The Shekou bay cruise

A three hour cruise around the mouth of the Pearl River, the Zhujiang, starting and finishing at Shekou port, with background music by Mind the Gap. The publicity promised views of Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai: what we actually saw was the 55 kilometre Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, a 55-kilometre bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands, the longest sea crossing and the longest open-sea fixed link in the world. And very little else. Take a pair of binoculars on a fine day if you want to see Macau and Zhuhai.

Perhaps the most interesting physical feature was the island that we curve around towards the end of the cruise. This is Neilingding, and prior to the first Opium War in the early 1800s it was the dropping off point for opium destined for China. Here the ships delivering the drug from India would anchor and the local Chinese dealers would sail across in small boats to buy the supplies.

Also near the beginning you are looking towards Hong Kong International Airport and you can just about see a plane taking off.