How to fly to Hong Kong to the exhibition (part 2)
In the first part, I briefly described how to get to Hong Kong in general and to two electronics exhibitions in particular. As I promised, I’ll add information about how to survive in this crazy world to live in Hong Kong for several days (while the exhibitions are going) with minimal costs and maximum benefit. And a small bonus about Shenzhen with its electronics factories.
I’ll say right away that this year you can visit both exhibitions in the mode “without separation from the main work”, since April 12-13 - Saturday and Sunday. And once again: my story is not “about tourism”, but a brief guide for those engineers and startups who would be interested to get directly to major international electronics exhibitions and talk with representatives of Chinese factories (printed circuit board manufacturers and electronics assemblers).
At Cathay Pacific, at the time of this writing, there are still direct tickets with departure on Friday 11th and returning on the 14th on Monday morning for 26680r. To spend the night one night in a separate room - about 2000 rubles, meals-local transport - another 1500-2000 rubles. In total, it is possible for 30000r with a little to please yourself by visiting two large electronics exhibitions (in the "hardcore" mode).
Just in case, I remind you: by “dollars” and “bucks” below, I mean their Hong Kong variety. The course is about 4.5 rubles for 1 HK $.
So, according to the results of my previous article, we flew to Hong Kong and arrived by bus to the venue of one of the exhibitions (HKTDC, Wan Chai district of Hong Kong Island). Here we can kill several birds with one stone.
Not far from the bus stop there is a one2free mobile phone shop . There you can buy a prepaid card ($ 100 worth, of which all 100 immediately go to the account) and activate 3G unlimited. On the day, unlimited costs 28 bucks, for a week - 78. After that you will have excellent fast Internet everywhere .
However, this is not necessary. At an exhibition, in a hotel, in cafes, etc. Free high-quality Internet via WiFi will be available. Usually, however, with a time limit (at the exhibition, it seems, they give an hour - I have never chosen a limit there simply, I can’t say for sure).
')
In general: I recommend the network cafes Cafe de Coral, Suzuki Cafe, Food Republic.
If you go up to the pedestrian gallery leading to the exhibition in Wan Chai, then on the right you can see the painfully familiar icon McDonalds. But right below it, if you go down one floor, Cafe de Coral is located. Great fast food for cheap. If I go to the exhibition, then I have breakfast here (25 bucks). You come to the checkout, call the number of the set, which you chose from a special stand on the photos and descriptions, clarify the drink (note that coffee is with them, you want to say black coffee right away), you pay in cash or in octopus. Then you stand in line to the kitchen and in a couple of minutes you get your food. The conveyor is impressive.
Dine, in principle, can be in the same place (40-50 bucks). Or go down from the pedestrian gallery on Lockhart Road - there are a lot of European bars with good food (60-120 dollars).
In principle, you can eat at the exhibitions themselves, at food courts. But the food is so so.
The best option for the money - one of the many hostels in Chungking or Mirador Mansions . On Booking.com you can find a separate room for one without any problems even in the high season. It’s just that during exhibitions the prices are raised one and a half times, and if usually a single room costs about 1200 rubles for one night, then in mid-April it will cost 1700-2000 rubles.
Features of local hostels:
1. Hard to find a reception. There are a lot of “blocks” in the building, each has a separate elevator (to which a long queue is built in the evening) and a staircase. Carefully see the description on Booking.com. If you plan to check in late - make sure that the reception is working around the clock.
2. They may additionally want 10% “for service” or 5% “for payment by card”. Again, carefully see the description.
3. Room may not have a window. But even if it is - not the fact that it is good (the window can go out onto a noisy street or into a rather smelly room). Be sure to check that the room has air conditioning!
4. Recently, there are no problems with the Internet in the rooms - fast and free. But, just in case, it does not stop to clarify.
5. Do not wait for miracles. The rooms are cramped. Highly. But clean and rather quiet (I have not encountered any exceptions yet), it is quite possible to suffer a couple of nights.
To get to the exhibition - you can not imagine. You can take the subway (two stops with one change). But personally, I prefer the Star Ferry ferry, which drives almost to the building of the exhibition center, at the same time it is cheaper, and it gives incomparably more impressions from the trip.
By the way, in the Chungking Mansion on the second floor there is a Cafe de Coral, where you can have breakfast, and very close to the Food Republic, where it is convenient to have lunch and dinner.
Alternative: a hotel or apartment in Hong Kong. It will cost 2-3 times more expensive, but the living conditions can not be compared and you can walk to the exhibition. Or ride a cool and extremely cheap two-story tram.
Well, if you have a reusable Chinese visa, you can live in Shenzhen, and go to the exhibitions by subway (with a daily round-trip border, which takes from half an hour to an hour and a half). The cost of living (with the road) will be released at the level of a hostel in Hong Kong, but comfort is many times more, and you can eat in very good restaurants very cheaply.
