The LONG Way Around the World

Sunday, November 15, 2026

Foshan (The reason we came to China)

Imagine if you had never been to the United States before and you had two weeks to visit the most iconic American cities. Would Stockton, California, make your list? That's pretty much what we did with our visit to Foshan. It is a “suburb” of Guangzhou, about a 2-hour bullet train ride from Hong Kong. It is a working “town” (of 9.5 million people) with no particular reason for tourists to visit. And that is one of the reasons why it was a highlight of our trip.

The real reason why we spent a day in Foshan, and for that matter the real reason why we came to China in the first place, is a young fella named Ben. He is a very close friend of Yaeko and over the years has become like another family member. Ben has decided to spend a year in China teaching English to third graders in this nondescript Chinese town. Him just being there was the excuse we needed to take the plunge.

One more important thing about Ben: he is the living embodiment of Buddy the Elf.

Day 4, October 17, 2026

As Hong Kong has not fully assimilated into China, this is where the real border control happens. It was a good thing we gave ourselves a couple of hours at the train station to navigate the multiple checkpoints. At least the train station was a cool structure...

Bullet train was very comfortable.

We finally pulled into the Foshan train station at about 5 in the evening and after a bit of Where's Waldo we embraced Ben like he had just come home from a tour of duty. Nicole and I had mistakenly expected that we would head straight to his apartment, drop our gear, and just have a hang. We asked him what was next. In true Buddy the Elf fashion he just simply said, "I've got some ideas."

We only had 24 hours in Foshan so he immediately took us to a place called Foshan Lingnan World. What a magical place that was. Lingnan is an old part of town with winding narrow walkways unveiling eye-catching scenes around every corner. It was kind of like Venice but without the canals. I just kept thinking that if Disneyland were to create China Land, this is what they would build. It was so photogenic. I could have spent hours there. And because Foshan is not an international tourist destination, all of the shops and vendors sold more authentic goods that locals would buy, not the trinkety knick knacks in Hong Kong. Mind you, we're still toting around our luggage.

Hunger was setting in, so Ben took us to the Foshan Kungfu Market, a massive outdoor food hawker area with every possible kind of food you could imagine. It reminded us a lot of the hawker stands in Singapore. The food was excellent and pleasantly cost-effective. You know it's good when the place is packed with locals going through their daily dinner routine. I sure wish we could have these kinds of places in the States. I just don't think we have the tight concentration of people that would make the economics work. Mind you, we're still toting around our luggage.

Two dudes in that dragon custom on a pole

It was finally time to head back to Ben's apartment, located in an outskirts area 40 minutes north of downtown.

Single-family homes and low-slung apartment buildings simply don't exist in China. Everywhere you look there are clusters of 30-story apartment high-rises that all look like a carbon copy of each other. They call them villages. We no longer had to wonder what it was like inside those buildings as that is exactly where Ben is living for the next year on the 20th floor of a 29-building complex. He is but one person among 9,000 in an area that would fit inside the area of an American high school.

The agency that he was working for found him a fully furnished three-bedroom apartment, and oh boy are the furnishings memorable. It's a bit of a mystery how any of it actually got inside this apartment. It's as if the apartment needed to be built around the furniture.

After a brief tour of his three-bed, two-bath apartment, it became clear that there was only one bed... It had me wondering: Is Ben expecting us to sleep in the same bed with him? Ben said, "Oh no. I'll just sleep on the couch." I looked at the couch and said, "But you won’t fit." He said, "Yeah that's fine. I need to sleep with my feet above my head because I'm having a case of pedal edema." (aka swelling feet). Apparently for the past two nights, he has worked so late at his school that he has been falling asleep sitting up at his desk, only to have the fellow teachers come in in the morning and wake him up. Oh to be young again.

Not a bank vault door, but it sure took a lot of keys and turns to open it.

Furniture fit for a king. Or a 22 year old foreign exchange teacher.

View from his balcony

Looking up from the central plaza.

Day 5, October 18, 2026

I woke up early the next morning and walked out to the furniture room to see Ben sitting straight up and looking right at me as though he had been waiting for that moment all night long. I said, "How'd you sleep?" He said, "Great, and my feet are back to normal!" (I couldn't help but chuckle and think about what Buddy the Elf would say. “I got a full 45 minutes and I had enough time to make that.”) Ironic because Nicole and I hardly got a wink of sleep.

This day was about the-day-in-the-life of Ben. Before heading out we got on a video call with Yaeko and their crew back home. It was truly touching to watch Ben connect with his buddies. Quite emotional really.

