Ken C.K. Ngan

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Touching Pictures taken during the National Day Fireworks Display on 1st October 2023

This year's National Day evening, the Hong Kong government set off a beautiful and colorful fireworks display on both sides of Victoria Harbour. Almost, it has been five years of waiting since 2019 marked by social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic. Thousands of spectators lined up along the Victoria Harbour cheering the return of the National Day fireworks display on 1st October 2023, the 23-minute fireworks display was so beautiful and dazzled both all the native citizens and worldwide tourists.

This year, the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region spent more than 18 million to put fireworks over one of the most prosperous harbors in the world -The Victoria Harbour, making crowds happy to watch the show. Looking up from both sides of the strait below, it looked like multiple colorful fireballs shooting down at the spectators. I watched a TV news report interviewing a young mainland compatriot who came with his family to Hong Kong for the show, he looked like, was very excited.... and he told the news reporter that he liked and was dazzled by the National Day's fireworks display, would visit again in the subsequent years to meet the fireworks display.

By means of celebrating the National Day of 2023, I expect a new start to Hong Kong that can walk along with all the citizens, with the company of "Peace", "Love", "Joy", "Patience", "Kindness", "Goodness", "Faithfulness", "Gentleness" and "Self-control". I hope that all the people can receive the fruit of Holy Spirit as and when given.

Best Regards

4 Oct 2023

Sunday, September 17, 2023

There is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live

Mr. Hui, who I know, is a 76-year-old man, he has been hiking for more than 30 years and has always been in good health. Until last year, his health deteriorated greatly due to a cardiovascular surgery. However, he still insists on hiking at least three to four days a week after recovery. He said that if he were lazy and couldn’t go hiking one day, he would probably give up on the next day. Also, his physical condition would be inferior if he did so.

Because Mr. Hui has many years of hiking training, he still goes to Qingyuan Mountains every year with his charity team members (except for the three years during the COVID-19 pandemic) to alleviate poverty. On September 13 this year (the Wednesday that just passed) he went to Qingyuan Mountain to visit and distribute supplies to the people and their homes in Qingyuan Mountain.

In addition, his charity group also supports tuition and expenses for poor students in mountainous areas. Over the years, many aspiring students have completed college or above and higher courses because of him and his group. The most grateful thing he said is that many mainland recipients who had been helped by Hui’s group in their childhood/ in the past, especially are those who have become doctors or nurses, providing low-cost medical treatment to Mr. Hui’s charity group to perform cataract surgeries for the elderly in Qingyuan mountainous areas. This is a very good blessing of giving, receiving, and repaying that in the group is endless and sprouts from year to year.

China has a population of more than 1.4 billion (including Hong Kong and Macau). I hope that when we’re rich and have time, we can lend a helping hand to other compatriots in need, work hard to make the country prosperous, and improve the quality of life of the people being helped.

Currently, many people around the world are affected by wars and natural disasters, they’re living on the verge of hardship. Being able to help others is a blessing because it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Mr. Hui invited me to go to Qingyuan Mountains in December to help distribute supplies and experience their work there. I have already agreed and hope to be able to set off as scheduled!

Best Regards,

NGAN CHI KEUNG

Sunday, September 3, 2023

What's up Guizhou (1)

In July four years ago, I went with my friends to Wuyi Mountain, we recognized a couple in a local tour group; the husband, Mr. George Ng, was a 56-year-old Chinese-Canadian man (aged 60 this year) and father to four children and his wife Mary Sit is a Chinese. In memory, George was deeply loved by all tour members throughout the Wuyishan trip because he loved telling stories about his past tours’ experiences to everyone. On the third day of Wuyi Mountain, he shared their happy and unforgettable travel experience in Guizhou, China. When they were invited to attend a local banquet "the Long Table Banquet", they deeply felt the enthusiasm of the Miao people in the delicious Guizhou cuisine and experienced the hospitality of ethnic minorities. Long Table Banquet is a famous feast (banquet) in Guizhou as per China Travel Website.

