booked, and I’ve been sent maps of the airport arrivals lounge, and of Causeway Bay showing the location of the hotel (in both English and Chinese). A local mobile phone will be provided for no charge (calls charged at local rate). And best of all, they’ve booked all my restaurants for me!

RENEWAL OF HK ID CARD:

As my parents were born in Hong Kong, they have HK ID cards and right of abode. I applied for my HK ID card in 1997, a few months before the handover, and was also given right of abode. However, I haven’t been back since, and am worried that I’ve now lost this right. My ID card has also expired, as everyone has converted to Smart Cards. So this is what I need to do when I go back. I made an online appointment 12 days in advance of the day I want to go to the Immigration Department in Wan Chai, conveniently near the hotel. I’ve read a lot online about HK right of abode, but the more I read, the more confused I become. So we’ll have to see what happens!

Apart from this, the cattery has been booked, lots of HK dollars have been stuffed into the wallet, and the bags are almost packed! I hope this will be useful to anyone else planning a trip to China, but there’ll be more tips and advice after the actual trip. Look out for the posts in diary form in a few weeks’ time! And by sheer coincidence, it’s National Day in China today…

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Tags: Beijing, China, dining out, food, Hong Kong, Macau, restaurant review, restaurants, traveleating