Chapter 178 Arrival at Hong Kong Island (asking for monthly ticket)

After nearly four hours of flight, the plane slowly landed at Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport.

At that time, Baiyun Airport was still one of the three major airports in the country and was very close to the urban area of ​​​​Yangcheng.

Li Changhe was in good spirits when he got off the plane. He was sitting in a Boeing series plane, which was relatively comfortable.

If it was an old Ilyushin series aircraft, the noise would be fatal.

After getting off the plane, Li Changhe came to the long-distance bus ticket office under the guidance of the ground staff.

There are buses that go directly to the Luohu border crossing, but the prerequisite is that you must have a letter of introduction and appearance documents.

Only with these two documents can you buy a ticket and get on the bus.

Li Changhe bought a ticket with the certificate, and then continued to take the bus towards the Luohu customs port.

After nearly two hours of driving, Li Changhe finally arrived at the Luohu customs clearance port.

When he got here, Li Changhe finally felt the difference between the south and the north.

The pedestrians on the street were wearing all kinds of brightly colored clothes, and even Li Changhe's white suit would not be particularly conspicuous in the crowd.

Following the flow of people, Li Changhe queued up to enter the hall, then went through cumbersome formalities, finally passed the verification counter, walked through layers of security along the passage, and then stepped into the territory of Hong Kong Island.

At the exit, there was a large crowd of people, including those receiving goods, entertaining customers, meeting people, and so on.

As soon as Li Changhe passed the checkpoint, he saw someone standing next to him holding a large sign with the three words "Li Changhe" written on it.

Li Changhe walked over and saw that the person holding the sign was a young man wearing a shirt and tie.

"Hello, I'm Li Changhe. Did Mr. Bao ask you to come?"

Li Changhe asked with a smile.

"Are you Li Changhe?"

"Hello, I'm Baosheng's driver."

"My Mandarin may have an accent, Mr. Li, please forgive me."

The other party subconsciously asked in Cantonese, but quickly switched to Mandarin.

"It's okay. I can understand some Cantonese. One of my friends is from Guangdong province."

Li Changhe said with a smile.

"Well, Mr. Li, come with me."

"Mr. Wells is waiting in the car."

The driver led Li Changhe towards a black Mercedes-Benz sedan not far away.

At this time, the people in the car seemed to have seen Li Changhe and hurried down.

A young man in his thirties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, greeted Li Changhe with a smile.

"Hello, are you Mr. Li Changhe?"

"Yes, it's me!"

"It's very presumptuous of me to ask you, but could you please show me your customs clearance documents? I just need to confirm your name."

Weiss asked Li Changhe seriously.

The driver next to him was a little embarrassed, as he didn't seem to have verified Li Changhe's identity.

"no problem!"

Li Changhe handed him the customs clearance document. Weiss took it out and took a look at it. After looking at the name, he put it back.

"Welcome Mr. Li to Hong Kong Island. I am Mr. Bao's assistant. My Chinese name is Wei Er Si and my English name is also Wells. You can call me whatever you want."

"Okay, Mr. Wells, thank you for picking me up."

Li Changhe smiled and nodded neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Seeing Li Changhe's posture, a hint of surprise flashed in Weiers' eyes.

In fact, he had also met some people from the mainland. Most of them were relatively humble, and a small number of them were particularly solemn, the kind that were serious and stern.

Only Li Changhe gave me a very special feeling. It was a very ordinary feeling, like an ordinary person that I interacted with every day, but with a hint of arrogance.

Yes, Weiss finally figured out the feeling in his heart. Li Changhe was very good in getting along with him, but inexplicably he gave people a kind of superior self-confidence, that kind of self-confidence, just like those foreigners.

After getting in the car, Li Changhe sat in the back seat, while Weiers sat in the passenger seat.

"Mr. Li, let's go to the hotel first. Mr. Bao is still in Japan today and will not be able to return to Hong Kong Island until tomorrow morning."

"He asked me to arrange for you to rest in the hotel first, and he will host a banquet for you tomorrow night."

"May I?"

At this time, Weiers turned around and spoke gently to Li Changhe.

Li Changhe smiled and nodded: "No problem!"

"Then let's go to the Peninsula Hotel first. I have booked a room for you there. You can go and rest first."

"By the way, this is the driver Richard. He and this car will be your vehicles during your stay in Hong Kong Island. You can ask him to take you wherever you want to go."

"He speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English and can arrange anything you need."

"By the way, there's also this!"

Wells then took out a black wallet from his inner pocket.

"This is a wallet. I bought it for you. It's new."

"Inside the wallet, there is 10,000 Hong Kong dollars in cash and a HSBC credit card with a limit of 500,000 Hong Kong dollars."

"These are all arranged by Mr. Bao for you. Cash for pocket money. If you need to make a large purchase, you can use a credit card."

