HONG KONG

Hong Kong was amazing. It was a forest of buildings surrounding the harbor on both sides. The side attached to the mainland is Kowloon near the harbor, turning into the “New Territories” farther inland. Across the water from that is what we think of as Hong Kong. We docked in Kowloon right near the famous Star Ferry, which crosses over to Hong Kong.

Where to start? Well, we were in a prime location in many ways, and it was easy to get around. The gangway from the ship led directly into a mall. What could be better? Mall understates it; it was a rabbit warren of connected malls, restaurants, hotels, and so on. Hundreds if not thousands of shops! Now, the bargains were not as they were in Vietnam. In fact, it was quite expensive, but the shopping lure of HK is the volume of stuff and the fact that it’s all the newest, most current – you name it, fashion, electronics, jewelry, and so on. I was swooning over the flat screen TVs.

We only had two days there. It could be worth a return visit, as it combined an interesting urban experience with a good deal of natural beauty, which I like. We did a city tour which took us up Victoria Peak. Unfortunately, it was completely socked in with fog. First, I felt very much at home – Seattle! Secondly, it was quite a welcome relief from the tropical temperatures we’d had for most of the voyage. The pictures were not great, but folks who went the second day had a clear view. I will try to pilfer some of their pics.

They had a great cable car which ran up and down the mountain, at about a 45 degree angle. We bussed up and cable-carred down, into the main park area, very pretty, and also visited the oldest building in HK, a church dating from the mid-1800s. The entire city is very clean, and really was not as congested as you would think given the population. The food was good and there was a Haagen Dazs right by the ship, offering table service and elaborate and expensive desserts. Yipee.

I walked the harbor walk up a ways, past their film star walk, complete with stars in the sidewalk. I have pictures of a few of the notables: Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, and of course, complete with statue, Bruce Lee. Of course, we all know he is buried in Seattle, but this fact did not seem particularly salient in HK. I also walked up the main street, which was a nice tree-lined boulevard, also lined with shops. I came back via a big city park which had a bird display, a pond, etc. – very nice. Very safe feeling as well. I was still somewhat of a towering giant, although our Chinese tour guide, a woman, was about my height (!) and mentioned that some of the northern people, particularly around Qingdao, our next destination, were quite tall (she was correct).

What was a little more difficult to find in HK was more traditional art or crafts. The tourist stuff is out front, and the traditional stuff is in the smaller markets. I strolled through one, very interesting. There is a big market in jade and some antiques, but I did not end up with either, as I’m not very knowledgeable (nor rich). We glimpsed a food market on our tour, and I was very much reminded of Chinatown in Vancouver BC. We also had a brief tour through Aberdeen’s (!) floating fishing communities, boats at the south end of HK island where fishing folk live very traditionally; some, at least in the past, spent their entire lives on these boats, really never even setting foot on shore. They were a form of untouchables in their way. It was not unreminiscent of some of the floating homes in our fair city, with plants and sometimes gardens right on the boats, of course quite a bit more rustic.

HK has maintained its character even after reverting back to China. They refer to “Two systems, one country.” HK maintains its own currency, own postal system I believe (a good one), and most of the trappings of capitalism in a communist country. It’s economically pretty strong and quite attractive to other Chinese who wish to immigrate, which they control fairly strictly. One reason is that it’s quite populous, and they are expanding the land into the harbor to accommodate more, since most of the area is mountains (around 60% I think). The harbor shrinks, people build up the sides of mountains and in every available space, and there you are. One of the neat features was the nightly light show downtown. Buildings are equipped with colored neon/LED/laser lights and/or white spotlights, and every night at 8 they do a light show to music. I got some decent photos (and a bunch of crappy ones).

It was a very first-world area, complete with the ubiquitous KFC, pretty and fun. For shoppers, it’s a paradise, but there is also enough cultural interest as well as natural beauty to engage those who don’t shop till they drop. Besides, there’s that Asian size thing again…..