Day 11 was the 26th December 2016

Day 11 was the 26th December 2016 and today we were on the move again. This time from Guilin to Hong Kong, again by train, but this time we were going across a border and although technically not leaving China we were on our way back to the West.

Chris brought Guilin noodles for breakfast but we stashed them in our rucksacks for the journey. Mainly because this was the day we said goodbye to Chris, and it was tinged with a little sadness, but also we had to pack and make our way to Guilin North station for the 11 O'clock train.

We said goodbye to Chris and for the first time entered a station unsupervised, we need not have worried as it was old hat now, and without hiccup we found the waiting room and sat. I managed to purchase some snacks and watched the world go by. It was then a young lady began to ask questions, mainly about our daughter, but my answers did not seem to dissuade her curiosity. My well versed and stock answers came to an end and I asked her if she spoke English. The answer was no, so she continued to ask in questions in Mandarin. It was a little frustrating but I learned more during that conversation than any other in out time in China. In hindsight I wish I had been pushed in that manner during the whole trip.

The train journey was similar to our other rail experiences, fast and efficient. We watched China whistle by and even saw NanJing, the home town of a good friend in the UK. And before we knew it we were in ShenZhen alighting the train with all of the other passengers as it was the terminal station. Then we were alone and with no idea where to go, so after a little wander we found a strict young woman in uniform and I asked how to get to Hong Kong, 'Red, line number 4' she barked, so off we went and duly found the queue for a transfer train. We purchased some tokens and spoke to some South Africans who were also making the journey to Hong Kong, together we then followed the masses to the train and the border. On arrival we filled out our departure cards, stood in more queues and were then stared at by border control, then we walked out of mainland China into Hong Kong. To be confronted by more queues to exchange our money into Hong Kong dollars. Then over a glass bridge, through more checks and finally onto the MTR and our final train of the day that took us through Hong Kong to Tin Hau on Causeway bay.

We purchased our Octopus cards, a very good idea if you ever go to Hong Kong, before we traveled and kept those for our visit. They did however morph into crustacean, crab and cuttlefish cards during our stay!

By the time we reached Tin Hau we were very tired and the sight of the hotel was very welcome indeed. Although once again we found we were short on beds, as this was a boutique hotel, but as very tired travelers, we did what we had always done, we just got on with it.

Showered and refreshed we venture out and in true British style we went for an Indian meal at Habib's, followed by a stroll in Victoria park. It was warm, dry and felt like the antithesis of England in December. We also now had access to Facebook, Twitter and Google, and although we had been emailing friends and family throughout the trip, it felt as though we had shifted back into the 21st century.

第11天是2016年12月26日，今天我们再次移动。这次从桂林到香港，再次搭乘火车，但这次我们正经过一个边境，虽然技术上没有离开中国，但我们回到了西方。

克里斯带来了桂林的面条当作早餐，但我们把他们收藏在这次旅行的背包。主要是因为这天我们跟克里斯说再见，这不仅有点忧伤，而且我们必须打包好行李，并走到桂林北站搭11点钟火车。

我们跟克里斯说再见，第一次无人照看进入一个车站，我们并不担心，因为现在已经很熟了，没有波折，我们找到了等候室坐下来。我设法买了一些小吃，看着人来人往。 这时一个年轻女士问我些问题，主要是关于我们的女儿，但我的答案似乎并没有劝阻她的好奇心。我所精通和能够用的答案都用尽了，我问她是否会说英语。但答案是否定的，所以她继续用普通话问我。这虽然有点令人沮丧，但我在这次对话中比在中国的任何其他时间学到的更多。事后看来，我希望在整个旅行期间能以这样的方式进行。

火车旅程与我们其他铁路体验相似，速度和效率都很高。我们看着中国呼啸而过，甚至看到英国一个好朋友的家乡南京。在我们知道之前，我们与所有其他乘客一起在深圳下火车，因为它是终端站。然后我们独自走出，不知道该往哪里去，所以有点彷徨之后，我们发现了一个严肃穿着制服的年轻女子，我问她如何去香港，她大声喊出“红，第4号线”，所以我们走去，的确找到了接驳车的队伍。我们购买了一些代币，并与一些正在排队前往香港的南非人交谈，然后我们跟着群众坐车以及到离境处。抵达后，我们填写了我们的出境卡，排在更多人的队伍，被边界管制人员盯着，然后我们从中国大陆走进香港。面对更多的队伍，把我们的钱兑换成港元。然后经过一座玻璃桥，通过更多的验票，最后搭上这天最后一班地铁，带我们通过香港到铜锣湾天后。

我们购买了八达通卡，如果你曾去过香港，这是一个很好的主意，我们以前来过，为了这次到访我们又买了几张。 然而他们在我们停留期间变身为甲壳类动物，螃蟹和墨鱼卡！

当我们到达天后，我们非常累了，看到这酒店的确是非常受欢迎。虽然我们又发现我们的床短少一张，因为这是一家精品酒店，但我们已经非常累了，我们只好再做同样的事，把床倂在一起就可以了。

淋过浴恢复了精神后，我们走出酒店，以真正的英国风格，我们去了一家哈比卜的印度餐厅，然后在维多利亚公园漫步。它是温暖，干燥，感觉起来正好与12月的英国相反。 我们现在也可以访问Facebook，Twitter和谷歌，虽然在整个行程我们一直在发送电子邮件给朋友和家人，它感觉好像我们已经回到了21世纪。