I got back from vacation last night. For the last three weeks I have been in Hong Kong and China.
I packed my cue and planned to shoot a little pool in each large city we visited. I thought the whole point of the trip was to play pool on the other side of the world. Sadly, my wife was dead set on her crazy notion that the trip was to visit family.
First stop was to visit her Grandmother in Shantou. We were only there a few days and still suffering jet lag. Try as I might, I was not able to get anybodies cooperation to take me to play pool.
Next up was Foshan to visit aunts, uncles, and cousins. A little more luck here. My wife’s cousin took me out to play. He did not know of any poolhalls, but there was a large recreation center with snooker tables. There were at least four tables, each in its own private room. I played my wife’s cousin for about an hour. He clearly was not a regular player. This was the first time I have ever played snooker, but I had read the rules and a bit about the game. The tables were 6x12s in decent shape. I scored 24 points in one turn in my first game (red, black, red black, red, black). I only got to play the once for about an hour.
Third up was Hong Kong. Again, no pool, just snooker. An uncle dropped me off at a large snooker hall (is that what they are called)? I am not sure how many tables there were total because the room was rather oddly shaped with tables in several different areas. Again, big 12x6 tables all in very good condition. Probably the cleanest “poolhall” I have ever been in. I played by myself for about three hours. I really started to like the game. After playing I watched some locals play. On one table a young girl (early 20s) and an older guy were playing. Both were good players putting together some strong runs. On another table was a group of guys playing for what looked like to be $1HK per point, winner stayed at the table. $1HK is just under $0.13US, so not high stakes. These guys were not that good, I believe I could hang with them with the whopping 4 hours of snooker play under my belt, but I did not to get into the game. My Cantonese is just not strong enough to have a conversation to cover the particulars needed. Especially since I am not clear on some of the finer points of the rules.
A few nights later I went back to this place and played an uncle. He defiantly plays, but not that good. In the couple of hours we played, I managed several runs into the 20s.
Last was Beijing. Here we stayed in a hotel since we have no local relatives. I got a bit excited when I saw they had a room in the hotel with 4 4x8 tables with pool balls. That night I ran down to play practically shaking with excitement. As soon as I get close to the tables I get a shock. The tables are 4x8 and those are pool balls, but everything else is in a “snooker” style. The house cues are snooker cues, the cloth is snooker cloth, the rails and pockets are also snooker style. I had left my cue in Hong Kong, so I played about an hour or so and did not go back to play the rest of the time in Beijing.
Overall the trip was great, I got to visit with a lot of my wife’s family and see many things in Hong Kong and China I had not seen before. Well, mostly I saw the insides of a lot of different restaurants. Dining and socializing is very big in my wife’s family.
My pool cue was never even screwed together.
I packed my cue and planned to shoot a little pool in each large city we visited. I thought the whole point of the trip was to play pool on the other side of the world. Sadly, my wife was dead set on her crazy notion that the trip was to visit family.
First stop was to visit her Grandmother in Shantou. We were only there a few days and still suffering jet lag. Try as I might, I was not able to get anybodies cooperation to take me to play pool.
Next up was Foshan to visit aunts, uncles, and cousins. A little more luck here. My wife’s cousin took me out to play. He did not know of any poolhalls, but there was a large recreation center with snooker tables. There were at least four tables, each in its own private room. I played my wife’s cousin for about an hour. He clearly was not a regular player. This was the first time I have ever played snooker, but I had read the rules and a bit about the game. The tables were 6x12s in decent shape. I scored 24 points in one turn in my first game (red, black, red black, red, black). I only got to play the once for about an hour.
Third up was Hong Kong. Again, no pool, just snooker. An uncle dropped me off at a large snooker hall (is that what they are called)? I am not sure how many tables there were total because the room was rather oddly shaped with tables in several different areas. Again, big 12x6 tables all in very good condition. Probably the cleanest “poolhall” I have ever been in. I played by myself for about three hours. I really started to like the game. After playing I watched some locals play. On one table a young girl (early 20s) and an older guy were playing. Both were good players putting together some strong runs. On another table was a group of guys playing for what looked like to be $1HK per point, winner stayed at the table. $1HK is just under $0.13US, so not high stakes. These guys were not that good, I believe I could hang with them with the whopping 4 hours of snooker play under my belt, but I did not to get into the game. My Cantonese is just not strong enough to have a conversation to cover the particulars needed. Especially since I am not clear on some of the finer points of the rules.
A few nights later I went back to this place and played an uncle. He defiantly plays, but not that good. In the couple of hours we played, I managed several runs into the 20s.
Last was Beijing. Here we stayed in a hotel since we have no local relatives. I got a bit excited when I saw they had a room in the hotel with 4 4x8 tables with pool balls. That night I ran down to play practically shaking with excitement. As soon as I get close to the tables I get a shock. The tables are 4x8 and those are pool balls, but everything else is in a “snooker” style. The house cues are snooker cues, the cloth is snooker cloth, the rails and pockets are also snooker style. I had left my cue in Hong Kong, so I played about an hour or so and did not go back to play the rest of the time in Beijing.
Overall the trip was great, I got to visit with a lot of my wife’s family and see many things in Hong Kong and China I had not seen before. Well, mostly I saw the insides of a lot of different restaurants. Dining and socializing is very big in my wife’s family.
My pool cue was never even screwed together.
Now you've got a good excuse to take a couple of 'sick days' and come down to Louisville and play some REAL pool! LOL Hope to see you there!