Early last month, we took a short trip to Hong Kong. Hong Kong had not been part of our original travel plans because we’ve already visited a couple of times, and we’ve always found the people a bit rude. 😓
But what has been in our travel plans is China. When we left the US, we naively assumed that we could get our visas in Taiwan. (Spoiler alert: we couldn’t.) Turns out there is no Chinese embassy in Taiwan, so we would either need to return to the US to get our visas, OR go to the China visa application center in Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong is only a 1.5 hour flight away, we decided to go that route and make a long weekend trip out of it.
The visa application process has two parts. First, you have to fill out an online application on their website. They ask for a lot of information, including your itinerary, previous travel to China, parents’ birth place, etc., so it can be tedious. After submitting your application, the visa office will review and possibly ask for additional information. It is only after your online application is approved that you can go into the office to submit your passport and get your visa. The online review/approval process was quick, about 2-3 business days between submission to approval.
Early Monday morning, we arrived at the visa office only to find a ton of people already there. 😬Luckily, since we applied for urgent service (next-day turnaround), we were able to skip to the front of the line. Important tip: if you applied for urgent service, make sure to tell them when you check-in! They will give you a different queue number. Otherwise, you’d be waiting with the masses.
The whole process was fairly smooth. We handed in our online application confirmation, passports and payment, and left within 30 minutes. The fees were hefty for urgent service; we paid close to $1200 USD for the four of us. 😯 They advised us to pick up our passports and visas the next day at 5pm but we were able to get them by 3pm, which was perfect because we had a flight to catch!
Ok, enough of the boring stuff. We spent only 2 full days in Hong Kong and ate to our hearts’ content. We miss Cantonese food terribly (there isn’t much of it in Taiwan) so we hunted down all our favorites. It hit the spot for sure!
We also visited Victoria’s Peak, rode the ding ding train multiple times (per the kids’ request), and rode the Star Ferry across the harbor. The lights at the harbor were dimmed to mourn the victims of the recent Tai Po fire, but Hong Kong’s skyline will never not be beautiful to me. 💖
Our trip to Hong Kong was pleasant this time around. Our past experiences were tainted by locals scolding us but this time, we actually had some nice encounters so I call that a win. ✌️ This time, Hong Kong also felt strangely comforting. Maybe because we’ve been living in Taiwan for a while now, but the sights, sounds, and even the city’s unique “smell” barely registered. It was also nice to be able to use the language I grew up with, even though I often mixed it up with Mandarin. 😅
Hongs Abroad 