"Mr. Bao said that these are all things he advanced to you, so essentially they are your own money. He said that if I tell you this, you will understand." Weiss handed the black leather wallet to Li Changhe. Li Changhe took it calmly, opened it and saw a stack of cash and a black credit card.

"There is one more thing I would like to remind Mr. Li. Hong Kong Island is different from the mainland. For some services here, in addition to the bill, you often have to pay the waiter a sum of money."

At this time, Weiersi spoke to Li Changhe carefully.

Li Changhe smiled and nodded: "I know, you call this a tip, right?"

“How much extra money do you usually give?”

Of course he knew that in Hong Kong movies people often tip waiters, but he didn't really know how much the specific amount was.

In later times, many restaurants tend to simply add a 10 or 20 percent service charge, but this is probably not so standard now, after all, billing is still done manually.

"It generally depends on the situation. For example, if it's a roadside food stall, it doesn't matter whether it gives or not. If it's a restaurant, they'll give five or ten yuan."

"In high-end hotels, such as the Peninsula, the level of tipping may be higher."

"I've actually told Richard about this. Normally, he would pay for you."

"It's just that there are always chances of accidents, so I'll tell you in advance, Mr. Li."

"If you encounter this situation and Richard is not around, you can just pay with the change in your wallet."

"You can judge based on the venue. For example, in the Peninsula Hotel, you can give 50 or 100 Hong Kong dollars."

Li Changhe nodded after hearing this: "Okay, I understand. Thank you Wells for your reminder."

现如今，港币跟人民币的官方汇率比是100:31.35，也就是说100港币，相当于31快3毛5分钱人民币。

The tips Li Changhe gave out in Hong Kong Island were equivalent to a month's salary for an ordinary worker in Beijing.

Corrupt capitalist society.

Afterwards, the vehicle passed through the old and backward rural area and soon drove into the bustling urban area.

"Mr. Li, this is Kowloon. I asked Richard to prepare a map of Hong Kong Island for you. You can take a look if you are interested."

Weiss gently introduced the scene outside to Li Changhe, while Li Changhe just watched calmly.

Putting aside the images filtered by the movie, the real Hong Kong Island in 1979 was more dilapidated than he had imagined.

In 79, there are still many old buildings from decades ago in Hong Kong Island.

To be honest, the city construction is somewhat average compared with later generations, even compared with third-tier cities in mainland China.

The most important point is that because Hong Kong Island is mountainous, its roads are very narrow and are basically two-lane highways.

For Li Changhe, who is used to driving on four-lane or even eight-lane roads, this narrow road is quite backward.

It was exactly the level of the country roads at that time.

Of course, if ordinary mainland tourists came here, such skyscrapers might amaze them.

Soon, the car arrived at the entrance of the Peninsula Hotel, and a doorman in a red uniform came up immediately and opened the door for Li Changhe.

To them, this is a Mercedes-Benz, and the people sitting in it must be wealthy and powerful.

"Sir, let me help you carry it!"

Seeing Richard take Li Changhe's suitcase out of the trunk, a doorman immediately walked over and took the suitcase.

Richard then handed him a Hong Kong dollar.

Wei Er Si brought Li Changhe and went straight to the door of the room.

"This is the magnetic stripe room card. It's the key to your room. With this card, just swipe it lightly like this to open the door."

"How is it? Is it convenient?"

Weiersi couldn't help showing off after all, because he felt that Li Changhe had been too calm since he met him.

That kind of calmness was not a fake calmness, but a real calmness, as if everything was just like that in his eyes.

The magnetic stripe room card is a high-end technology that the Peninsula Hotel has just introduced. It is considered high-tech in this era. Wells felt that Li Changhe had definitely never seen it.

He had no intention of humiliating Li Changhe, but he always wanted to show off the high-end status of Hong Kong Island.

At least let Li Changhe show some shock and respect for Hong Kong Island.

But immediately, Wells was shocked.

Li Changhe took the room card and took a look at it.

"This thing can easily be demagnetized, right? If it is demagnetized, do I need to go to the front desk to replace it?"

"Ah? You even know how to demagnetize?"

Weiss asked in surprise.

Magnetic stripe room cards are very high-end, but demagnetization is indeed one of its disadvantages.

"It's okay, it's better than the old key."

Li Changhe pushed open the door and walked in.

Bao Yugang's arrangements for him were very appropriate. The Peninsula Hotel has always promoted the concept of providing the most spacious accommodation.

Therefore, the rooms at the Peninsula Hotel are large in size and have comprehensive facilities.

The room that Wells booked for him should be the highest-end top-level suite, which is commonly known as the presidential suite.

Standing in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, looking at the Victoria Harbour and the high-rise buildings in Central opposite, this place represents the top level of prosperity in Hong Kong Island.

This is his new starting point!

(It’s the first day of the month, please guarantee your monthly ticket. I can resume posting three updates after lunch today.)

(End of this chapter)