Stephanie Kendall, a senior public relations major from Singapore, is taking part in the Baylor in China program this summer. In the first in a series of blog posts, Stephanie describes her arrival in Hong Kong and introduction to some of the foods and attractions of the city.

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After a tiresome 14-hour flight from San Francisco, my friend William (Billy) Stockton and I had finally made it to one of the cuisine capitals of the world, Hong Kong!

As we exited the airport we could immediately feel the change from Texas weather. The air left our skin feeling sticky and moist, as if we had just walked into a humidifier. With the help of one of Billy’s friends we boarded the bus and went off to his place in Kowloon.

Despite the jet lag from the flight we managed to spend the entire day out shopping, exploring Hong Kong and eating delicious food.

We started the morning off with going to a local dim sum restaurant where we indulged in some Hong Kong delicacies such as pork dumplings, Chinese tea, egg noodles and much more. After our feast we ventured off to downtown Hong Kong to check out the shopping and met up with some friends who gave us a personal tour of Hong Kong the following day.

The next day we were able to eat some of Hong Kong’s richest foods such as Japanese noodles, mango flavored shaved ice, ji dan zi (鸡蛋子), which is a type of waffle dessert, local Cantonese food and delicious Korean barbeque.

Amongst our numerous food stops we took a trip up to The Peak, an area on top of one of Hong Kong’s mountains, which overlooked all of Hong Kong and its skyline. As the daylight started to fade to darkness we took a ferry ride over to Hong Kong Island to see the location of the famous duck — a giant yellow inflatable duck constructed by a French artist who wanted to promote peace within different nations of the world. Sadly, the duck was under repair and we were not able to see it.

While visiting Hong Kong Island we overlooked the financial district and business side of Hong Kong. As we walked alongside the water we marveled at the tall skyscrapers and bright lights. During this walk we took a few photos of the skyline and the traditional boats floating on top of the bright reflections cast by the buildings. It was truly a picture perfect moment.

The next morning we headed to a local Cantonese restaurant before boarding the subway to venture to another part of China, Shenzhen. Shenzhen is known as an up-and-coming area, full of various cultures, nightlife, food and much more.

That evening we treated ourselves to a fantastic Thai massage at a local spa. We felt like royalty being waited on hand and foot — literally. We attracted a lot of attention with our blonde hair and American physiques. With only a few months of studying Mandarin we were able to decipher some words and phrases, such as “Wow, so pretty! Can we take a picture with you?,” and simple sentences asking how long we’ve been learning Mandarin. It was exciting to know that after only a few short months studying Mandarin, we could somewhat converse with the staff.

After our eventful evening of luxurious spa treatment, we headed to the airport to board our flight to Beijing to meet up with the rest of the group. After being delayed 2.5 hours due to bad weather we managed to arrive in Beijing, and headed to our dorms at Tsinghua University, which is known as the No. 1 school in China.

In her next post, Stephanie will discuss her arrival and first days at Tsinghua University.