So high in Zhuhai.

Woke up early this morning, the boat to Zhuhai leaves at 12.30 but we’re expected to be at the jetty in  good time and with all the luggage we carry, we’ll have to take a taxi to the jetty. We’re informed by our Chinese companion that we can have breakfast on board the ferry. The trip is said to take only 60 minutes but there are quite a few formalities to take care of.

The boat that took us to Zhuhai

A not so slow boat to China

Yan, our companion, takes care of tickets etc and we end up with two hours to spare. At Starbucks we can have both coffee and a bite to eat. I, myself however go outside to enjoy my Marlboro addiction. (I need to smoke as much as I can, since I’ve decided to quit when I get back home.)

The ferry-terminal is like a small shopping-mall and the time flies by. Our luggage is dispatched and after passing customs and passport control we are formally in China.

More waiting. There are a lot of Chinese sounds coming from the loudspeakers, all indistinguishable jibber to us, but suddenly there is a message we understand:  “Bolding fol Zhuhai, bolding fol Zhuhai!”

Boarding for Zhuhai sign
Boarding for Zhuhai

The trip is a short one and after another passport-check and luggage-collecting we are definitely in China!

Outside the gates are the welcoming-committee, Yans mother, sister and brother together with a friend of the family. The pleasures of the reunion are evident and we don’t want to interrupt it, but we’re soon called forward and introduced to the family. Everybody greets us like old friends even though they’ve never seen us before. This is true hospitality!

Our hosts has a high standard in cars
Zhuhai ,driving in style

 

 

 

 

We’re soon herded into the waiting cars, a Mercedes and two BMW’s. High standard transportation, this!

 

 

 

We’re taken directly to the ZHUHAI GOLDEN HOLIDAY HOTEL, through an impressive reception, up to the 17th floor and installed in grand room. The bathroom has mirrors in gilded frames, golden faucets and is extremely clean. This hotel is obviously not for the poor.

Bathroom of the "Golden Holiday" Hotel

 

 

The view from the windows is also impressive even though much of Zhuhai is a great construction-site. But from this height you can see far beyond them.

 

View from our room at the "GOLDEN HOLIDAY HOTEL"

Upon settling in our room, we go for a short walk in the neighbourhood with our young companion and guide, Mimi. There are all sorts of small holes in the walls along the street, filled with a great variety of businesses; a foodstore, a shoemaker, a dentist, a jeweller, a flowershop, a liquer-store. It is all very different from back home. But when Mimi take us to the local shopping-mall, it’s just a shopping-mall that you can find anywhere in the world. Funny how all shopping-malls are so “unsexy”!

This evening we’ll be dining with our Zhuhai hosts, at their own restaurant

 

To read more from China: Click here!

 

 

You can find reviews of  the Zhuhai Golden Holiday Hotel at Tripadvisor

 

 

 

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