Hong Kong Again: A Winter Vacation Family Trip to Hong Kong and Guangzhou
The trip to Guangzhou was planned long ago. As a northerner, every winter I always yearn for warm places. Originally planned for 8 days in Guangzhou and Huizhou, but later my daughter said she wanted to go to Hong Kong, where her beloved Disneyland is, so the plan was adjusted to 8 days in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Twin Moon Bay and Su Dongpo in Huizhou will have to wait for another opportunity.
Hong Kong again. The last time I was in Hong Kong was five years ago. Still the same streets, still the same sea. Five years have passed, and the changes don’t seem significant, but when you look closely, there seem to be many differences. Payment methods are more convenient—WeChat Pay and Alipay are almost everywhere, so there’s no need to exchange a lot of cash. The MTR can be paid directly with UnionPay QuickPass; without QuickPass, scanning a WeChat QR code also works. I didn’t encounter any discrimination against mainlanders. The impression Hong Kong people have always given me is gentle and polite.
Compared to Shanghai Disney and Tokyo Disney, Hong Kong Disney is really small. We went during winter vacation, and it wasn’t too crowded, though the wait times were still far less than in Shanghai. The Grizzly Gulch mine train was my daughter’s favorite—we rode it three times. The newly opened Frozen World area was quite busy. Arendelle Castle is beautiful, and the overall atmosphere is a bit like the Harry Potter area at Universal Studios, but there are really only two rides: a small roller coaster and something like a river rafting ride, both with long queues. If you don’t want to wait, you can buy a fast pass on the app—about 100 yuan each time—saving time and effort, well worth it.
At Victoria Harbour, it was very pleasant to enjoy the sea breeze. A portion of fried chicken and fries, a glass of apple juice—my daughter ate with great relish.
On the fourth day, we moved on to Guangzhou and encountered a cold snap that chilled us to the bone, so we mostly stayed indoors.
A visit to the museum is a must. I’d like to remind friends who want to visit the Guangdong Museum to make a reservation on the official WeChat account at least a week in advance. It’s almost impossible to get a reservation for the same day or within a week. We didn’t book ahead, and during the five days we were there, I tried every day but couldn’t get a slot—it’s extremely popular. Although we didn’t make it to the provincial museum, we did visit the Museum of the Nanyue King, which is also an excellent museum. It covers the history of the Nanyue Kingdom in the Guangzhou area during the Han Dynasty, with many unearthed artifacts. You can rent a VR audio guide to listen and learn while viewing, which greatly expanded our knowledge.
Foshan—we went to see the famous Ancestral Temple. The scenic area is not large, mostly featuring introductions to martial arts figures like Wong Fei-hung and Ip Man. My daughter wasn’t very interested and finished viewing quickly. There are two lion dance performances daily: one at 10 a.m. and another at 2:30 p.m. If you’re going for the afternoon show, don’t arrive too early; the ticket only allows one entry, and there’s no restaurant inside, so it’s best to have lunch before entering. The lion dance performance was still wonderful—a gem of traditional culture, well worth the ticket price, and worth the wait from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
How can you bring a child to Guangzhou without visiting Chimelong? This was our second visit to Chimelong Safari Park. My daughter was more interested in observing the animals’ habits and living environments, and she was eager to ask questions like “Where does it come from? Where is its hometown?”, “Who are its parents? Does it have siblings?”—endless little questions that left me at a loss for words. Here you can observe giant pandas up close without queuing for hours, and there’s no glass window—it feels like you could almost touch them. We definitely got our panda fix. There are also koalas, giraffes, white tigers... Chimelong Safari Park has a rich variety of animals, all looking clean and lively—truly worthy of being called the best zoo in China.
How can you talk about Guangzhou without mentioning its cuisine? Rice noodle rolls, shrimp dumplings, claypot rice, fish skin salad, double-skinned milk... The list of Guangzhou’s delicacies is endless. Compared to Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurants like Lei Garden, I prefer old names like Guangzhou Restaurant (Guangzhou Jiujia) and Taotao Ju—the flavors are authentic and down-to-earth.
Although this trip to Hong Kong and Guangzhou was only eight days, it was a pleasant and wonderful journey. Beautiful things always heal the soul. Looking forward to the next trip.
