Original link: https://blog.251.sh/my-2023-trip-to-hong-kong
As a result, other pits were not filled and this one was filled first. Be warned, there are a lot of pictures here.
Probably last year, China tightened up the processing of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan travel permits and passports. I used a method to try but failed, because the immigration is under the control of the police and I can only swallow my anger. Fortunately, after the deregulation this year, the handling of this aspect has also been relaxed, so I took this opportunity to get all the certificates first.
After the Spring Festival, I went to Guangzhou and Shenzhen (yes, I also planned to write this travel note but I didn’t write it until now), and immediately went to the visa hall to make an appointment after I came back. After a week, the certificates and endorsements (except for Taiwan, because the country suspended personal travel in 2019) all came down.
I originally planned to go to Hong Kong in August, but in June, it happened that the Hong Kong Celebration Committee was going to hold an exhibition in Victoria Park to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the return of the motherland. The technical team leader asked me if I was interested in going to Hong Kong. I agreed to come down.
Disadvantages of public money
public expense travel The biggest problem is reimbursement. Because I applied for a joint credit card between CITIC and Cathay Pacific before, and I only plan to join the frequent flyer program of Air China, so I plan to try Cathay Pacific flights.
However, I ran into a problem after purchasing it. My team requires boarding pass + itinerary for reimbursement, and the itinerary is a blue airline fortune e-ticket itinerary (as stipulated by the Civil Aviation Administration). But Cathay Pacific does not have this thing, it only provides an Itinerary. After searching online, there is a similar situation, but Cathay Pacific’s reply has been hidden. Fortunately, I copied a copy:
Hello, according to the relevant provisions of the State Administration of Taxation on the issuance of the “Notice of the Mainland and Hong Kong Double Taxation Avoidance Arrangement Text and Please Be Prepared for Implementation” – Guoshuihan [2006] No. 884, the Cathay Pacific representative office in Mainland China is applicable The tax rate is exempt from corporate business tax/value-added tax/corporate income tax, so Cathay Pacific’s representative office in mainland China cannot provide passengers with relevant tax invoices. If passengers book tickets through the official website of Cathay Pacific, we can issue relevant receipts for passengers. Passengers can make reimbursement with the receipt and tax exemption statement. If a passenger purchases a ticket through an agent, the passenger may contact the agent to issue an invoice. If you have any objection, please consult the relevant documents of the State Administration of Taxation or visit the website of the State Administration of Taxation http://www.chinatax.gov.cn. Thank you for your attention!
In the end, I spent a lot of time with the financial department, and finally the reimbursement issue was resolved, with the Itinerary and the paper boarding pass.
As for the hotel, the leader of our team chose the Xinhua News Agency (unexpectedly, the Xinhua News Agency is responsible for communication and coordination in the mainland, and the Xinhua Society manages the whole world) and recommended it in an internal document (I don’t remember it very clearly). Regal Hotel in Hong Kong, and then there was no objection when the meeting was held to discuss the accommodation issue, so the leader defaulted that everyone lived in the same hotel.
As a result, my colleagues encountered problems when they read the hotel reviews, and found that the reviews were polarized—the good ones were very good, but the bad ones were very bad, so when my colleagues went to communicate with the leader, they were also very unhappy.
There is another problem. Generally, hotel expenses reimbursement requires invoices and wine lists, but finance only recognizes value-added tax invoices and stamped wine lists. There is no such thing in Hong Kong, so I can only rely on large domestic third-party platforms to subscribe. , because I can’t check out after booking, so I also spent a lot of time researching here, and finally came to the following conclusions about the reimbursement of overseas hotels:
- Ctrip: Can issue invoices and wine lists. You need to call customer service after booking, but you need to confirm whether you can do so in the order interface in advance.
- Where to go: Can issue invoices and drink orders. After placing an order, you can issue it on the order page by yourself, but you need to confirm whether you can do so in the order interface in advance. A very safe confirmation method is to place an order (that is, to place an order but not pay, and then call the customer service to inquire at this time).
- Fliggy: Depends on the seller. The platform itself does not provide invoices and wine lists.
- Zhixing: Invoices can be issued, but if the water bill cannot be issued by contacting customer service, you can only contact the hotel.
6.28 – Day of departure
Because Shuangliu Airport is still under maintenance, most of the flights are basically moved to Tianfu Airport. After finding the check-in counter of Cathay Pacific Airways, I realized that there are really too many people.
