After yesterday's mammoth effort, I'm going to push on and finish. There's not much left to write about anyway. On my fourth morning in Beijing, I did a little shopping then caught a taxi to the station. It took me quite a while to find the right place to board the train. The international departures gate was off in a different place to everything else, which made it very confusing. Once I found the right gate, I boarded the train and found myself in a cabin with two other people, a couple from Hong Kong. They were very nice, constantly giving me food and drinks (and cold medicine), and we talked a lot during the journey. One of their hobbies was travelling and meeting foreigners, so they had lots of stories to share in their broken English. Here's a picture of them:

During the long trip back to Hong Kong (about 24hrs, I think) I was able to see more of China from the train. China was certainly an amazing place to visit. There were plenty of bad things about the country, but also plenty of good things. However, my feelings on leaving the country were that I really only saw a tiny part of what China has to offer. The country is so big, with so much left for me to explore, that I think I'll have to go there again some day.

The next day I arrived back in Hong Kong. I was there for three more nights, and on the fourth day I caught a plane back to a very cold and snowy Japan. During those three days in HK many things happened, but only a few are worth writing about.

Firstly, the hotel. While I was in Beijing I decided that I would book a cheap HK hotel to try and save some money. China is a cheap place to travel, but when you're there for over 2 weeks the $s start to add up. Unfortunately, by the time I made a booking there was much left to choose from. The only cheap hotels left was one that had a mix of good reviews and bad reviews. After staying there for 3 nights, I'll give you my review: it was an absolute dump. Admittedly, it was cheap and in an excellent location, but the room was horrible. It was tiny (even by the Japanese standards I'm used to), the bathroom was awful, the shower was just a hose in the bathroom, the bedding was just one thin sheet... I could go on, but I won't. As I said, the location was great. Right near a subway station in the middle of one of the busiest areas of Kowloon. Everything was just outside my door. I guess the one good thing about the crappiness of the room was that it forced me to spend all my waking time outside the hotel.

Just in front of the hotel was a small park where old guys were hanging out 24/7, playing board games, smoking and generally marking time.

All this was literally 10 sec from my hotel.
What else? I spent most of the time in HK doing some shopping, checking out the markets, wandering around and basically trying to relax before having to return to Japan. During this time, I had three awesome experiences.

1) Lasagna. I was wandering around one day and I decided to stop in at a pasta restaurant for lunch. I know, it sound weird - you come to Hong Kong and eat Italian food - but you have to remember that many foods are just not available where I live. Lasagna is one of them. Italian food is popular in Japan, but for some reason they just don't have lasagna at most places. I lve lasagna, so when I went to this restaurant I ordered a big plate of it. It was so good that words just couldn't describe how I felt. In fact, it was so good that I went back there the same day and got more for dinner... heh heh... I was thinking about going there the next day too, but I found something just as good...

2) Indian curry. There are lots of Indians in HK, so I decided to get some Indian food one night. The Indian food was just like the lasagna - orgasmically good. I got a set meal with a selection of curries and a mountain of naan. The curry had the perfect spiciness, hot enough to set my nose running and my eyes watering, but not so hot that it became inedible. I think I'll remember that curry for a long time to come. After the curry I was in a good mood, so I went to get...

3) A massage. HK has lots of massage parlour. There are reflexology massages, body massages and (wink, wink) massages. I went to a proper establishment where I was treated to a 60 min foot and leg massage and a 30 min shoulder and neck massage. By now, I had done so much walking over the previous two weeks that my leg and foot muscles were like stone. The massage lady told me this, and then suggested that I extend my course to include a 'full body' massage upstairs. I told her politely that I was happy with just the leg and shoulder course and she set to work. I sat on a reclining chair watching some Chinese program on a big plasma TV. There were two other customers in the shop, and there were five or six other staff hanging around eating and talking. Honestly, I have no idea what was on the TV, what the other people were talking about, and I can't even remember if they were male or female. The massage was so good that after about 2 mins I was in a dream-like state. It was surreal... there was lots of pain and lots of pleasure. After my course was finished it felt like I had been there for hours, yet at the same time it felt like I had been there for just seconds. It was very strange. I spent the rest of that evening wandering around the night market just taking in the atmosphere. My body felt better than it has in years, and I had a stomach full of curry. It was great.

So, that's it. China is finished. It was a great trip with lots of great memories. I'd like to go back to both HK and China again, as I feel there is still lots left to see, do and eat. Hmm... writing this has made me hungry....