We don’t have a tourist server (I’ve been repeatedly hinted at), so I’ll say briefly: if you suddenly have a free week, you can easily kill it, because there are a lot of interesting places in Hong Kong. But we are here on business, so ... Just in the evening (if the weather is fine), sit down near the central pier (Metro Central or Star Ferry ferry) on bus 15 (if you are not afraid, then the second floor, the first row, but I recommend buckling up) and catch the adrenaline from the trip to Victoria Peak , where you climb to the free observation deck (attention! There is also a paid one, but it is no better than having the excellent Bubba Gump restaurant next to you) and enjoying the view of Hong Kong at night.
In general, visiting only exhibitions without a visit to the Shenzhen factories is a rather strange option. Usually, a pool of potential partners is gathered at an exhibition, and the selection of a particular factory is already taking place based on the results of visits and personal inspection. There is no special meaning in this, except perhaps acquaintance with a big boss (who usually does not go to exhibitions), but that is the tradition.
From Hong Kong to Shenzhen can be reached by subway (MTR). Two border crossing points are located near Lo Wu and Lock Ma Chau stations, which are located on the same line. At Lo Wu, you can get an entry visa to Shenzhen right on the spot, but it's better to have a Chinese visa in your passport in advance. Cross the border - and here it is, the world center for the production of electronics!
Unfortunately, very few people in Shenzhen speak English. So get ready in advance. Print addresses in Chinese. I highly recommend to buy a China Unicom SIM card - you will have excellent 3G Internet (120 yuan, 500MB of traffic included), as well as the opportunity to call the factory and ask someone English-speaking to explain to the taxi driver by phone, where and how to go. One joy is the subway in Shenzhen is beautiful, the names of all stations are duplicated everywhere in English, so the usual practice is that you drive to the nearest metro stop at the factory and meet with a representative of the factory at one of the exits (both in Hong Kong and Shenzhen all exits from metro stations have unique designations, for example, B2 or E5, so you can’t go wrong). The city is very big, you can take a taxi (even at local, very reasonable prices) and you can go bankrupt, and even traffic jams are pretty cruel.
Usually, you can visit two factories in one day (before lunch, that is, until 12-13 hours, and after). More than three - I have never succeeded. At each meeting, you will surely be given tea (often the tea is brewed by the big boss personally, so I recommend strongly demonstrating how you like this tea, since in most cases tea is really tasty). Business cards need to be transferred, holding them with two hands (tradition, thus demonstrates respect). If you liked the talks and you seemed like a promising client - you can be fed lunch or dinner in a good restaurant. I hope you can eat with chopsticks?
Occasionally, the factory may not be in Shenzhen itself, but in Zhuhai or Dongguan. Then the round trip will take several hours ... Well, if you need to visit Guangzhou, then there are high-speed trains that run every 15 minutes.
Like, all told what he wanted. If you have questions - ask in the comments.
I’ll say right away that this year you can visit both exhibitions in the mode “without separation from the main work”, since April 12-13 - Saturday and Sunday. And once again: my story is not “about tourism”, but a brief guide for those engineers and startups who would be interested to get directly to major international electronics exhibitions and talk with representatives of Chinese factories (printed circuit board manufacturers and electronics assemblers).
At Cathay Pacific, at the time of this writing, there are still direct tickets with departure on Friday 11th and returning on the 14th on Monday morning for 26680r. To spend the night one night in a separate room - about 2000 rubles, meals-local transport - another 1500-2000 rubles. In total, it is possible for 30000r with a little to please yourself by visiting two large electronics exhibitions (in the "hardcore" mode).
Just in case, I remind you: by “dollars” and “bucks” below, I mean their Hong Kong variety. The course is about 4.5 rubles for 1 HK $.
So, according to the results of my previous article, we flew to Hong Kong and arrived by bus to the venue of one of the exhibitions (HKTDC, Wan Chai district of Hong Kong Island). Here we can kill several birds with one stone.
Communications in Hong Kong
Not far from the bus stop there is a one2free mobile phone shop . There you can buy a prepaid card ($ 100 worth, of which all 100 immediately go to the account) and activate 3G unlimited. On the day, unlimited costs 28 bucks, for a week - 78. After that you will have excellent fast Internet everywhere .
However, this is not necessary. At an exhibition, in a hotel, in cafes, etc. Free high-quality Internet via WiFi will be available. Usually, however, with a time limit (at the exhibition, it seems, they give an hour - I have never chosen a limit there simply, I can’t say for sure).
')
Food in hong kong
In general: I recommend the network cafes Cafe de Coral, Suzuki Cafe, Food Republic.
If you go up to the pedestrian gallery leading to the exhibition in Wan Chai, then on the right you can see the painfully familiar icon McDonalds. But right below it, if you go down one floor, Cafe de Coral is located. Great fast food for cheap. If I go to the exhibition, then I have breakfast here (25 bucks). You come to the checkout, call the number of the set, which you chose from a special stand on the photos and descriptions, clarify the drink (note that coffee is with them, you want to say black coffee right away), you pay in cash or in octopus. Then you stand in line to the kitchen and in a couple of minutes you get your food. The conveyor is impressive.
Dine, in principle, can be in the same place (40-50 bucks). Or go down from the pedestrian gallery on Lockhart Road - there are a lot of European bars with good food (60-120 dollars).
