12-Day Mother-Daughter and Bestie Getaway Across Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai

The theme of this trip: besties taking kids to see the world together. Taking advantage of the lighter summer workload, I used ten days of annual leave, plus weekends, totaling twelve days.

I brought Ruibao, and my bestie Xiao Gao brought her son Cola. Our two-adult-two-child special forces travel squad set off in high spirits.

On July 29, we took a high-speed train from Xi'an to Guangzhou, arriving after over seven hours. We planned to visit Chimelong in Guangzhou the next day and stayed at the nearby Forest Password-themed mansion. The room was child-themed, quite interesting, and good value for money. I forgot to take photos; those interested can search for it.

In the evening, a local colleague treated us to a pigeon feast, and for supper we had seafood congee. Both were delicious.

On the 30th morning, we moved to Guangzhou Chimelong Panda Hotel. There were tons of people. The hotel lobby had performances; Xiao Gao watched the shows with the kids while I handled check-in, which took about one or two hours.

After check-in, we couldn't check into the room until 3 PM. Chimelong includes the Animal World, Happy World, and Bird Park. We went to Animal World first, then watched the Grand Circus in the evening.

Animal World had many rare animals, and the kids were thrilled.

The Grand Circus started at 19:30, I recall. It was quite stunning, especially the high diving acrobatics at the end.

After the show, we visited the Canton Tower in the evening to take photos, letting Ruibao see where I had taken pictures during my last visit.

The Panda Hotel's service and breakfast were excellent. If you come to Chimelong, I recommend staying at their themed hotel.

On the morning of the 31st, we considered going to Bird Park or Happy World and chose Happy World, since playing in water is the kids' favorite activity. I took so many photos, but now when I organize them, I find they're all gone—such a pity. Luckily I had posted some on WeChat Moments, so I transferred a few. We spent the entire day there.

In the evening, we took a high-speed train to Shenzhen. The transportation is very convenient. In Shenzhen, we chose Mint Apartment right next to the subway station. We went to the hotel and rested.

On the 1st, we decided to visit the ancient Shenzhen city—Pengcheng Village. This is a historic city built during the Ming and Qing dynasties to resist Japanese pirates. It produced over ten famous generals. You can see coastal defense facilities from centuries ago. If you have time and interest, you can check it out.

We drank some specialty beverages. The weather was great.

We found the ancestral hall of the Hundred Family Surnames and made grand wishes.

In the afternoon, we visited an internet-famous bookstore.

We took the kids on the Ferris wheel. Shenzhen Bay Light Ferris wheel is very famous. It's worth experiencing with kids, though the queuing was long.

On the morning of the 2nd, we checked out and prepared to cross into Hong Kong. We needed to prepare adapter plugs and local SIM cards in advance; Xiao Gao had prepared them from Taobao. We also exchanged 1000 HKD at the bank. We planned to stay only one or two days in Hong Kong, so we didn't exchange much. For longer stays, you'd need more, as many places don't support electronic payment or RMB. You can also exchange at the border checkpoint. Ruibao exchanged some of his pocket money for fun. Also, it's best to get an Octopus card at the border. Hong Kong's Octopus card is a universal card for almost everything, but recharging needs HKD cash. That's a bit annoying. Otherwise, Hong Kong is not big; many places are accessible by MTR, which supports Alipay QR codes. For crossing, you need a Mainland Travel Permit and ID card. The queue was long but moved quickly, except that I was asked if I was pregnant because I was wearing a dress.

The MTR from Shenzhen to Hong Kong is slightly different from the mainland. The train wasn't very crowded. People kept a certain social distance, and few were on their phones. It was quiet; quite a few were reading. Any loud noise or big movement would attract stares of scrutiny, as if telling you to be mindful. The boisterous Cola and Ruibao gradually quieted down.

After arriving, we stayed at the Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West in Hong Kong. We were lucky to get a sea view room. The view outside was superb, but the bedding inside was a bit damp, and the facilities felt older than mainland hotels, with few power sockets. The building was very tall, probably over 70 floors, and the elevator was fast. The front desk only accepted HKD cash for the deposit—no negotiation. Hong Kong seems to have a very strong sense of rules, quite rigid, and low efficiency. Check-in at mainland hotels is quick, but here we queued for over half an hour even though there weren't many people. After finally getting the room card, we went upstairs but couldn't enter. We went downstairs to ask what happened. Just as I started saying "Excuse me," the front desk said directly "Go queue up." We queued another half hour. When it was my turn, they swiped the card and said it hadn't been properly encoded, and after re-encoding it was fine. They didn't apologize for wasting my time, as if it was normal. This felt very different from the mainland—poor service awareness.

After checking in, we went downstairs to eat. The prices were very high: an ordinary tomato oxtail rice was 88 HKD, and other items were similar. Ordinary noodles or rice noodles were around 50-60 HKD, and portions were small. No wonder many Hong Kong people earn money and spend it in Shenzhen. Restaurants were cramped with small tables, unlike the mainland where people sit, eat, and chat. Here, you eat quickly and leave. One or two people can't occupy a big table; you have to share. We were used to ordering several dishes and eating slowly, but we found that locals each order one dish and rice, finish quickly, and leave. Our habit of ordering several dishes and eating slowly while chatting seemed out of place.