The couple strongly recommended all of us to go there at least once and to choose Guizhou to be the place of our next trip because there are many scenic spots worth seeing there. He also listed many magnificent scenic spots of Guizhou that are worthy of being included in the “Top Ten or Top Twenty Must-Visit in Life”. The attractions there include “Gui’an Cherry Blossom Garden”, Qingyan Ancient Town”, “Huanggoushu Waterfall”, Libo Xiaoqi Kong” and the “Xijiang Miao Village” just mentioned …and so on.

George's travel experience opened my plan up to visit Guizhou seeing how spectacular and attractive it is. In February of this year, I started planning to travel to Guizhou China in March. March is the month of my birthday, I said to myself if I could visit in March, it would be a good memory...

I got the travel information from travel websites; the best way to get from Hong Kong to Guizhou is by plane; the flight time is 2 hours and 25 minutes, and the ticket fare is about $750 to $2000 HK dollars, depending on the pricing and the flights supplied by different airlines. All know that the most cost-effective way is to take the bullet train from West Kowloon Station (WK Station), which is cheaper than flying but it will take twice as long according to the ticketing website of CR12306. It takes approximately 6 hours and 18 minutes to Guiyang Bei if by G series train. (G-trains are the fastest and also the most popular in China, with a max speed of 380km/h)

It was not funny and met with a minor obstacle when I was on the website CR12306 to book the ticket, there was only a train or trains dismally small per day for passengers to get on from WK station, which seemed to have a shortage of trains at WK. Unlike the WK station, there were more and plenty of train schedules departing from Shenzhenbei and Guangzhounan. The shortage may be attributed to a few conservations in allocating schedules for trains to WK at the early stage of full resumption of normal travel between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Of course, it caused absolute inconvenience for some passengers who would like to depart from WK.

Adopting the advice made by my friend it was proposed to arrive in Foshan on the day before traveling to Guizhou and spend a night there until early the next morning to board the bullet train at Guangzhou Nan Station by taking Foshan Metro. This can solve the problem of a shortage of train schedules at West Kowloon Station and even is more flexible to choose which boarding time I like as there are more schedules opted online for boarding from Guangzhou Nan. In addition, the D-series train takes passengers on the whole journey needing approximately 5 hours and 14 minutes from Guangzhou Nan to Guiyang Bei, at its max speed of 250 kilometers per hour, can save by 1 hour and the fare is relatively lower than departing from WK station taking the G-series train.

By booking on CR12306, I bought a round-trip ticket; the going ticket was from Guangzhou Nan to Guiyang Bei at 09:00hr on March 17, 2023, and the return ticket was from Douyun Dong to Guangzhou Nan at 16:19hr on March 21, 2023; fares spent in 291 yuan and 247 yuan (RMB) respectively.

Bullet Train at Guangzhou Nan Station (D214)

Highlights of Guizhou

As stated, the D train took 5 hours and 14 minutes to get from Guangzhou Nan Station, the ride was smooth and comfortable throughout the journey, felt extremely good! In the eighth cabin, there is a fast food restaurant for train passengers to buy quick snacks, beverages, and lunch boxes. About 45 yuan (RMB) for a lunch box fitted with a can of cold drink; for adults, the size of the lunch box is just right, food is not too spicy. I used to have my lunch while standing next to the aisle in front of the fast food counter, this act helps to stretch my legs and avoid the discomfort of flexing feet during the long journey. Surprisingly, I saw many train passengers who might have the same ideas as me standing there, seemingly unwilling to return to their seats.

After getting off the train, I rented an SUV for my 5-day trip in Guizhou and was accompanied by a local guide named Xiao Lau (Mr. Lau Bin, a native resident of Guizhou province). Xiao Lau has led tourists to visit Guizhou’s attractions for years. Why was Xiao Lau waiting for me in the station lobby? In fact, I didn’t recognize him at first, while I was searching for travel information on my smartphone, he walked up to me and introduced himself. I didn’t mind a tour guide accompanying me to visit Guizhou as he had been in my plan before I got off, I at least could benefit from surprises from the journey because I believed in him and his experience.