In principle, you can eat at the exhibitions themselves, at food courts. But the food is so so.
Where to live
The best option for the money - one of the many hostels in Chungking or Mirador Mansions . On Booking.com you can find a separate room for one without any problems even in the high season. It’s just that during exhibitions the prices are raised one and a half times, and if usually a single room costs about 1200 rubles for one night, then in mid-April it will cost 1700-2000 rubles.
Features of local hostels:
1. Hard to find a reception. There are a lot of “blocks” in the building, each has a separate elevator (to which a long queue is built in the evening) and a staircase. Carefully see the description on Booking.com. If you plan to check in late - make sure that the reception is working around the clock.
2. They may additionally want 10% “for service” or 5% “for payment by card”. Again, carefully see the description.
3. Room may not have a window. But even if it is - not the fact that it is good (the window can go out onto a noisy street or into a rather smelly room). Be sure to check that the room has air conditioning!
4. Recently, there are no problems with the Internet in the rooms - fast and free. But, just in case, it does not stop to clarify.
5. Do not wait for miracles. The rooms are cramped. Highly. But clean and rather quiet (I have not encountered any exceptions yet), it is quite possible to suffer a couple of nights.
To get to the exhibition - you can not imagine. You can take the subway (two stops with one change). But personally, I prefer the Star Ferry ferry, which drives almost to the building of the exhibition center, at the same time it is cheaper, and it gives incomparably more impressions from the trip.
By the way, in the Chungking Mansion on the second floor there is a Cafe de Coral, where you can have breakfast, and very close to the Food Republic, where it is convenient to have lunch and dinner.
Alternative: a hotel or apartment in Hong Kong. It will cost 2-3 times more expensive, but the living conditions can not be compared and you can walk to the exhibition. Or ride a cool and extremely cheap two-story tram.
Well, if you have a reusable Chinese visa, you can live in Shenzhen, and go to the exhibitions by subway (with a daily round-trip border, which takes from half an hour to an hour and a half). The cost of living (with the road) will be released at the level of a hostel in Hong Kong, but comfort is many times more, and you can eat in very good restaurants very cheaply.
Entertainment
We don’t have a tourist server (I’ve been repeatedly hinted at), so I’ll say briefly: if you suddenly have a free week, you can easily kill it, because there are a lot of interesting places in Hong Kong. But we are here on business, so ... Just in the evening (if the weather is fine), sit down near the central pier (Metro Central or Star Ferry ferry) on bus 15 (if you are not afraid, then the second floor, the first row, but I recommend buckling up) and catch the adrenaline from the trip to Victoria Peak , where you climb to the free observation deck (attention! There is also a paid one, but it is no better than having the excellent Bubba Gump restaurant next to you) and enjoying the view of Hong Kong at night.
Shenzhen
In general, visiting only exhibitions without a visit to the Shenzhen factories is a rather strange option. Usually, a pool of potential partners is gathered at an exhibition, and the selection of a particular factory is already taking place based on the results of visits and personal inspection. There is no special meaning in this, except perhaps acquaintance with a big boss (who usually does not go to exhibitions), but that is the tradition.
From Hong Kong to Shenzhen can be reached by subway (MTR). Two border crossing points are located near Lo Wu and Lock Ma Chau stations, which are located on the same line. At Lo Wu, you can get an entry visa to Shenzhen right on the spot, but it's better to have a Chinese visa in your passport in advance. Cross the border - and here it is, the world center for the production of electronics!
Unfortunately, very few people in Shenzhen speak English. So get ready in advance. Print addresses in Chinese. I highly recommend to buy a China Unicom SIM card - you will have excellent 3G Internet (120 yuan, 500MB of traffic included), as well as the opportunity to call the factory and ask someone English-speaking to explain to the taxi driver by phone, where and how to go. One joy is the subway in Shenzhen is beautiful, the names of all stations are duplicated everywhere in English, so the usual practice is that you drive to the nearest metro stop at the factory and meet with a representative of the factory at one of the exits (both in Hong Kong and Shenzhen all exits from metro stations have unique designations, for example, B2 or E5, so you can’t go wrong). The city is very big, you can take a taxi (even at local, very reasonable prices) and you can go bankrupt, and even traffic jams are pretty cruel.
Usually, you can visit two factories in one day (before lunch, that is, until 12-13 hours, and after). More than three - I have never succeeded. At each meeting, you will surely be given tea (often the tea is brewed by the big boss personally, so I recommend strongly demonstrating how you like this tea, since in most cases tea is really tasty). Business cards need to be transferred, holding them with two hands (tradition, thus demonstrates respect). If you liked the talks and you seemed like a promising client - you can be fed lunch or dinner in a good restaurant. I hope you can eat with chopsticks?
Occasionally, the factory may not be in Shenzhen itself, but in Zhuhai or Dongguan. Then the round trip will take several hours ... Well, if you need to visit Guangzhou, then there are high-speed trains that run every 15 minutes.
Like, all told what he wanted. If you have questions - ask in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/210600/
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