May 2  Hong Kong Ah, Hong Kong.

What's to say about a city whose buildings are so densely packed together, the streets are darker during the day when the sun is shining than at night when the neon lights are on.

How different can a city be from Guiping than Hong Kong? Where Guiping offered an inexpensive hotel, in Hong Kong the tiny room I found made me pull out my credit card and cry. Where Guiping offered few office buildings, highrises and department stores, Hong Kong was nothing but office buildings, highrises and department stores. While in Guiping I was looked at with curiousity and the object of stares and discussions, in Hong Kong, everyone is invisible. And while my trip to Guiping was virtually trouble -free, my trip to Hong Kong was long, hot and crazy.

My first mistake was not knowing that I was entering Hong Kong on one of the busiest days of the year -- May 1, May Day -- when thousands of mainland Chinese start a week-long holiday and seem to choose Hong Kong as a destination of choice. My overnight bus from Guiping brought me into Guangzhou early in the morning and I thought it would be no problem to get to Hong Kong in a few hours by catching a bus to the border, then another to Hong Kong Island. Although HK is now a part of China, there is still an international border to cross and, unknown to me (another mistake on my part) my visa for China became void as soon as I crossed over. Catching a bus from Guangzhou to Shenzen, just by the border with Kowloon, was easy enough but then my well-laid plans fell apart.

The bus dropped me off in the midst of a crowd of thousands milling about, coming and going from Hong Kong. The border crossing is in the middle of the biggest shopping complex in the world and it took me half an hour just to find out which direction I had to walk. With all the crowds going across, it took another hour to get to the Kowloon side and then the only option I could find was a train that would take me from the border and connect with Hong Kong's underground MTR system. Once on the MTR, I had to change trains twice in order to get into Hong Kong proper and by then my knapsack felt like someone had dropped some souvenir rocks into it. I came out of Causeway Bay station into a canyon of highrise buildings, completely exhausted and disoriented. Using my guidebook, I went to two guesthouses in the area, both of which were full. In desperation, I called the friend of a friend, a contact in Hong Kong, and asked her advice. She also tried calling some friends and hotels but to no avail. Finally, I found one guesthouse on the list in my book that had one last room left.

After getting settled, I explored Causeway Bay. Starbucks, McDonalds, Cartier, Chanel. Whatever western product you want, you can get here. Hong Kong must be the only city that is brighter at streetlevel at night, than in the sunshine during the day. The huge, densely packed office apartment buildings cause canyons of shadows during the day. But at night, the neon lights brighten the street like spotlit soccer field.

On Sunday, the one aquaintance I knew in Hong Kong took me away from all the frazzle by introducing me to a little church on a tiny island off Sai Kung -- an area to the north of Hong Kong proper that is more countryside than urban headache. Every June 2, a pilgrimage of sorts makes its way to this church -- St. Joseph's -- and we were able to partake in the Sunday services and post service meal, and then walk around the island for some fresh air and beautiful views.

But then it was back to mayhem and disturbing street smells. There was really nothing here that I couldn't find in any major city in the world, just more of it in Hong Kong. But the touristy things cried out to be done so I road the streetcars, took the gondola up to the Peak, took shots of the skyline from the ferry and drank Starbucks lattes at $5 each, ordering from a menu written in Cantonese.

Two and a half days were enough for me. Probably for anyone who just wants a taste of Chinese free market capitalism. Incredibly, I couldn't wait to get back to China.