Matt's Travel Adventures

After our action packed few days in Hong Kong we began our actual treck into China, this began with a 45 minute train ride from Hong Kong to Lo Wu, the last town on the Hong Kong new territories side. Once through passport control we got our first taste of China. Yet to our surprise, it was much the same as Hong Kong, quite humid and almost constantly hazy or foggy, it seems to be a constant curtain of have here.

In Shenzhen we met up with "Smiler" one of Liams friends (smiler is her english name, but she changed it to "bowie" and now it is "bobo").

She lived with her sister in Shenzhen in a sweet apartment. This, unfortunately was our introduction to car travel in China, which to put it frankly is insane. So far we have been in countless froms of transportation: Ferry, Funicular, Train, Bus, Mini Bus, Three Wheeled Green Mini, Taxi

Here are a few interesting things i have found out about the roads in china:

1. Lines seem to be merely for show
2. It is ok to pass a bus whilst driving into oncoming traffic
3. It is ok to pass another car, who is passing a bus into oncoming traffic (i.e. the car passing is in the first lane going the wrong way and we were in the second lane going the wrong way)
4. Police are merely for show and are often oncoming when passing a bus
5. on busy mountain roads (Mt. Lushan, below) it is ok pass a bus on a single lane round on a blind corner as fast as you can
6. Speed Signs seem to indicate the speed which is half the speed you can travel at

The same night we arrived in Shenzhen we left on the overnight train bound for Nanchang. We were in a sleeper carriage, three high. The lights went out at 10.20 so we had to stop playing cards and hit they hay.

We woke the next morning and helped out by a fellow traveller who spoke english, decided to not get off at Nanchang but to continue to Jiujiang. This involved moving to another sleeper carriage, mainly to move the bags and sit in another carriage. We could have moved to cattle class but the people there were really cramped and our gargantuan baggage would not suit the environment.

We finally arrived at 10 am in Jiujiang... more to come later

Oh a final note, the traditional dress of most chinese men is a casual slip on dress shoe and semi-pleated slacks. This uniform is worn but almost 80% of all men, the other 20% seem to prefer a laced dress shoe. This uniform is worn on every single occasion, even construction workers on the street.