"Canton...one of the oldest cities in China"

Known to the Chinese as Gúangzhõu, this is one of the oldest cities in the whole of China. For thousands of years it has been one of the main gateways into the country.

Close to the sea, Canton became the first place where foreign visitors would arrive, the first being the Indians and the Romans who appeared as early as 2nd century AD. By the Tang dynasty (500 years later), Arab traders visited and a sizeable trade with the Middle East and South-East Asia began to grow. Initial contact with European nations was made in 1557 when the Portuguese were allowed to set up a base in Macau, which is just sixty five kilometres from Hong Kong. In 1625 trade was almost started with the British but it was not until 1685 when the Chinese finally allowed trade with the ’outside world’. British ships began to arrive regularly from the East India companies bases on the Indian coast and the traders were allowed to establish warehouses and factories near Canton as bases for shipping out tea and silk. In 1757, a new Imperial decree stated that all foreign trade must be restricted to Canton only, which showed how little importance was given to the trade with the Western world. Of all the Chinese people, the Cantonese have been influenced most by the outside world. This can be attributed to fact that Canton lies just one hundred and ten kilometres from Hong Kong, yet two thousand three hundred kilometres from the nations capital Beijing. Almost everyone has a relative in Hong Kong who for years have crossed into China with the latest clothes and gifts of refrigerators and T.V.’s etc. Despite attempts by the authorities to pull down the enormous TV aerials, many Cantonese can receive the latest shows from Hong Kong, which a few years ago would have been considered, "A ruinous influence on the ideological and moral uprightness of the Chinese people".

In Canton now there is a huge growth in the trade with the Western world, with large industrial areas such as Shenzen being set up to help rake-in the large amounts of capital being invested into the area. Large Western style hotels complete with Western grandeur have been built and on the streets are independent entrepreneurs making a living and running their own businesses which, under the the rule of the Maoist era, simply did not exist. Today private enterprise appears under every form. Even cooks nannies and maids are becoming commonplace in the homes of the middle and upper-income Chinese families. Since 1984 Canton companies have exported cooks and cleaners to Hong Kong, and whole streets in Canton are devoted to the sale of Hong Kong goods or imitations. Canton is certainly not representative of life in China today, however as the country gradually opens up more and more, there is bound to be more spread of the Western influence that is obvious in Canton today.

I had decided before arriving at Canton, that I was going to make my way to Hong Kong and not stay in the city, as from what I had read in the Lonely Planet guide they are very similar and by now I was itching to see Hong Kong, which was a place I had wanted to visit for many years. Fredrick and I made our way to the railway station where, outside, we were surrounded by young English speaking Chinese students who kept asking us if we were going to Hong Kong, and if so they said that all the tickets were sold out and they had one for sale. Of course we realised that this was just a black market trick so that they could make some money on the tickets, but the price that they were asking for the short trip to Hong Kong was an astronomical Y250 (£25.00) which in Chinese prices was ridiculous! Nowhere along my journey had I had to pay such a large amount to travel anywhere and I wasn’t prepared to pay it now! I thanked them for their help and said that I would first try to purchase a ticket and if I did not have any luck, I would return to them.

Once inside the station, we were amazed at the confusion that was going on as it appeared the world and his dog was trying to do the same as us and buy a ticket for a train journey. It was then that a very short old lady approached us and said that, for a small fee, she would help to purchase a Chinese priced ticket, which would mean that we would make a saving over the Western priced ticket that we would have to buy with FEC’s. She told us that she would charge just Y10 (£1.00) for her trouble and not a penny more, which, when compared to the price on offer outside the station, was a bargain! She told us the price would be Y50 (£5.00) compared to Y250 (£25.00) outside, and we must give her cash in Chinese RNB so that she could make her purchase from a Chinese counter. Once she had the money, she scurried off to the ticket hall and then started to dive from counter to counter, until she found a ticket seller with Hong Kong tickets available, or rather tickets to Shenzen which is the border with Hong Kong. She appeared to be gone for ages and all the time Chinese people kept asking us if we wanted them to buy a ticket for Shenzen. Their price was of course Y250 (£25.00), so we politely told them "No thanks!" When the little old lady returned, clutching our tickets, she was grinning from ear to ear happy that she had been able to help us and it was then that we got chatting to her. I first asked her how she spoke such good English. She told us that her husband had come from England to fight in the war with Burma, and it was then that they had met and fallen in love. Due to the oppressive regime in China of those days, it was impossible for her to leave the country and settle in England, so he settled in China so that they could be together. I could tell from the way she was telling the story that it had been an enormous sacrificefor him to make. The story was very moving indeed. She told us that due to the ways of Communism, there was no provision for a State Pension, and for them to survive she had to earn money for food and everyday requirements. It transpired that this was what she did for a living, she would help travellers to obtain their tickets at a reasonable price and only charge them a small commission, which, for her, was enough to buy food. I suppose over a period of a week, she could make a reasonable income from it.