At this time, I began to look at the overseas data purchase methods of various operators. Because I didn’t have an eSIM at the time, nor did I have any physical SIM card in Hong Kong, and @头黑黑 sent the card over at night, so I needed overseas traffic for a few hours.
China Unicom’s 1 GB/day price is 25 yuan, but it will take effect on the next day of purchase on the same day. If I had known, I would have bought it in advance! Because China Mobile is 28 yuan, it only takes effect after arriving at the location, but the traffic seems to be 2 GB.
After queuing for 40-50 minutes, it was finally my turn. After checking in and checking in, I was asked to go to a place with a screen next to it and wait for 3 minutes to see if my name was there. If not, I could go to the restricted area. It turned out that there was something wrong here – it had my name on it, and it said “customs” after it.
After I went in, I saw my checked luggage being passed to me by the conveyor belt. I asked the staff, “Is there any problem?” The staff said they didn’t know, and they needed someone from the customs to look at it. After waiting for a few minutes, probably because the departure time was very close (only more than 1 hour left), after the people from Cathay Pacific (it seems to be Air China) kept urging me, finally an employee took me there Another room, and then called the customs staff over. Here are some rough outlines of what I recall:
- Customs officer B: Where are you going?
- Me: Hong Kong
- [Customs officer A asks for my documents]
- Customs officer A: What is your big piece?
- Me: MacBook Air
- Customs officer B: For personal use?
- Me: For personal use, I see that you have a regulation that you need to declare if you spend more than 5,000 yuan. Is it related to this?
- Customs officer A: It has nothing to do with that.
- Customs officer B: Is there anything else?
- Me: A Nintendo Switch, a mobile phone, and two development boards.
- Customs officer A: What is a development board? What are you taking it with you?
- Me: A small computer similar to the Raspberry Pi, I will show it to my friends in Hong Kong, and I will bring it back (I feel that this place cannot be said to be an exhibition, after all, it is not a business visa)
- [I show the VisionFive 1 and VisionFive 2 to the customs officer]
- Customs officer A: We need to see if it involves confidentiality. Is this a commercial product?
- Me: Yes, and the price is relatively cheap. I still have Taobao purchase records here.
- Customs officer B: No need to show me
- [Give it back to me after a while]
- Customs staff member A: Then let me register for you, no problem.
After coming out of that small room, the people from Cathay Pacific told me that you should take the two bags directly through the security check, there is no need to check in, and there are not so many problems.
Then go through customs. First, the first process is unknown, then the second is the security check, and the third is the manual channel. At this time, the staff asked some questions: where to go, what to do, when to come back, is the hotel booked. Then let me pass.
Before getting on the plane, I took the shuttle bus. After waiting for a long time, I finally got ready to board the plane.
Because I chose the extended seat, it feels very good to adjust the chair + have a lot of space to stretch my legs. But the only disadvantage is probably that there is no screen for in-flight entertainment equipment. There are magazines on the plane, and there are pages in it that specifically say that several LGBT+ movies have been selected. Don’t be too good.
The hot food offers fruit and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. The passenger on the right didn’t want to eat it, so I ate an extra Haagen-Dazs. The staple food is sausage chicken rice, which is very good.
After the plane arrived, I got a customs clearance ticket at the self-service customs clearance place of Hong Kong Customs. Then it’s time to take the Airport Express train operated by the MTR into the city! The fare from the airport to Hong Kong Station is 115 HKD.
In addition, there are tourist Octopus for sale at the airport. This kind of Octopus can be refunded at the MTR ticket window when leaving, and the balance can be refunded and the card can still be kept.
After that, I got off at Central Station and ran to the ATM of BOCHK to withdraw a little Hong Kong dollars for my body. Then I took the MTR to Causeway Bay Station, and met several other colleagues at McDonald’s. But a strange thing happened:
After I ordered at the self-service counter, I tried paying with a Credit Card. Then after the payment was successful, I also remembered that my number was 486, but the printer ran out of paper. I called a staff outside and asked her to help me deal with it. She said wait a while, and then she was busy with other things. After waiting for 1-2 minutes, I asked her to deal with it again. At this time, she said to find the Staff at the table. I went to find the staff at the counter, but the staff over there just said “you can’t come and pick up the food without a number”, and then ignored me.
In the end, I didn’t eat the McDonald’s set meal I ordered and went back to the hotel. Later @头黑黑 bought the same McDonald’s and delivered it with a card. Fortunately, I used Club SIM that night. Otherwise, China Mobile’s roaming is really expensive, and I can only go to Google, and other websites are still Proxy required.
