yohy?!
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Since I'd wanted to spend a little more time in China the Easter Weekend seemed like a good opportunity given the astronomical prices to travel to other Asian locales from HKG.
As a first stop I traveled to the Lo Hu border crossing by the MTR East Rail line - first class of course, which in the case of the MTR gives one a seat. The journey was fairly swift from Kowloon Tong at the outskirts of the city, the border crossing at Lo Hu is attached to the MTR station so one is able to depart the train and join the immigration lines to exit Hong Kong, I mistakenly joined the foreigners line which was much shorter than the HK residents, the officer chastised me but allowed me to pass through. From here there is a bridge to walk across under cover that brings you to the China border - the China Travel Services office is here before the border for anyone doing Visa On Arrival (I'd elected to get mine in advance as the time to wait can vary greatly). With but a brief grunt the China officer cleared me and I strolled through customs with a second glance from the officers on duty.
Lo Hu Commercial Centre is located directly outside the border crossing, comprising a huge shopping centre we stopped here for a few hours to enjoy a foot and back massage in what is apparently one of the best massage centers in the area. It certainly seemed popular as there was capacity for around 300 people to receive foot massages, eat and drink and watch the fuzzy LCD screens showing Hong Kong channels.
Leaving the commercial centre behind we crossed over to the Shangri-La which is around 200metres from the border, they do a nice tasty Chinese dinner unsurprisingly with very friendly service. From here our next stop would be the Four Points By Sheraton in the Futian Free Economic Zone which was around 15 minutes by taxi.
The Four Points is in a renovated hotel a km or so from the other MTR border station at Lok Ma Chau, it was excellent value at 455RMB for the night for a superior room...the front desk did try to upsell us for breakfast and wi-fi and a 'better' room for an extra 400RMB but when we declined they proceeded to give us the same room on the SPG floor anyway...
I would recommend the hotel as a good transit point, there is nothing else really in the area but it is very convenient to the border and only a 40min taxi to the airport outside peak hour.
As a first stop I traveled to the Lo Hu border crossing by the MTR East Rail line - first class of course, which in the case of the MTR gives one a seat. The journey was fairly swift from Kowloon Tong at the outskirts of the city, the border crossing at Lo Hu is attached to the MTR station so one is able to depart the train and join the immigration lines to exit Hong Kong, I mistakenly joined the foreigners line which was much shorter than the HK residents, the officer chastised me but allowed me to pass through. From here there is a bridge to walk across under cover that brings you to the China border - the China Travel Services office is here before the border for anyone doing Visa On Arrival (I'd elected to get mine in advance as the time to wait can vary greatly). With but a brief grunt the China officer cleared me and I strolled through customs with a second glance from the officers on duty.
Lo Hu Commercial Centre is located directly outside the border crossing, comprising a huge shopping centre we stopped here for a few hours to enjoy a foot and back massage in what is apparently one of the best massage centers in the area. It certainly seemed popular as there was capacity for around 300 people to receive foot massages, eat and drink and watch the fuzzy LCD screens showing Hong Kong channels.
Leaving the commercial centre behind we crossed over to the Shangri-La which is around 200metres from the border, they do a nice tasty Chinese dinner unsurprisingly with very friendly service. From here our next stop would be the Four Points By Sheraton in the Futian Free Economic Zone which was around 15 minutes by taxi.
The Four Points is in a renovated hotel a km or so from the other MTR border station at Lok Ma Chau, it was excellent value at 455RMB for the night for a superior room...the front desk did try to upsell us for breakfast and wi-fi and a 'better' room for an extra 400RMB but when we declined they proceeded to give us the same room on the SPG floor anyway...
I would recommend the hotel as a good transit point, there is nothing else really in the area but it is very convenient to the border and only a 40min taxi to the airport outside peak hour.