She was lovely to talk to and wanted so much for us to come and visit her home and meet her husband, although she understood that we had a train to catch. She asked if I would be coming back into China and invited me to stay with them. It was a pity that I would not be back in the foreseeable future as it would have been great to go and meet and visit with them, just for a short while and learn all about their life in China. She explained that all the tickets had been sold for today’s train and that we were lucky to get them at all and that was why there was so many people touting black market tickets outside the station. I thanked her profusely and asked if she would be offended if I gave her a little bit more money for her troubles. She immediately replied, quite sternly, that she had only asked for Y10 and that was all she would accept. I tried to explain that the Chinese money would not be of any use to me once I was on the train, as I was not supposed to take out of the country any Chinese money. Nor would I be able to do anything with it once I had left the country as no one would exchange it. She still refused point blank to take any more and I did not want to risk offending her by trying to insist that she did, so we left he matter there. She really wanted us to come and visit her husband, and kept saying how glad she was to have met us, and then she showed us the way to the Shenzen train, where she waved us off just as if we had known her for years. I never asked her name, but of all the people that I had met in China, she left a huge impression on me and she has left a memory that I shall always treasure!

We were on the train at 11.30am and were on the way to Hong Kong and  the start of another chapter in my journey. The train was very different to the ones in the rest of China, for a start they had clean and comfortable seats (which reclined!), there were even net curtains at the window which gave it a nice comfortable feel about it. The people on board the train looked as if they were a different class of person than those that I had become accustomed to in the rest of the country. The women wore expensive looking suits and the men were in smart suits or crisp white shirts and, of course, all were wearing a tie.  The train arrived at Shenzen station at 2.30pm and we disembarked to find it was just like any other train station except for the fact it was more modern and well decorated, however, we could find no sign of the border with Hong Kong, which we found quite strange. Quite a few people were walking out of the station so we decided to follow and see where they were heading and watched as they just turned left and walked off down the road to nowhere. I felt an idiot trying to ask directions to Hong Kong, because the people I asked smiled with amusement and pointed in the direction that everyone was walking.

After a short walk of five minutes we arrived at a large building which was rather like a multi-storey car park but was actually the border and customs clearance building. There were quite a few people queuing at customs control, however we were all processed fairly quick and efficiently, something quite unusual for China!

Once through the Chinese side, we then had to walk through no-mans land which was obviously the land area between the two countries as there was barbed wire and look out post all the way up and across the hillside. The Hong Kong side was fairly straightforward, everyone spoke English very well and were helpful in every way, but then we had serious trouble. I asked where we could find a money changing facility to obtain some Hong Kong dollars for the train journey to Kowloon at the other end of the country. The police officer that I asked told us the only place would be in Kowloon itself, not a problem I thought, I’ll purchase the ticket on my Visa card and went to the ticket office. "Sorry" came the reply, cash only! We now were in trouble, as between us we only had Chinese FEC, as well as small amount of Sterling and that was it! We asked to see the person in charge and was taken to the Station Masters office where we explained our predicament. I think he could tell that we were a little embarrassed. I have to say that I was amazed that a very modern country like Hong Kong, did not have a Bureau De Change at the border when just about every other country in the world did. The Station Master listened to what we had to say and once more I offered to pay on my Visa card, or leave my name and address so I could send the money later, however this was not necessary as he very kindly offered us two free one-way tickets to anywhere in Hong Kong. We said that we wanted to go to Shatin which was where Ken and Freddie lived, the people with whom we were going to stay. He said that we could go there, but that the next day the only money changes that would be open would be in Kowloon, so that was where we decided to head for with our complementary free tickets. Now I could never see British Rail doing the same with a visitor from abroad, they would  be ’sent packing’ and be told "Hard luck mate!"

Once we had arrived in Kowloon and had changed some money, we telephoned Freddie and Ken to check that it was still all right for us to stay with them, however, they were not in at that time and one of the two Filipino maids answered. We told them who we were and that we would ring back in an hour or so.

We had spotted a Mac.Donalds restaurant nearby and as we were starving, we decided to go and stuff ourselves with Western grub. Well, we certainly went wild as I ordered a ’Big Mac’, ’Fillet-o-Fish’, large fries and a large diet Coke, all the things that I had been dreaming of for the past month! The only thing I had not taken into account was the fact I had not eaten such a large meal for a month, and my stomach had shrunk, which meant that after trying to eat all that heavy food I nearly exploded! Still, it was a terrific meal.

I rang Freddies again and this time she was in, I cautiously asked if it was still all right for us to come and stay with them. "Of course it is" came the reply, as if they had been expecting us that very day. She gave us directions and said that she had to go out, but there would be one of the ’girls’ there to let us in, and she gave us direction how to get to their apartment. They lived to the north of Hong Kong in the New Territories so we had to get the train again, this time armed with cash to buy a ticket.

We arrived at 6.00pm and were shown into our bedroom and told to make ourselves at home. All I wanted was to ’hit the shower’ as it had been a couple of days since the last one! After I had showered I went into the family room and met their children Arron, Asher and Zack who were very nice kids and, who of course, spoke impeccable English., (Except Zack, he was only a few months old!)

Ken and Freddie arrived a while later with literally tons of food and explained that tonight they were holding a party for a friend of theirs called Kebby, who was emigrating to Ethiopia to be commissioner I got the impression that this was a reasonably high position. I immediately offered to go out for the evening so that we would not disturb the party, however Freddie and Ken would not hear anything of the sort and insisted that we stay and said that the party could be to welcome us to Hong Kong as well as say goodbye to Kebby. They were really genuine and friendly people.

The party went really well and everyone that we met was very friendly to us. We talked about our travels in China, and they were all very impressed that I had arrived there overland, (Not half as impressed as I was!)

The only thing wrong with the day was that I had planned to ring Michelle and obviously, because of the party, that was not going to be possible, (I was actually quite depressed about it!) so I had to make sure I made the time to ring her the next day, as soon as the time was suitable due to the different time zones.

Read Neils complete adventure here.