6.29 – Set up the exhibition & run around
Today is the layout of the exhibition. I came to the scene before 9 o’clock and set up all the equipment, and then withdrew after 11 o’clock. This day I also experienced the heat of Hong Kong, it is really like an oven.
By the way, the local rental company that the person in charge found was from Yuen Long, and the monitor they brought was SAIVISUHG, a distant relative of Samsung.
Before I ate, I wanted to try my luck in opening a BOCHK account. @头黑黑 recommended the branch of Bank of China in Sham Shui Po , but I drove citymapper to the branch in Cheung Sha Wan , and there were a lot of families there, all of whom were grandparents who raised money. Take the MTR back to Sham Shui Po, then take Exit B2, turn left and you will see it.
After entering, the counter for business is on the left, and the cash withdrawal line is on the right. There are staff like the lobby manager on duty at the door, and they are quite busy. I asked him if he could open an account on the spot, and he said yes, then asked me some information and gave me an “account opening/update personal information form” and a number.
I think my number is B075, but I have only been called to B061 so far. Based on my experience in the Bank of China in the Mainland, I came to the conclusion that it should be better for a while, so I went to the Thai Hainanese chicken recommended by @头黑黑Went to eat.
When I asked if I could pay with Credit Card, the store said that Alipay & WeChat Pay could be used, which was a little convenient when I hadn’t added so much value to the Octopus. After I finished eating, I went back to have a look, and sure enough, the number was checked, and they were all at B08x. The Flag is plugged in and fully inserted, the work efficiency is too high! I quickly talked to the lobby manager. The lobby manager said that it might not be possible and asked me to queue behind a guest. I saw another person from mainland China came to this branch to open an account by walk-in. He was telling the lobby manager that he wanted to trade in stocks, and he also showed his stock trading records in other apps, but the lobby manager seemed not very willing. I directly want to open it for him, although I also gave him the number, but I hope he can provide more information.
The teller who worked for me was a 40-50-year-old aunt with a very nice attitude. From time to time, she chatted with me about salary in the Mainland, my name and Hong Kong-related matters. Finally, she said to me, “You like Hong Kong so much”, On the one hand, he finished the business for me. There was a small episode in the middle – the wacom machine was broken when I wanted to sign, and I had to wait for almost 15 minutes. Then I got a new account/service notification with my Hong Kong dollar and Foreign Exchange Savings account numbers and service account number on it.
After coming out, I quickly deposited some Hong Kong dollars in it. Then I looked up at the sky, it was so hot that it always felt like it was going to rain.
After that, I also went to the nearby Gold Computer Mall and New Gordon . I still don’t know where the new Gordon is (I stumbled into it by mistake), but the gold is quite obvious.
There are a lot of game cards and CDs in Gold, but unfortunately my game console is Xbox 360 besides Switch. In addition to selling accessories, New Gordon also sells many old-school items. It’s a pity that I don’t have money, and I can’t take it back.
I met the leader and other people in Xingaudeng, and I left after watching a colleague buy a certain bright card and adapter from AMD, because I had an appointment with @头黑黑 to have dinner at Niuwu Japanese BBQ . During the period, we were trying to use OpenEUICC to save an esim.me card that was damaged (actually not) and then moved it to another esim.me card, but both cards had different accidents.
correct! Before eating barbecue, we also went to Uniqlo to buy a T-shirt full of golang codes. I have been waiting for this one in China for a long time but I haven’t seen it on the shelves, and I didn’t even see it when I went to the one in Sanlitun, Beijing.
That’s it for the day.
6.30 – Exhibition Opening & Climb Victoria Peak
I also got up very early, and then went to the venue to start setting up and debugging the equipment. I heard that a big leader is coming today.
Sure enough, there was a big booth in the opposite direction of our booth, that is, at the main venue. Apart from reporters, the people involved in the exhibition were the Hong Kong police.
I thought that Li Jiachao didn’t come, but after looking at the photos later, I realized that besides the Liaison Office, Li Jiachao also came.
We were waiting for the leaders of the Liaison Office to come over, but because the staff in charge of the venue didn’t greet us, we didn’t come. We were a little disappointed.
After the opening of the public to enter, basically those who come here are some passing people, or people who have a little understanding. Few people who are proficient in the hardware field chat with us.
