We stayed in a village, south of the mountains that separate China from Hong Kong. The villages have a different feel to the main city. We arrived at Chinese New Year and the celebrations went on for more than a week…public celebrations, special family feasts, giving red envelopes of money to those younger than you (especially the children), and fireworks.
Fireworks are not allowed by the authorities as they are deemed part of a religious observance.
Not so in the villages…they let them rip whenever and wherever they like, bang, boom, wizz, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, boom, kaboom!!! You settle down for the night, you think the fireworks are finished, ahh, peace…. you sleep, boom…..roll over….. kaboom, it’s 2am, quiet, rest, 4am…kaboom, firecrackers crack away in the near distance. Happy New Year folks. I know a quieter way to keep demons away.
One week in about 10pm one night the police did a two car patrol of the village with sirens blaring- the fireworks, the crackers, and bangers stoped for twenty minutes, then the police drove off mission completed, silence ensured… bang, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, boom!
There is a very efficient public transport system: a state of the art metro system, double decker buses, single decker buses and then closer to the villages 13 seater mini-buses. The mini-buses fill up at their terminals, with no one standing. The stops in-between are mostly missed as the bus, once full, only stops to let people off. The drivers will let people off closer to their homes than to stops, if requested. You let the driver know where you are going as you step on and he sets the fare from his seat, but coins were to be dropped into the machine at the bus door or tap your transit card to it to have the fare deducted.
The bus stops seemed to have a bring your own chair policy.
Leaving the villages there are crowds. Crowds once on the metro, walking the streets, in shops, on ferries, and at the sights.
But what stands out are these:
Fragrant trees.
Food.
The people.
The church.. we visited two and a home group and they just loved Jesus and the lost, what more do you need in a church?
Hearts Set On Pilgrimage 