Hong Kong & Lantau Island

We spent 3 days in Hong Kong, staying on the 31st floor of a hotel on the main island, near the financial district. 

View from our hotel room:

We enjoyed walking the streets, as well as taking the double decker tram, going up the longest elevator in the world (800m), and seeing the city from the top of Victoria Peak. And of course, delicious dim sum every day!  Our servers absolutely loved Zac and pinched his cheeks saying what a beautiful boy he is!

Selfie overlooking Hong Kong from the peak:

On the downside, we have had trouble getting our Chinese Visa. It turns out that the rules have changed since we left home. While it is supposedly easier, in order to get a visa for longer than 30 days we need Zac's birth certificate, which we didn't bring. An employee yelled at us when we didn't understand some of the unexpected rules. He said, "what?  Don't you speak english?  I already told you that!""  We were overwhelmed and decided to hire a visa service to help us - though this will cost a lot more, maybe up to $1000 as we may need to leave the country and re-enter after 30 days. 

We then met up with Chao, Danny's cousin who lives in Chicago but is also visiting Hong Kiong - he speaks Cantonese so has been a big help to figure things out.  He is going to go to the embassy with us on Monday and thinks he can help us, especially if Erica can find and email Zac's birth certificate. If it all works, we might still be able to go to China for a few months. If not, we are looking at other affordable options and are considering Malaysia, Taiwan, or even Peru!

10 years ago I had a student who was from Hong Kong and she was very homesick. She told me then that HK is not just a big city but is surrounded by beautiful islands with beaches and forests. Ever since then, I have always wanted to see this part of Hong Kong - and now we are!  We have a tiny little AirBNB apartment on Lantau Island and will be spending the week on the island, exploring the beaches, trails and local spots. 

Lantau island is a Hong Kong suburb, just a half hour ferry ride from downtown. The ferry dock parking has a thousand bicycles from people who take the ferry in to work. I don't think there was any car parking!:

After this week, we have 3 more days in the city and then (if we get a visa) off to Tianjin (north of Beijing) to visit Danny's relatives for 1-2 weeks.