China 2011 - Hong Kong

July 15 – 18, 2011

Day 1, July 15

After a morning flight from Wuhan to Hong Kong we arrived at the new airport, which opened in 1998 – just a year before our last visit in ’99. There was an hour drive over beautiful bridges and through a tunnel over to the island of Hong Kong. Once checked in to the Charterhouse Causeway Bay Hotel we regrouped to take a walking tour of the area. Sally pointed out various places of potential interest, like McDonalds, Starbucks, other places to eat, and the Time Square Shopping Mall close by. The rest of the afternoon and evening was on our own and it was interesting to wander and note that things have not changed much from our 1999 visit or after the Chinese took over control of the area from the British in 1997.

We wandered under the freeway, through the food market and spent some time getting to know Times Square. To celebrate the opening of the last Harry Potter movie there was a mock-up of the Hogwarts Train and a model area of Diagon Alley and a statue of Dobie. That was fun.

Day 2, July 16

That day was filled with tours around the city. First we drove to Hollywood Road and visited a local market. This road was built in 1844 and named before the Hollywood in California was even settled. The area is known for its antique stores and art galleries. We stopped for a short visit to the Man Mo Temple where they had huge incense coils hanging from the ceiling.

At one point we were let out along Queen’s Road where we took a long section of the 800-meter (2625 feet) escalator down to Hollywood Road. The escalator is made up of 23 short sections. It only goes one direction; down hill from 6:00 – 10:00 am and uphill from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm.

After a short stop at the obligatory TSL Jewelry workshop we continued on to the south side of the island to Aberdeen. We had a sampan ride through the harbor, which is home for many fishermen. Since it is not fishing season many boats were in the harbor, but most of the fishermen now live in the new high-rise apartment buildings along the shore instead of on their boats like they did during our 1982 visit. There are only about 200 still residing on boats, including the lady who was our sampan guide. She lives on the sampan we were on and was very proud of it.

For the evening we took the optional “Hong Kong by Night and Asian Cuisine tour. It started with a drive over to Kowloon, through the tunnel, and a walk along the waterfront before boarding a ferry to go back across Victoria Harbor back to Hong Kong.

The city was beautifully lit and the weather cooperated and did not rain (much) on us. Back on the island we boarded a double-decker bus to experience another form of transportation. Then there was a drive up to The Peak but unfortunately it was in the clouds, so we didn’t get that view. It was a fun evening with a variety of experiences.

Day 3 – July 17

After breakfast, instead of taking the day at leisure we chose the optional tour of Kowloon and the New Territories, which included lunch. One of the interesting stops was a small area where men, probably retired, bring their pet birds in elaborate cages to “socialize” with other birds, also in cages. This was a fascinating concept and the men seemed to enjoy their visiting time as well.

The next stop was a peaceful park where we walked around the lake and enjoyed the plants, rock garden and water features.

More changes we noticed since our ’82 and ’99 visits included the fact that there are only a few shanty style areas instead of the hillside covered with them. Another is that the “Tiger Balm Gardens” are gone. I’m also sure there are many more high-rise housing buildings.

We had lunch in a fishing area where we saw all kinds of sealife, in tanks, for sale. Some of the clams were huge.

The Farewell Dinner at the hotel took much of the evening. It was hard to wind down from our four weeks together (including Mongolia) and three weeks with our great guide Sally.

Days 4/5 – July 18-19

This morning we packed up and were to have left for home flying via Vancouver, BC. For whatever reason, we found out that our plane had left Vancouver hours late. Therefore, we were allowed to have access to our rooms and didn’t have to leave for the airport until 4:00 pm. We walked around and revisited Time Square and even had lunch at a McDonalds across the street from the mall.

Because we were over three hours late leaving Hong Kong we missed our connecting flight from Vancouver down to Portland. Air Canada was on top of it and booked us into a hotel for the night and scheduled us on the first flight out the next morning. So, by 10:00 am July 19 we were back home after a month on the road. It was a great trip and even though not making it to Tibet (see post about Chendu, Lijiang and Kunming) was a big disappointment, especially to Paul, we were very satisfied with the trip. Again OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) came through!!!