After a pit stop at the local bao and coffee shop, we walked the mile to his school. As it turns out this particular school is a boarding school generally catered to a more wealthy class of people. It was quite nice. We got to see the teacher's office, the classrooms that he would teach in, the cafeteria that everyone eats in, and the outdoor areas where the students would play their sports. While it still must be an incredibly challenging experience, at least we know that he's found a place where he is well supported.

"Hey Ben, stand in front of your school so we can get a picture of you." Oh Ben.

Staff room. His desk. And apparently his bed too.

Cafeteria. Looks quite organized. All the kids do all the clean up after they eat.

A typical classroom. The students stay in the classrooms, while Ben moves from room to room to teach the different groups of students.

Ben is a man of few needs. He arrived in Foshan with the same backpack that he traveled around Europe and South America with, going from hostel to hostel, and has not bothered to add anything to his personal belongings. We went to the local market, opened up our wallet, and told Ben to buy whatever he needed: A couple towels, some underwear, another shirt, a bowl, some shampoo, toothpaste, etc, etc. You know, the bare essentials.

But alas, it was time to go. While we only had about 24 hours with Ben, I will always look back on our Foshan layover fondly. He is a truly special human and I'm so glad that Yaeko has found him.

Ben can bring out the joy in every situation and in everybody he meets.

Next Stop… Chongqing (My favorite spot in China)

PS: I'm still blown away by all of the bamboo scaffold on their construction sites. This is a 30 story building across the street from Ben's school that is completely engulfed by bamboo.

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Hong Kong

I'm writing our China blog posts after we have already returned. We were so busy throughout the day, and the ability to use the internet was inconsistent, making it difficult to publish anything on the go.

Preamble:

Back in 2018, we were so close geographically, yet quite far from taking the plunge into China. Our children were too young and we just weren’t comfortable exploring China at the time. Since then, I have always kept it on my list, but Nicole remained hesitant. All it took was one little nudge, and we put the wheels in motion. The catalyst for the upcoming 15 days was learning that one of Yaeko’s best friends, Ben, decided to spend a year teaching 3rd Grade English in a random town called Foshan, China. (More on that later)

China Prep:

Unlike most countries, you can’t just book a flight and a couple hotels, and show up with your passport in hand. China requires preparation. The visa process is no joke. The first step is to go on an antiquated website that was clearly not built with an American mindset. The site looks like it was built in the early 2000s. In some cases if we accidentally typed something incorrectly, we couldn't log back in for over a day.

Having to use the Google Translate app (to scan a website) before you even enter the country is an interesting sign. After filling out every detail of our itinerary, including where we were staying, how we were getting there, and local contact information, we uploaded images of all of our documents and waited patiently. Four days later Nicole got a status update to visit a local China consulate to drop off her passport. I was, however, greeted with a message wondering where my parents came from and a request to upload my birth certificate. Perhaps the middle name of Shigeki was a red flag. Fortunately I was given the green light and could visit the consulate with Nicole. We sat there for about an hour, handed over our passports, got a small piece of paper that said, "Come back next Tuesday," and that was it. Two weeks after we started we had a 10-year visa in hand!

Non-Descript entry to the China Consulate in SF. Only a handful of options in the US to do this. Thank goodness it's in our backyard.

The visa is not the only thing that you need to consider before traveling to China. China's internet is heavily regulated and apps that we take for granted in America do not work there without a local mobile plan and VPN. And regular tap-to-pay, like Google Pay or Apple Pay, don't work either. Oh, and neither does Google Maps. The problem is you can't wait till you get to China to download them so they must be downloaded and installed before you get on the plane. We ended up with Airalo for eSIM, LetsVPN for VPN, Amap instead of Google Map, and the two must-have payment apps, Alipay and WeChat. (Now that we’re back, the only one I won’t delete is Airalo. That is a great eSIM provider! Highly recommend)

While we would normally be our own tour guide and arrange for all of our own accommodations, travel, and experiences within a country, we opted to hire China Tours to make all of our arrangements - And I'm glad we did. While China was an incredibly safe place to travel, there is a heavy amount of local knowledge and bureaucracy that would have been hard to navigate on our own. We also found that English was not commonly spoken by the locals.

All this being said, if you're looking to explore China, plan ahead. Now, on to the story...

Two carry ons, Two Backpacks, and One Pleepleus. Let's Goooooooo.

