HONG KONG

HONG KONG

MARCH 3-4, 2014

 

Hong Kong is a unique meeting place of East and West, blending Chinese heritage, British colonial influences, high-tech modernity and Chinese gusto; where both Cantonese and English are the official languages. The island of Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1841.  On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China.  The vibrant capitalist enclave retains its status as a free port, with its laws to remain unchanged for 50 years, thus preserving its economic independence. Our tour guide told us he is 49 and he said in 33 years he would be too old to influence what change will happen then but he hopes his son and daughter and their generation will be able to save Hong Kong. 

Only one quarter of Hong Kong is urban area. Hong Kong is home to over seven million people. With so little land the only way they have to go is up so they have built sky scrapers to house all the people.  We were told the average apartment for 3-4 people is 380-450 square feet.

 

When we sailed in it was misting rain and was overcast and it stayed that way the two days we were there.  On tour we were taken to the Bird Market. They sell birds of all kinds. It seems since in the small apartments dogs and cats are not the best pets so everyone has a bird. They make elaborate bird cages, some out of mahogany, for the birds. The older retired men take their birds in cages and meet in the park and the men and birds socialize in the mornings. After the Bird Market we visited the Flower Market. The flowers come every morning from all over the world. They are all sold out by the end of the day. They sure love flowers here. Next we took a tram up a very steep mountain to Victoria Peak. There was a very lovely restaurant, Café Décor. We had a 5 star lunch. This restaurant is known for its spectacular views of Hong Kong, Victoria Harbor and Kowloon spreading out below but it was so foggy we could see nothing.  At least the lunch was good.

 

 We got a ride in a tourist San Pan and rode around to look at the huge yachts parked in the harbor almost next to the San Pans. It is hard to believe that some people still live all their lives on those San Pans and never get off them. The yachts were some of the biggest I have ever seen.  There sure are some people with lots of money here.

Sailing into Hong Kong

 

The second day we went to the shopping mall and we decided we didn’t need to buy any souvenirs here.  They have every high end shop in the world here and the prices are out of this world. We were glad to find a supermarket and we were able to get some personal items we needed to replace. Next we are off to Singapore. 

Famous floating restaurant - JUMBO

Small Hong Kong Yacht

San Pans

Formal Night On Board Ship