Macau & China -

Macau, Zhuhai, Jiangmen

good sale of hot water pillow- heat can last 4 -5 hrs.

My wife, myself and my brother-in-law and his wife flew to Macau, China on the morning of 20.1.2011. We arrived at Macau International Airport before lunch time and decided to cross the border into China by foot.

having a quick lunch in Zhuhai's roadside stall

Zhuhai's downtown area after immigration check-point

Street hawker - Zhuhai

Street hawker - Jiangmen

Our main destination is Jiangmen which is about one and a half hours bus ride from the border town of Zhuhai. We had been to Macau and Zhuhai before, so we do not plan to stay here. However, as we had to take a morning flight back to Penang on 27.1.2011 from Macau, we had to stay a night here.

So from Macau we walked across the immigration check-point to Zhuhai and purchased our bus tickets to Jiangmen which cost us 50 yuan each. We arrived at Jiangmen in the evening and into a very cold weather. It was about 6*c with strong wind.

We are staying in my 3rd brother-in-law's house which is a 4-room apartment on the 6th floor of a walk-up apartment block. OMG! Walking up with heavy luggage is no joke. Lucky for me, my brother-in-law had to carry my bag for me as I had hurt my knee before coming to China. Even then walking up 6 floors almost "killed" me as my knee was so painful, The next 2 days of walking up and down the stairs and shopping/sightseeing caused my knee to swell and I had to stay at home alone while the others continue shopping/sightseeing.

Walk-up flat/apartment are quite common in China. So is moving about town in public bus. Not everyone can afford to own a car especially the retirees. Public bus is the most common means of transport and China's public transport is very efficient. Another plus point is that retired government servant and senior citizen travel free. So we also travel about by bus

For many, the market area is the best place to mix with the locals and see the local products. We came here partly to look for a shop making winter jacket. Took the opportunity to walk around and noticed a stall selling cat and dog meat. People here have no qualm on consuming such pets. So keep your pets indoor.

Enjoying our meal at home when too cold to go out

Jiangmen is in Guangdong province in southern China. This winter it is very cold with temperatures between 6 - 11c. At the time of our arrival it was 6c. To make matters worst, strong wind was blowing at us. A few days of such cold and wind my lips began to blister.

There is no heating in the apartments. Maybe a few more years of such cold winter the people here will get use to the idea of heating their homes. But then again, electricity is expensive. At home, everyone has to wear a few layers of clothing. At night we need a thick blanket plus a hot pillow at the bottom of the bed in spite of wearing warm clothing. The small pillow has some sort of liquid inside and uses electricity to heat it up. Once hot you disconnect the electricity and the heat can last for about 4 to 5 hours. A few mornings I got up about 3am to reheat the pillow.

Sometimes you do not really look forward to going out in such weather. But everyone looks forward to food. The food here is very good.

Since our flight back to Penang was from Macau, we stayed a night here so that we can get to the airport early. Our last visit to Macau was about 4 - 5 years ago. I was very surprised at the change. Then we do not see much crowd on the streets. Now Macau Square and the streets are "packed".

We have heard of the new Venetian hotel & resort which is very grand. We found out that there is a shuttle bus to take visitors there from town. So off we went after dinner.

We expect to see the exterior beautifully lighted up at night especially so near to the Chinese new year. What a disappointment - it was quite dark outside. But the interior did not disappoint us.

One week of extreme cold just flew pass. We had 2 days of rest before our next travel to Jakarta, Indonesia - a different kind of weather awaits us there.