Haikou (海口) and Surfing Hainan (海南)

Haikou is the province capital of Hainan Island which is the biggest Chinese Island (overlooking Taiwan of course). I got there on the first eve of Chinese New Year also known as Spring Festival (春节). This is the most important event for Chinese people and they are celebrating it for about two weeks. Just imagine we western people would celebrate our New Year for two weeks and you get an idea what is going on during these days. Actually I wanted to head as soon as possible further south for surfing, but it turned out that the local surfers (actually all of them western people) would go there later during week. Since the hostel and the people living at the hostel have been really nice I stayed 3 days in Haikou with a lot fun and a lot of relaxing. Later during week I took the bus to Xinglong which is a small town at the east side of Hainan. I spend the first day at the beach and got sunburned. In the afternoon Markus and Danio came there as well and stayed one night before going to Sanya. On the next two days me, a Venezuelan, a US-American and a French guy went up and down the coastline in a small QQ car to find some surf able waves. The waves we found have not been too good, but better then nothing and I could get some rides. After these two days I went back to Haikou and took a ferry back to the mainland in order to catch a bus to Shenzhen and to enter Hong Kong.

On the way from the airport to the hostel I met an American Japanese couple and a Hong Kong - Indian couple. Before having the Spring Festival dinner together we first had to get "rid" of the drunken Canadian occupying the entrance area to the room of one of the couples

As I said: Imagine we would celebrate our New Year for two weeks!

Posing kids in Haikou

At the hostel - This is a moustache (two month later I met this guy again by coincidence in Shanghai)

Xinglong - My first day on the beach

Markus and Danio are taking a hot ride!

Exploring the "city"

Markus together with a Chinese family wearing their beach uniform

Exploding Bin Laden Noggin

Hopefully never walking this pavemet drunk!

This is somehow the Hainan national soft drug - You chew it and then you get a very light befuddlement...

... and it's sold everywhere

I am not sure but I think it is jackfruit - and these monsters are crowing on trees!

On tour with the QQ

Sure, a cow is an animal one usually finds on the beach!

This old man is the owner of the apartment complex I lived in - He looked after me like a father

(here are some more Hainan pictures)

Hong Kong

At Hong Kong, I met Danio and Markus again who arrived there one day earlier. Hong Kong is an amazing city! It is not comparable to any Chinese city and one gets the impression it is still British and not Chinese at all. We did a lot of sight seeing and on the third day I went alone to the Hong Kong Island peak since Danio and Markus have done this on their first day. Up there is one of two Burger Kings of Hong Kong (there is no Burger King in China so far) and in this Burger King I met Chompu and her friend Fon – both form Thailand. While I went to the restroom Chompu wrote a slip of paper and put it on my table! I hang out that evening together with them (Markus also joined us later) and the next morning until they had to leave to the airport to catch their flight. Chompu is such a nice and charming woman and I hope to visit her in Bangkok before returning to Germany. I also had to go back to Beijing that evening – so I took the Jet Boat in order to go to Shenzhen in the afternoon. An amazing travel ended at this night back in Beijing!

Streetlife

Fish market








Trip to Tai O village on Lantau Island













Helpful advices at Hong Kong subway stations!



Hong Kong Island 7eleven drinking tour together with Markus and our Hong Kong "guide" Sincere









Hong Kong Island peak - meeting Chompu and Fon

(here some more Hong Kong pictures)