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Nevertheless Shenzhen would be an interesting place to spend more time we went to the Customs and stepped across the border on territory of Special Administrative Region Hong Kong. Hong Kong belongs to China mainland but has a high authority in decision making owing to the line ‘one country, two systems’. This place used to be dependent territory of the United Kingdom in colonial times and an important harbour for the Empire starting from the mid 19th century. More than 10 years ago in 1997 the territory was returned to the Peoples Republic of China.
Driving through the so called New Territories breathtaking sceneries opened up to us till we reached Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, where we checked into our by far to small hostel room. Nevertheless it didn’t detain from taking a glimpse at the amazing skyline of Hong Kong Island at night. On the next day we mainly explored Hong Kong Island itself including the Victoria Peak and the famous Lan Kwai Fong, a very touristic bar and club area.
On Saturday we went to Lantao, the biggest island of Hong Kong, to see the Tian Tan Buddha aka Giant Buddha. We reached that place by MTR (the local metro) although we could have also gone by ferry. At the cable car station we unfortunately had to wait for approximately an hour to finally enter the cabin and go up to Ngong Ping 360 where the Buddha is located nearby an idyllic monastery.
In the evening we went back to Kowloon to enjoy the noisy commotion at Temple Market and Mong Kok.
On Sunday we took the Ferry to the 60 km west of Hong Kong located Macao. Through the Portugese settlement in the early 16th century Macao is the first and last European colony in China. The old part of the city reminds of colonial architecture especially the ruins of St. Paul’s Church on the top of the hill.
It is the second Special Administrative Region next to Hong Kong and thanks to its monopoly in gambling license and concessions the highest-volume gambling centre in the world out ruling even Las Vegas in terms of revenue. Therefore Las Vegas casino owners want to enter the market which leads to a remarkable rocketing concerning the number of hotels and casinos built there. One of the most mentionable things I probably have ever seen in my life was the Venetian Macau, one of the biggest buildings in the world.
As Raphael, Mikkel and me enjoyed ourselves there so much we decided to stay over night (without hotel room) just strolling around and visiting the casinos.
To sum up this trip really paid as it was a great experience and the areas we visited are fun places to be.
