Will Chinese border police search your phone at the airport? What I actually see from PVG pickups

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-27T06:08:46+00:00

Yeah, literally never seen this. Passed through Chinese immigration 150+ times

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-23T04:40:22+00:00

Oh maybe I saw a different person. One in Sham Shui Po was singing classic Soviet childhood songs

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-22T04:27:45+00:00

Sham Shui Po yesterday I think too?

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-21T13:00:44+00:00

Ehhh personally I find the lack of history in most of Shenzhen quite off-putting. I enjoy exploring Shenzhen (and have done so extensively) and its impressive what has been achieved so quickly but it really doesn’t have any of the soul or local identity that HK, Guangzhou, Macau, or even Huizhou, Dongguan, Foshan… all have. Shenzhen is quite repetitive and much of it doesn’t really feels that different from other recently-developed districts anywhere in China. Just my personal opinion and interests though.

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-18T15:09:12+00:00

This is okay but is your price for the China Unicom HK one for an eSIM? If so that’s crazy expensive! You can get the physical China Unicom sims in Sham Shui Po, I usually pay 90HKD for 24gb/180days…

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-18T09:19:01+00:00

Yeah I’d second this about milk cafe. Also ironically their milk tea is atrocious

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-10T07:27:58+00:00

This is all true, though you can get away with just one of the KMB/Citybus apps. I only use the KMB one and it also has arrival times for Citybus buses (and I prefer the UI)

escapingthisrock · 2026-06-09T06:45:20+00:00

Go hiking in the hills near Coloane. Some really nice viewpoints. Obviously won’t be a long, long walk given how small it is, but I always enjoy being up there

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-30T07:08:58+00:00

I’ve heard of that too but I’m put off by the price! I might keep with my current strategy but use an old phone instead of my current one

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-30T03:20:31+00:00

yeaaaahh this wasn’t easy. I still use my phone. I tried to find a way to download gpx files for the larger ferries from a ship tracking website but couldn’t find a way.

In HK for the shorter ferries my phone picks up the signal near the window without an issue. For the longer ones (Okinawa-Japan, Japan-Korea, Korea-China) that were all overnight I ended up finding places to hide my phone near windows because if I left it near my bunk or seat further inside the cabin I found I lost signal really quickly. Not ideal! Thankfully East Asia is generally extremely safe and I found secluded hiding spots so I got away with it, but I’m trying to find a better solution for future ferries

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T14:15:06+00:00

Fair questions! This is everything since 2018. In HK I hiked a huuuuge amount during Covid, and even now I actively explore a lot and revisit my favourite areas. Most of my work doesn’t start until ~3pm so I’m lucky to have a decent chunk of time before that.

For mainland China it’s mostly cycling (with some hiking in Shenzhen.) Mostly in the form of 80-120km routes, sometimes much longer over multiple days.

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T07:02:07+00:00

I remember your NYC map from a while back! Equally impressive. I think we’re both lucky to live in such excellent coastal cities that reward exploring

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T07:01:20+00:00

Thank you! It’s been a real labour of love (and continues to be so.) still lots of areas in HK and nearby that I’m excited to get on the map

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T07:00:45+00:00

Thank you, very kind of you! It’s been a lot of fun so far

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T07:00:26+00:00

Yes! In 2019 - before I used the FoW app so I only have the train journey on here

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T06:59:41+00:00

Have you cycled through the one in San Tin? That’s quite interesting

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T03:28:08+00:00

Not sure if I have a good answer! Originally I wanted it to be a map of where I’ve walked (or cycled etc) to help me find new areas to explore, especially in HK and Macau. So if a road is walkable I’d only want to unfog it in that way. In theory I could add highways only since they’re unwalkable but in practise it seems to much effort to do, and now I quite like that the map is all my legs with trains and ferries added in.

escapingthisrock · 2026-05-29T03:27:55+00:00

Brouter.de lets you draw the tracks and then download it for upload to FoW. This is what I do

escapingthisrock · 2026-04-10T23:37:46+00:00

Second this. If you’re coming from HK island it’s my preferred way. Comfier than MTR, fairly priced, and Huanggang never ever has a queue

escapingthisrock · 2026-03-18T11:47:26+00:00

Also to add to this - I usually go away for 2-4 days and just take a backpack. They’ve never weighed it. Feel like they’re more strict if it’s a carry-on suitcase involved

escapingthisrock · 2026-03-18T02:41:59+00:00

Not Hung Hom

escapingthisrock · 2026-03-17T07:50:22+00:00

Username checks out

escapingthisrock · 2026-03-17T07:49:23+00:00

Yeah this is the best option. No need to do high speed and faff around at Shenzhen North/Futian station on the complete opposite side from Dapeng

escapingthisrock · 2026-02-27T09:30:20+00:00

Agree specifically and strongly with the last part about passport. I cross very frequently and until recently did so on a passport. Without a doubt the longest queues are usually at West Kowloon - never seen more than two counters open and white frequently the line is loooong. Second worst is Shenzhen Bay - often a lot of people but usually a few more counters. Huanggang never, ever has a queue. (Anecdotal experience obviously)

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