Let me pause right here and explain a question some of you may have about my Macau-Hong Kong Trip:
Why Macau and Hong Kong? Why not just Hong Kong? Or why Macau, period?
1. The cheapest tickets I found were for Macau.
2. I was more curious about Macau since apparently more people visit Hong Kong than Macau.
3. Macau was a Portuguese colony for almost 450 years (the mid-1500s - 1999), making it the first and last European colony in China. You will find signs in Cantonese and Portuguese (and now English) everywhere. Too bad that there aren't many Portuguese speakers anymore.
4. I speak Spanish, which makes Portuguese understandable. If it weren't for English, I'd only have Cantonese and Portuguese to go off of. At least I can get by with understanding most Portuguese.
5. Macau is the closest thing to Europe I can get here in Asia (that's more substantial and more authentic than the random German and French villages sprinkled in Korea).
6. Macau and Hong Kong are both small. When I go somewhere, I want to see as much of that place as possible. The smaller the place is, the more reachable that goal of mine is.
7. Macau and Hong Kong are right beside each other, making them ideal places to explore within a week.
8. As an American (don't know about other nationalities), I cannot just go to China and get a visa upon arrival--like in most other countries. I need to get a tourist visa before entering the country.
I don't need a visa to enter Macau or Hong Kong (or Taiwan). These are the most accessible parts of China that I'm more than willing to check out.
Those are pretty much my reasons.
Now, back to the Hong Kong part of my trip . . .
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