I will start the trip from the beginning, so I also refresh my mind and do not miss anything… I will try not to to bore you… 😉

I already wrote part of my first impressions of China in this post. I flew to Hong Kong and crossed the border to Shenzen to benefit from the cheap internal flights in China. Hong Kong area is full of islands, and the ferries are a common transport there. So, I found the fastest way for my purposes to reach an airport in Mainland China using the Turbo Jet Sea Express ferry linking Hong Kong International Airport and Shenzen Airport. Really easy way to go to Mainland. Just remember that you have to pick up your luggage before the customs, and that there is a free bus from the pier to the airport (just 2 km).
The first image I got when I jumped off from the boat was this one:

Nice sunset, isn’t it? It is a pity that it was cloudy… Cloudy? No. China is the most polluted country I have ever been (ok, I have only been within Europe, Canada and Japan, but anyway…) and that could be seen at simple sight. The “cloud” is always present: in Shenzen, in Beijing, in Xi’an and even in Shanghai.  But, of course, this was just the beginning, in one of the most industrialized areas of China, also called Special Economic Zones, where more factories are placed, and where tougher controls are carried out to avoid an overpopulation around it.

So, after this shock and the issue with the taxis, I took one of the last flights to Beijing, where it was snowing during the night… Nice image, but bad omen for the rest of the days there regarding the climate… Thanks to God, I was prepared. 🙂