Yes and no.Our discussions with the Exit - Entry Branch of the Chinese Public Security Bureau (the PSB) in Chengdu led us to Venice, at least Venice as recreated inside the Venetian Casino in Macau (a larger and more impressive copy of the copy of the 'Venice' inside the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas).
According to 'regulations' as interpreted by the Chengdu PSB our Chinese visas could only be extended when they had less that 5 days left to run on them which is fine - except at that stage we expected to be in Tibet where we are informed extensions are universally refused. What to do? Fly with Air China to Hong Kong of course, which although technically part of China (as is Macau) operates under different regualtions allowing visa free entry for New Zealanders and from where our re-entry into 'China' would restart our Chinese visas.
Staying in the cheapest accomodation we could find in Kowloon we managed to live it up on a tour to the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Sha Tin Racecourse where we could view the racing from a box in the Members' Stand and most importantly enjoy the open bar and international buffet - yes that means we were allowed to eat and drink as much as we wanted!
To round off our sinful break from the Chinese mainland we spent a few days in Macau where thanks to the Grand Lisboa and Venetian casinos I left 700 Macao Patacas (about NZD$140) richer than I arrived (Michaela came out 100 Patacas ahead) and with a newly found respect for Chinese gamblers who've pushed Macau ahead of Las Vegas in the money stakes.
I should mention that Macau is a fascinating mix of Eastern and Western cultures with the Portugese influence still felt a decade after Macau was handed back to China (including all official signs being in both Chinese and Portugese, and what seems like dozens of beautiful Catholic churches where I was able to seek forgiveness for my gambling ways).
We've now arrived back in Chengdu and have tickets to Lhasa by train on 26 September in 'hard seat' class, a journey which is expected to take 45 hours and involve tunnels through some of the highest mountains on the planet and oxygen tubes in the cabins to combat altitude sickness ...
S
3 comments:
Did you by chance see the bloke wanted by police for killing his wife and leaving her in the boot of the car & abandoning his daughter at Melbourne train station? Quite possibly at the casino??
Many thanks for the postcard, most unexpected but most appreciated. The trip to Lhasa sounds very interesting???? Will look forward to hearing how it went. VW
Well, one has to be an intrepid traveller to survive some of these travelling arrangements!!!! Not sure if I would enjoy that "hard seat" ride but the destination would definitely be worth it. Life is certainly a little different where you are right now. Take care and try to live on less air!!!! JMB
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