In the afternoon, we went to Disneyland first, buying two-day passes. Today we just scouted the area. The Disney MTR line has a unique style and decorations, quite interesting. They also have Disney headbands that look great in photos.

We were very satisfied with the scouting. We noted the gifts to buy and planned the route for the next day. Then we went back to the city to visit Victoria Harbour. Thanks to Ruibao's Alipay, we had limited Octopus balance, so we saved it and tried to use Alipay for the MTR. For purchases that didn't accept Alipay, we used Octopus.

Victoria Harbour was beautiful—words can't capture it; you have to feel it in person. We took the kids on a boat ride.

On the morning of the 3rd, we ate at this place. Everyone agreed the milk tea here was indeed delicious and authentic.

Then began our Disney ride-hopping journey. Every ride had a queue; we wanted to do every ride, and every ride was fun. We basically managed all the rides, and our legs almost gave out, but it was totally worth it. Afterwards, everyone agreed we want to come again. We promised to come back after they get into college, haha.

We watched the Lion King show—my favorite. Does every post-80s person have a soft spot for Simba? I do, and my eyes teared up during the show. At night, during the fireworks, I actually cried.

The Disney castle at night was especially beautiful. The fireworks display was gorgeous. Watching quietly, I felt many emotions, mostly moved and happy. I was grateful that in my lifetime I could bring myself here to experience and witness such a beautiful scene.

On the morning of the 4th, we checked out and took a ferry to Macau.

We bought tickets at the Sheung Wan ferry terminal. There were many departures, very convenient. Macau has two piers: Outer Harbour and Taipa. You need to choose one that's convenient for you. Our hotel in Macau was near Taipa, so we chose that pier. The journey took about an hour—can't recall exactly. When we arrived in Macau, transportation was very convenient. Buses cost 6 RMB flat, but exchange rate-wise, using Macanese pataca is better. We didn't exchange, so we used Alipay for shopping and RMB for buses.

From the ferry, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge looked magnificent. On the way, I explained to the kids the history of Hong Kong and Macau and when they returned to China. The kids' overall impression was that Hong Kong people seem quite averse to mainlanders. The mainstream languages are English and Cantonese. If you can't speak English or Cantonese, they know you're from the mainland and won't even crack a smile. Macau people are different. When they hear you're from the mainland, they warmly greet you and start conversations.

After arriving at the Macau hotel and checking in, we ate downstairs. Coming from Hong Kong's high prices, Macau seemed cheap everywhere, so we shopped with enthusiasm. The weather was still hot and sticky. Cola was too tired to walk and didn't want to explore. I wanted to visit the Ruins of St. Paul's. Ruibao hesitated between resting at the hotel and accompanying me, then chose the latter. I was quite touched. He said, "You're in a strange place, your English is not good. If you get kidnapped, I'd have no mom." Despite being exhausted, he accompanied me through the whole trip and even walked all the way back to the hotel.

Macau has many pharmacies, and the medicines seem quite effective. My ankle had been hurting from too much walking. The ointment I bought at the pharmacy downstairs relieved the pain quickly. It was good value: about 20 RMB for a pack of 20 patches. I regret not buying two more packs.

The Grand Lisboa building, snapped on the way to dinner.

Snapped on the way to the Ruins.

The famous Ruins of St. Paul's. No wonder construction workers in Hong Kong and Macau earn high salaries—around 30,000 to 50,000 RMB per month. The various old buildings of different styles are indeed wonderful.

On the morning of the 5th, we checked out and left our luggage, then started a one-day Macau tour. First, we went to Margaret's Café e Nata for Portuguese egg tarts. The kids boasted they'd eat a whole box, but actually didn't even finish half. Not because they weren't good—they were pure sweetness with rich butter and egg flavors. The egg tarts and milk tea were good. There was also a pork pie that Ruibao loved; he had two. The prices weren't cheap. Across from the egg tart shop was a clothing store selling kids' and adult casual wear, good value. If you go, you can check it out.

After breakfast, we headed to The Venetian for eating, shopping, and buying. They have many affordable clothes and food, and of course, a gambler's paradise, filled with an air of money.

In the evening, we crossed to Zhuhai and stayed at a homestay near Gongbei Port. On the 6th, we went to the Love Post Office. The kids played in the sand and water at the beach, looking for shells, splashing around endlessly—they were so happy. We ate some authentic, good-value seafood.

On the 7th, we had a one-day trip to Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. At lunch in the restaurant, we could see many penguins playing through glass. The kids loved it. The evening fireworks were also beautiful. Unfortunately, we went too late for the roller coaster—it was already closed. That was the regret of this trip.

On the 8th, we took the kids to the Zhuhai Space Center to see the air show, making it a research-study day.

On the 9th, we flew from Zhuhai back to Xi'an, ending this wonderful trip.

After summarizing with my bestie, traveling together was good value. We covered many places, and the average cost per family (one adult and one child) was about 15,000 RMB. The only downside was that we planned too little time for Hong Kong and Macau. I was greedy—I wanted to go everywhere, but time was short. Next time, we can plan a separate itinerary for Hong Kong and Macau to explore thoroughly. The kids also gave good feedback: we went to many places, ate what we wanted, drank what we wanted, and saw what we wanted—except they didn't get enough of Disneyland rides. We promised them we'll go again after they get into college for a proper tour. Before that? Haha, don't think about it. There are still many great mountains and rivers in our motherland to explore. It's enough to have been there.