Xiao Lau was born in Guizhou, his former job was as a teacher in a native primary school, and then for a certain reason, he changed his career life from a rural teacher to a tour guide. He said his livelihood from 2020 to 2022 was almost in an idle stage, with no tourists, only a few jobs, and less income throughout the three years because of the outbreak of worldwide COVID,… it sounded really not good, the worst came to the worst in the 3 years to the Guizhou’s economic situation which mainly lives off its tourism. It is hoped that Guizhou’s tourism can recover soon!

On the way, Xiao Lau briefed me on the history, the population and the famous attractions of Guizhou Province, Guizhou is rich in natural, cultural, and environmental resources replete with forests and rivers, having different minority groups living together in this place, including Miao, Bouyei, Dong, Tuila and Yi people. Lau said Guizhou is one of the inland provinces in China; its geographical location is nearly the land located above the bottom border of the China Map; this formed a good superiority to better protect them from foreign attacks in the ancient years, so historical buildings and ancient villages can be well kept until today.

This is the map to show the area of Guizhou China, its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the area.

It was a very pleasant thing to travel by car, especially when driving on unfamiliar roads alongside the rare villages from Guiyang to Guizhou, navigation led the routes to the place we wanted to go. The navigation app revealed that the road to Xijiang Miao Village needs driving for 3 hours, about 260 kilometers away from Guiyang Bei (The Capital of Guizhou Province).

Xiao Lau suggested that we should put off the visit to the Miao Village because of the time and distance, All attractions in Guizhou are closed after 17:30hr on the general days, so going first to the Cherry Garden would be better for the schedule.

Highlights of Gui’an Sakura Garden

Because it was right in the flowering season, I did see the cherry blossoms when we arrived in Gui’an. The park was full of brilliant cherry blossoms everywhere, with tens of flower-watching tourists queuing up to take pictures on the observation deck where they could catch the super beautiful view. Under the sea of cherry flowers. I saw that some girls in ancient costumes acted as pretty princesses for their cameramen, and some tourists posted a series of close-up selfies or instant videos on Douyin (TikTok), WeChat, or WhatsApp.

Xiao Lau said Gui’an Sakura Garden covers an area of more than 10,000 mu, and nearly 700,000 famous cherry blossoms are planted in the park divided into early cherry blossoms and late cherry blossoms. The flowering period combination time will last about one month since mid-March every year.

Photos taken on March 17, 2023, show tourists walking under blooming cherry blossoms in the Gui'an New Area of Southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Date of Experience: 17 March 2023

To be continued,

What's up Guizhou (2)

Highlights of Huangguoshu Waterfall

Anshun is located in the middle west of Guizhou Province in Southwest China, about 95 kilometers driving distance from Guiyang. We stayed overnight at the hotel in Anshun City, and after breakfast in next morning we went to the next attraction “Huangguoshu Waterfall” by car; its name from the “huangguo trees” was named because the trees grow along the riverbanks, The waterfall is surrounded by lush vegetation, gorges, limestone caves, stone outcroppings, and rock pillars in a classic karst landscape. Xiao Lau said Huangguoshu is the largest waterfall in both Asia and China (the world's 3rd largest), while the second largest in China is the Hukou waterfall in Shanxi.

Going inside, we had to rely on the electric bus. A round-trip electric bus ticket of 50 yuan (RMB) brought us to go and back from the entrance.

With Huangguoshu Waterfall as the centerpiece, 18 unique waterfalls line this stretch of river. Known for their power, treacherousness, and beauty, they are one of the largest groups of waterfalls in the world. Take the path up behind the waterfall to the highest point where you can see different views of the falls and see how the water starts to drip. When I reached the top it was an absolutely stunning sight to see, the top point where I could reach out the water and totally feel the massive amounts of water vapor emanating from the waterfall.

