Wow. I can't believe that this thread is still going. I actually spent last week in HKG and I'm back. Unfortunately, I did not read anything beyond geo1004's post. Here is what happended.
First, the "bad" news. I was pressed for time and decided to take the one day "Shenzen/Guangzhou" tour mentioned by one of the posters. It was OK, but I was somewhat disappointed as I did not see the outdoor markets in Guangzhou and other things I had hoped for. I guess this reinforces my dislike of tours.
I found Shenzen fascinating. We went to the zoological gardens, the display of the terracotta warriors, and drove past the theme parks, one with a massive 1/3 scale Eiffle Tower. I would like to see these parks with more time.
Incidentally, as an aside, after touring the terracotta warrior museum we we led to the attached "Friendship Store" for some shopping. These used to be owned by the government and may still be, but they are probably the most expensive place in China to shop. Even, here, though, EVERYTHING is negotiable. I was looking at a 3x5 silk rug with a $850US price tag. I am reasonably competent to evaluate these for quality and it was very good. By the time we left, they were offering it to me for $500 US and I had the feeling that I probably could have gotten it down to around $400 if I really wanted to try. I didn't, but in retrospect, I should have.
On to Guanzhou. I was impressed with about 100 miles of residential/commercial development I saw while riding the coach between thw two cities.
I found Guangzhou intertesting for what we saw and the typical CHinese lunch we had a a group. I defintiely found it older, more crowded, and not as clean as Shenzen, but that was to be expected. We were put on the thru train back to HKG first class, which was nice after 11 hours on the road. Incidentally, the cost of this ticket is $190HGD one way, about $25US.
Now for the good news. I can't pass up taking advantage of Continental's $600 EWR-HKG roundtrip and plan tomorrow to book a return, probably, March 28-April 1. I will definitely use one of the days on this next trip to back to China, probably Shenzen for the day.
Thanks everyone for all the nice suggestions.
I plan on doing a full trip report in a few days, once I get back on schedule.
Ed