Before McDonalds and before KFC, not much in China appealed to the typical western palate. Although I have always loved real Chinese cuisine, we would take the hard sleeper train from Beijing to Guangzhou, and then the hoverferry to HK–a 30+ hour trip–on a regular basis, just to eat a BIg Mac in this oasis. Hong Kong is still one of my favorite places in the world. I have traveled over 60,000 km riding Chinese trains, and the food in Hong Kong–both Western and Chinese– is one of the main reasons.