Public transit from the start

Hong Kong

Day 1-ish - Oct 13 to 14, 2026

Given the flight time is 15 hours and the time change is 15 hours, heading to East Asia is a full sacrifice of a whole day of your life. We departed midday on October 13 and didn't land until the evening of October 14.

We have grown so accustomed to traveling as a five-pack that we suddenly had surplus funds to splurge a little bit more. Instead of taking our typical economy class, we opted for “premium” economy for this trip. (Business class is still hard to justify…). Boy are we glad we made that decision. There was just enough additional legroom and width to really stretch out and catch some Z’s.

Trying to connect to our new eSIM was our first experience with the fact that Hong Kong is not quite China yet. We had selected a data plan that was only good for mainland China. Once we figured out we had to get a separate one for Hong Kong, all was well.

An airport express train and a short subway ride later, we arrived at the Conrad Hotel on Hong Kong Island. Again splurged a little for the harbor view and lounge access. Worth every penny.

Pleepleus has a new travel buddy. His name is Conrad. (Welcoming gift from the hotel)

Footnote: Hong Kong (China) is country #40 for us!!! Whoa. What a privilege.

Day 2 - Oct 15, 2026

Number of the day: 23,378.

That is the number of steps I took today. Nicole's gait was more like 27,000. I think we somehow managed to cram a 3-day itinerary into an 8-hour marathon.

I think I will let the pictures tell the story of the day…

Not a bad view to wake up to

Let's go friends. Off to another crazy adventure!

We had an hour to fill before our guide arrived. Conveniently just enough to explore a really cool park adjacent to our hotel.

Surprising amount of tranquility in a sea of city

Stumbled upon a great aviary with a treetop pathway to get up and close to the birds.

Really cool juxtaposition of nature and city. Hong Kong, for all it's city-ness, is emersed in greenery

Couldn't get over the juxtaposition...

OK, enough nature, let's go walk this town. We picked up our guide, Lary, at 10am, and we were off!

First step, get on a Ding Ding, colloquially named for the bell it rings to warn passersby

Man Mo Temple: Blending elements of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Good energy. Strong smell of incense.

Street market hadn't fully set up for the day. Never too early for a smoke break.

Reminding you that the British Empire was here

Central-Mid-Levels Escalator: Famously known as the longest covered escalator in the world. Helps the residents that live on the hill get back and forth from work.

Regular reminders that Hong Kong is old, and in the middle of a jungle.

Heading up the Peak Tram (funicular). Surprisingly steep in parts!

Impressive views from the top

After a winding 45min bus ride down from the top, it was time to head across Victoria Harbor to Kowloon (the other half of Hong Kong). Mind you, it's about 2pm by now, and still no food or beverage. We were on a mission to cover as much ground as possible. (or at least Lary seemed to be)

Famous Star Ferry. It's the OG commuter system across the harbor, now more of a tourist attraction with great city views. And it's super cheap!

It's a working town too. Lots of barges and freight moving through the harbor.

Kowloon is the working side of the city. A little less polished. A little grittier. And just as many people. We took a bus from the ferry up the main avenue towards the street market areas.

Finally! A quick stop for some authentic Congee, a rice porridge with some pork meat in it, and a side of fried donut-like bread with some kind of melted rice on it. Was quite yummy.

And for dessert... Pineapple Bun with a giant hunk of butter in it. Also quite yummy. Note, there is no Pineapple in the aforementioned Pineapple bun. (That's Lary. He's our guide. Nice fella)

Famous Street Market. Frankly, was quite unappealing as it was the same tacky souvenir stall one after the other.

I've been told to pop my knee and hip and chest. Not sure if I know in which direction to do so.

But I am a fan of festooning, if I haven't said that already.

Michelin rated cold sweet soup dessert from Kai Kai Dessert.

The collapse! But the day is not over. After a quick shower, we were back at it. We still needed to see Hong Kong at night. No rest for the wicked. Let's goooooooo. Back to Kowloon! (But didn't we just come home from there?)

For some reason, they like "The Claw" games. These neon shops are everywhere


Lady's Market. More or less the same as Temple Market. Again, just a bunch of cheap tchotchkes.

Lots of Chinese Chess matches on the streets. Gonna need to learn it. Looks fun.

Nicole was interested in capturing the ever decreasing neon signs before they're gone for good...