Apart from this, the most lively place should belong to the place where a group of dragons are in front of our exhibition. Auntie likes to take pictures there very much. When I was shooting one of the groups, I was asked if I could go over and take a photo for them. If I had known it, I would not have taken it…
At noon, the leader led the team to eat Salia. I heard from my colleagues that it was because they also had lunch in Salia yesterday, and it was cheaper. This is my first time eating at Salia, and I ordered baked rice, which feels weird.
When we came back after dinner, there was no one there, but some reporters were on the scene to collect information. But I only recognized the TVB reporter.
Later, because the leader left in the afternoon, we felt that there were no people, so we closed the stall after 6 o’clock. @头黑黑 came to the scene to pick me up, and then went to Taiping Mountain together. Stopped several times on the way because of leg cramps, but he insisted on taking me, woo woo woo.
After taking the subway to Admiralty Station, follow the signs all the way to the Peak Tram Kennedy Road Station. It is recommended to fully charge your Octopus here, because it is too slow to queue up to buy tickets. The fare is 62 HKD.
After going up the mountain, you can walk along the Lufeng Nature Trail , and there are several places where you can see the whole of Hong Kong.
By the way, there is also a check-in place for Xiaohongshu in this place.
See that place with a rock in the lower right corner? That place is where Xiaohongshu checks in. A YouTuber in Hong Kong even made a video for this. My opinion is that you must not learn from those idiots in Xiaohongshu.
Then it’s downhill. In fact, there is no need to queue up for the cable car when going up and down the mountain, because there is a direct bus No. 15, which only costs HKD 12.1, and you can also experience the thrill of a desperate minibus (no).
7.1 – Day 2 of the exhibition & climbing Victoria Peak
On this day, the leader has assigned two groups of people to take turns to stand guard, and I was assigned to the first wave, so I also need to be at the venue today. The flow of people was basically the same as yesterday, there was no difference, but there were a little more people with children. It happened that my colleagues also adjusted Minetest, so that our booth could also attract children to visit. The reporter who collected the material saw Phoenix Satellite TV, but not the others.
In the afternoon, under the constant urging of colleagues, I finally closed the booth at about the same time as yesterday. Then go to Prince Edward’s Yuen Long Ice Room (yes, Yuen Long Ice Room is not in Yuen Long) with @头黑黑 to eat pork chops. I felt very good, and then went to the Xinhe Center in Mongkok, saw a lot of figures and other ACG-related things, and bought two hololive stand cards and a limited edition CD of YOASOBI’s アイドル single with novels. The price of some products is compared with Taobao and Xianyu, and I feel that it is always right to come here to buy old and rare things. Payment here generally supports Octopus and cash, and some stores support credit cards, but they charge a 3% handling fee.
Then we went to New City to try @头黑黑’s favorite taiko master. I haven’t played music games for a long time, and I feel like an old man with dementia. I wanted to try WACCA but the time has passed, so I can’t play anymore, but there is CHUNITHM next to it. I tried it for the first time. I thought it was too good and I didn’t need to apply for a card. The more I played, the better I knew. Just do a card to store the progress.
7.2 – Cheung Chau
I’m on vacation today, so I can sleep in. After bringing hahaSIM for a friend and tidying up, I went to Yau Ma Tei to meet @头黑黑.
We went to the current point first. Compared with the Xinhe Center we went to yesterday, although there are also figures, there are more Lego here, and many shops are closed.
There is an interesting shop that sells watches and there are two-dimensional pictures below. I heard from @头黑黑 that there were originally two pictures below.
Then we got to the ferry in Tsim Sha Tsui. He wanted to take me on the route from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central yesterday, but it was too late, so he brought me here today. The fare is 6.5 HKD.
However, before swiping the card to enter the gate, we saw a long row of people on the right, and at the end we found out that they were buying tickets, which reminded me of “A: I use Metropolis to scan the code B: Are you an idiot, I’ll wait for you One minute” this meme.
The line is really long.
On the boat, there is nothing to take pictures, because the surrounding area is foggy. After getting off the boat, we went directly to the pier on Cheung Chau.
The price of the ferry to Cheung Chau is 40.70 HKD and the duration is about half an hour. Unfortunately, as it was my first time on such a long ferry, I found myself seasick, but not so bad that I threw up.
After disembarking, we headed towards the East Bay , preparing for a week-long hiking route around the South Island. But before that, we found remnants of propaganda that had not been cleaned up on Church Road in Cheung Chau . It’s a pity that I came too late, the wall covered with posters must be spectacular.
Then we went to the East Bay, unfortunately, there was a thunderstorm warning just after arriving in the East Bay. But @头黑黑 felt that this did not affect our climbing, so we continued to walk along the road.