We stayed all day at Huangguoshu Waterfall taking plenty of nice pictures and having lunch there. After the visit, we went back to Guiyang for hotel check-in.

Date of Experience: 18 March 2023, Anshun City of Guizhou, 95 kilometers driving distance from Guiyang

Highlights of Guiding Rapeseed Flowers

According to China Tourism Network, Guiding is another scenic spot in Guizhou Province, where countless charming yellow rapeseed flowers bloom, covering an area of 1.94 million hectares, a 4A tourist attraction.

As the weather gets warmer, the Spring scenery in Guiding is picturesque. It was a good time to wander among the sea of rapeseed flowers in the Jinhai Snow Mountain Scenic Area in Guiding County, Guizhou Province. I saw many rapeseed flowers blooming in the fields, which is a common sight in March every year. years, so this beautiful place makes Guiding a popular spot for outings.

Date of Experience: 19 March 2023, Guiding Country of Guizhou

Highlights of Xijiang Miao Village

As said by George Ng (a travel group friend of Wuyi Mountain Tour), the Miao people are very hospitable, they like to treat tourists from far away by drinking their home-brewed rice wine and letting the guests taste the Miao people's "sour fish soup". Miao women also know how to entertain guests during the banquet, they will invite guests to participate in a drinking ceremony. Foods in the village are either very spicy or not really original but do think the ingredients are better than one can find in major cities, the wine is a bit sweet and easy to drink. Besides, Miao people are so nice to all guests.

During the ceremony, I was invited, like other guests, to taste the welcome drink. The Miao women kept pouring wine into my mouth from the highest jug above for dozens of seconds. You should know that if you don't show a gesture to stop the women, they will assume that you have a good drinking capacity and keep pouring the wine into your mouth.

Besides, Miao younger women or girls prefer to adom them with large colorful plastic or bone combs and pretty silver crowns while the senior Miao women wear their long dark hair coiled up in neat buns on the top of their heads.

Definitely, it was a funny and amusing ceremony for all participating tourists, Xiao Lau said “Long Table Banquet” is one of the highest forms of ceremony at Miao Village as Miao people used for weddings, newborn baby celebrations, and village gatherings. Guests joining the banquet can savor a variety of Guizhou cuisines throughout this ceremony. When you celebrate with the Miao, you’ll be welcomed like family. I enjoyed the dinner indeed as the feast created a carnival atmosphere with drumming, singing, and dancing. Truly, I am still keeping that scenery in mind. Thank you George for introducing me to travel to Guizhou!

Date of Experience: 19 March 2023, Xijiang Miao Village

Highlights of Xiaoqikong, Libo

We stayed a night at the village’s hotel near the Miao plaza where the shopping street we wandered until 23:00hr last night. A 3.5-hour drive from Xijiang Miao Village to Libo started after breakfast. By the afternoon, we arrived in the Libo country, Guizhou which is jurisdictionally part of the Qiannan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefectures. Libo is steeped in rich ethnic customs and traditions, the scenery there is truly magnificent.

The attraction gets its name from a seven-arched greenstone bridge that crosses the noisy river there. The site incorporates all the beauty of mountains, water, trees, caves, lakes, and waterfalls. Besides, Xiao Lau said the attractions of Xiaoqikong like the ancient seven numbers of emeralds (green stones) half floating on the water.

Date of Experience: 20 and 21 March 2023, Xiaoquikong Attraction, Libo.

Place and Time of Departure: Douyan Dong Station, 16:19 hr 21 March 2023

Thanks for George's good message attracting me to go to this wonderful place, and thank you for Xiao Lau's guiding work, he was very professional and nice throughout the trip. Since March is not the tourist season, there are far fewer large tour groups and the streets are less chaotic, making visiting more enjoyable.

Regards,

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