Back on the Star Ferry for a night cruise back to the hotel

The moment we got back to our hotel room that night, we collapsed on the bed. In part, we were simply exhausted from so much movement. But this day reminded us that we are not city folk. Hong Kong is an assault on all of your senses. It is absolutely buzzing with activity and people in constant motion. It is loud. The occasional waft of mystery street puddle soup was a bit nauseating. Despite the clear skies, we were constantly rained on by condensate dripping from wall hung AC units. While there is no trash around, there is general old city grime. And the heat and humidity made for a tacky day. (Uh oh, the next two weeks will string together the four biggest cities in China. What were we thinking?)

We cross-checked our pre-trip checklist and realized that we had actually seen everything we intended to see in the city proper. We zoomed out on the map to see if there was something that would tickle our outskirts fancy…

Day 3, Oct 16, 2026

Generally speaking we are not beach people. Apparently Hong Kong is surrounded by some great coastline. Yet our desire to get away from the city took us to the peak of Lantau Island to go see the Big Buddha. When we mentioned this to the waiter at breakfast, he got all excited about taking bus number 11 to the original Hong Kong… Tai O. He just kept saying "bus 11, bus 11."

The Big Buddha sits atop a mountain peak not far from the airport. All it took was an easy MTR subway ride and a cool gondola trip to the top. The Buddha (indeed it is big) sits at the top of a staircase. While the Buddha was pretty cool, we were actually even more impressed with the Po Lin Monastery that sat not far away. Nicole and I are not terribly religious folk but if we were to align with a belief system, it would likely be Buddhism. We appreciate the emphasis on mindfulness and the interconnectedness of all living things.

The Big B is surrounded by cool bronze statues

On our walk from the Buddha to the Po Lin Monastery, we happened upon a beautiful butterfly swarm.

Po Lin Monastery. Utterly gorgeous. The attention to detail and vibrant colors were eye-catching

I'm busy trying to capture the lines and artistry

While Nicole finds more interesting moments...

Wow. Just Wow. This room is magnificent.

The small fishing village of Tai O sits on the opposite side of the mountain range. We decided to forego our return trip on the gondola and take the bus down to the village. It was a leap of faith and a bit of an adventure. As it turns out, the buses did not take our credit card, which we have grown accustomed to in Hong Kong. Cash only. More importantly, EXACT CHANGE ONLY. Fortunately we had enough cash left over from yesterday.

Unfortunately, we didn't account for the bus transfer in the middle of nowhere and all we had were large bills. The fare was about the equivalent of $1 and all we had was a $20 bill. I was prepared to just give them the entire $20 and say, "Keep the change." The driver gruffly waved us off, turned around, yelled something incoherent to the back of the bus, and some nice old lady stood up and opened her wallet. After a brief exchange of money and a gracious nod, we were screaming down the curvy mountain road holding on for dear life like the night bus in Harry Potter. Crisis averted. There is always an angel whenever we have found ourselves in a bit of a bind. Just look utterly helpless and someone is bound to take sympathy.

Tai O is a small fishing village on stilts that has grown organically for several centuries. It is a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. It is a place that seems to be frozen in time. It is also one of those places where it can feel a little awkward walking around and taking pictures of the everyday local activities.

The Venice of Hong Kong?

The aroma of drying fish was pretty intense in places.

Narrow passageways with shops and food stalls

It's a real working fishing village with real working people selling their wares.

We had every intention of spending the evening walking around Hong Kong to explore the Halloween festivities but by the time we got back from our daily adventures, we couldn't seem to muster up the energy to put on our walking shoes again.

Our train to Foshan was early afternoon the following day, so as expected, we squeezed in another Ding Ding excursion to check out the morning rituals in Victoria Park.

They really are the cutest form of public transit that we've ever ridden.

Last look from the Ding Ding at the forest of metal and glass. It really is amazing what humankind can accomplish.

This is why China dominates Badminton in the Olympics.

General thoughts and observations about Hong Kong:

Nowadays being glued to one's phone is pretty common, especially when waiting in line to get a coffee, commuting on BART, or even checking in on things while sitting in traffic. But what really struck me was just how addicted the people in Hong Kong were to their phones. I was never worried about being hit by a car or a bus or the Ding Ding, but I was constantly having to dodge zombies walking about praying to their phones. It was flat out weird and quite concerning - Millions of people in digital bubbles.

Writing this entry after having visited the other megacities in China, I did find it interesting that Hong Kong has one foot in the West and one foot in the East. After talking with our guide, I get a sense that there is a bit of resentment that the economic freedoms that Hong Kong was once afforded are being slowly eroded. Our guide would hint at a general dislike of the Chinese tourists that visit Hong Kong… Further research suggests that the friction between mainland China and Hong Kong is palpable.

Some final pics