We were all up and ready for our early departure to China as required. Overnight only, so day pack was all that we carried. We arrived at the ferry to meet cousin Francis who had organised this part. Roger and Gary were coming to meet us at the departure point on Kowloon. This caused a few anxious moments until we discovered them waiting for us at Starbucks! All went well until immigration where we discovered Sheila had the incorrect visa and was denied entry and had to return!
We were a bit concerned but she returned to HK side then went off to Macao instead!
The Leong men were required to fingerprint and were quizzed on their Chinese names because they were born in HK. Roger and Robert can’t write theirs in Chinese and can barely say it properly, which confused the officers no end!
I was waved through no problems no fingerprints either!
We met our tour guides after disembarking from the ferry. Our guide was Ricky and he introduced our Chinese guide as Jun but that was his accent. She was Joan! Away we went, a large bus so a window each and aircon! Yeah! It is delightfully hot but pollution and hayfever have given me a drippy nose and lots of sneezing. Here many people still wear masks so I feel quite embarrassed when I sneezed.
Our first stop was the Lim Flying dragon village. Driving the highways we passed through numerous tall buildings all the same design but surrounded by lots of trees. The highway likewise was planted with gardens and trees. It was an impressive site to see so much development.
Also there were hundreds of fish farms and many banana plantations. Under construction was a new monorail. The energy and modernity expressed by this growth makes Australia look slow and backward.
Eventually we arrived at the village. It was a shock to see how it had deteriorated. The village only had about 17 families in residence now and they are mainly older people. The land has been bought by a rich northern chinese (judging by the fancy cars and large modern home built on the outskirts) according to the villagers. The school has collapsed and he is restoring the roof and will use it as a drying room for orange/mandarin peel from the orchard that has been planted. The hen houses were still there and the fertilizer from the chickens is used on the orchard. We saw the women carrying it in pails strung on bamboo poles over their shoulders. An age old traditional image of Chinese farmers.
Gary spoke to some of the residents explaining who we were and why we had come. They were happy to have photos and chat. There lives are very basic nothing too modern here.
Soon we were off to lunch and then our hotel in Zhongshan.
fleetfootkath 
It’s so special that you had the chance to return to the village Kath x
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