So this weekend I had extra days off for the Gao Kao exam. This exam is deemed to be the most important in the life of a Chinese high school pupil because it determines whether or not they are good enough to go to university. With millions of final year students (about 18 years old) competing for the same university spots they are put under a lot of pressure to perform well.
In order to give them the best chance schools close to anyone who isn't taking the exam, this includes all non-third year teachers, who all get a nice 5 day holiday out of it. Result!
So as I'm down to my final few weekends here I decided to make the most of it. While my Friday was spent being very studious and domestic -complete with another early am cockroach attack - my Saturday was much more energetic. I finally managed to climb Baiyun (white cloud) mountain, in Guangzhou and we weren't defeated by the weather! After a slightly shaky start of the navigation front we (Imti and I) made it to the top for some lovely, if fairly smoggy, views over a beautifully sunny Guangzhou and rewarded ourselves with some fruity ice lollies, which tasted amazing in our slightly dehydrated state, before strolling through the park and taking the cable back down (just because we could). Afterwards we refueled with some tasty dim sum, one of the dishes was decorated to look like pandas, before heading home just in time for the rain to start again.
Smoggy scenes of Guangzhou from Baiyun Mountain
Our Dim sum - we'd eaten most of it by this point
On Sunday, as I had to be in Hong Kong for Monday morning I decided to detour past Macau on my way there, as despite how close it is too me 3.5 hours by bus, I had never been. Macau is a former Portuguese colony so the architecture and cuisine are very much Portugal meets China. Overall my day there only really amounted to about 8 hours in the city but it was plenty of time for me to hit the popular tourist spots and do plenty of walking. I'm going back to work on Wednesday for a rest! The buildings and cobbled streets in the city, which all form a UNESCO world heritage site, are very pretty, it reminded me a bit of France, especially Lyon, I think it was all the coloured buildings and cathedrals. I haven't been to Portugal so I don't know how that compares! Whilst I went to the city to look at the pretty buildings and sample the famous Macau Portuguese tarts a lot of people, especially the Chinese, go there to try their luck in one of the 32 casinos in the area. I read that 85% of the gamblers and 95% of the high rollers are Chinese. It would seem that this definitely is China's playground.
The money that the city makes from these big spenders is definitely evident, especially in the gaudy casino buildings themselves - one is shaped like a squat pineapple - but it's also clear that the city looks after itself. All the old buildings are in pristine condition, the city is tidy and the public transport is really good, there is even free public wifi coverage over most of the area which always comes in handy. Overall I liked Macau, it's a feast for the senses after being surrounded by Chinese buildings for the last year, but because its not that big it would only take a day or two so feel like you'd seen and done everything it has to offer. At least though you can then pop over to Hong Kong on the speedy ferry that only takes an hour!
Some pictures from around Macau
So after my speedy, though rather bumpy ride to Hong Kong (I'm not sure why tight cornering and boy racer-esk driving is required in the middle of the sea but what do I know) my planned two day Hing Kong itinerary was cut short with me having a strop after a visit to the Chinese visa office. The long and the short of that story is that I'm now going to be back on British soil on the 30th June and not the 7th as previously planned. It does mean I'll have to miss the Sichuan part of my planned Beijing bound itinerary but this was involves a lot less stress and (most probably) silent hissy-fits in the streets of Hong Kong.
G x