After walking to Guanyin Bay , follow the signs to the Little Great Wall.
After walking to the Small Great Wall, walk in the direction of the Anglican Retreat .
Then, proceed to Huaping Mountain Villa -> Salesian Retreat .
Then, proceed to Nandang (dàng) Tin Hau Temple .
There is a platform in front of the temple, which is also a good place to take pictures.
After the visit, go in the direction of Lanyuan -> Church of Christ in China Cheung Chau Church Jinjiang Primary School -> Zhongle Pavilion (this road is called Cheung Chau Peak Road West), and you will pass the first public toilet on the way. My impression is that in such a remote (?) place, the toilets are well maintained. The Mainland should learn from Hong Kong in this regard.
After the second public restroom , a cemetery, and more cemeteries. Then, follow the signs to Five Elements Stone –> Cheung Po Tsai Cave.
If you are careful, you may find that I did not mark Cheung Po Tsai Cave with a link here, because although the sign of this road (below) tells you that the road of Wuxingshi cannot go to Zhang Baozai Cave, it is actually possible, but you need to A little technical work.
However, before the real problem comes, we can enjoy the sea breeze and take a rest on the flat ground made up of a few stones in front of the road.
Then at the end of this road, you can see the Five Elements Stone.
Next we arrived at Fuyu Bay , which is a more difficult section. Do you think the road has come to an end? Actually no!
Go down the stone all the way, then turn over a few stones, lean against the high wall and walk down to a very old ladder. If you really can’t walk, you can take a look at Google Street View here . Street View has completed 80% of the road, and you can watch my video for the remaining 20% of the road.
After that, walk along this road and you will see the signpost for Cheung Po Tsai Cave .
This road can be located on Google Street View
When you come up, you can see the signpost.
Zhang Baozai Cave is very narrow, not for people who are too fat, and a flashlight is needed, and it is best to take off the backpack.
The general structure is a vertical road (but no problem to climb down), a flat but narrow road, and then three parts of the ladder going up.
After coming out, go to the Memorial Pavilion of Hong Kong Huiyou Hall . At this time, the mountain climbing is basically over, and you can walk along the coastline all the way to the Cheung Chau Ferry Pier .
If you are still free before boarding the pier, don’t forget to buy two special snacks here, one is big fish balls and the other is mango sticky rice. Note that both stores only accept cash.
Then I took the boat back to Central, and then took the MTR back to the venue in Causeway Bay to pack up my things. The ferry from Cheung Chau <–> Central departs every half an hour.
After tidying up, I went to Don Quixote, which operates 24 hours a day, this time with my colleagues; I forgot when @头黑黑 took me once. Collected some good and inexplicable items.
7.3 – HSBC & Leaving Hong Kong
Very early on, I made an appointment through my friends to open HSBC One at HSBC in Causeway Bay on July 3. This is another purpose of my main visit to Hong Kong. Because the appointment is at 10 am, I plan to check out after opening the account.
The required information is no different from that of the Bank of China. It is also described in detail in another article, so I won’t go into details here. All in all, it was a perfect win this time, and I am still very happy.
The last itinerary of this trip, because I have come to Causeway Bay, I must go to Causeway Bay Bookstore. Located at 2/F, 531 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island .
Then it was off to the airport. Although the return flight of my air ticket is Cathay Pacific, the actual carrier is Air China, which caused me to wait in line for half an hour at the check-in gate of Cathay Pacific, but I managed to catch up. By the way, I cannot use Cathay Pacific’s self-service system to check-in in this situation.
By the way, when I was queuing, I ran into a female 35p by chance, which was a bit pleasant.
Hong Kong International Airport is indeed a bit big, and I even searched for my boarding gate for a long time.
This time, I also used up the 1-point VIP room provided by the Bank of Communications Tencent co-branded card, so I need to find the Plaza Premium Lounge at Plaza Premium Lounge. I am very satisfied if I can eat a meal!
The plane back was a bit rotten, the food was not very good, and the bread was very dry.
It was already 8 o’clock in the evening when we arrived, but it was still dark. After a long shuttle bus, we came to the place where the remote plane arrived. It was very easy to enter the country, and then I was preparing for the subway to go home. But at this time, the T1 terminal was very empty. I don’t know why, but it was very similar to my mood at that time.
postscript
I feel that there are still many places I haven’t visited. When I save more money, I must go again, and I need to have a few more rua @头黑黑!
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