Mainland China

My trip to SAR (Special Administrative Region) Hong Kong was booked. David, our representative in Asia-Pacific suggested that I get a visa for China.

“I don’t need a visa for Hong Kong,” I explained.

“We may have time to take the train to China..”

“Non-Special Administrative Region (NSAR)?” I thought.

“.. and I you will need a visa.”

“Right.” I replied.

There is a China Consulate in Zürich and the visa process is very easy and, notably, very quick and efficient. In fact, it took far longer for me to get new pages put in my US passport at the American embassy than it took to get a visa to China.

Aside: Nazy recently had to visit the Iranian Embassy in Bern and, like my visit to the Chinese consulate, it was very easy to gain entrance and file the appropriate forms. On the other hand, the Chinese efficiently provided the requested visa. Three months later, although she quickly filed the forms, Nazy is still waiting for a response from Iran.

Yesterday, David and I took the Metro from Hong Kong island to Kowloon and then took a train to mainland China. We walked across a (covered) bridge over the river that marks the border into a shopping mall. We walked through the mall and jumped on the subway into the city center, arriving in a shopping mall. We walked through the city center which is, eh, a shopping mall. We asked about ‘the sights’ and were directed to a shopping mall.

“Perhaps we should do some shopping,” David said.

“We’re surrounded by fake western brands,” I replied. “How would we recognize quality?”

“You’re right, Dan. There are good quality fakes and bad quality fakes. But..”

“But?”

“If you want good quality items, you should buy mainland China brands. Those are controlled and counterfeit items are not allowed.”

“They can’t control counterfeiting of western brands, but they can control counterfeits of Chinese bands?”

“Precisely.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize any of the Chinese brands.