Hong Kong March 14 - 15

(Pictures to be posted later in a separate entry)

WOW – where to begin?!  Hong Kong has always been one of those amazing culturally diverse places to visit and historically important to understand.  What we saw in this city was so much change since the 1990’s, it made our heads spin.  The skyline is beyond any city in the world except perhaps Shanghai (which we haven’t seen).  You have amazing architectural feats on both sides of Victoria Harbor, with office towers climbing to heights of up to 118 stories and condo buildings not much shorter than that.  High-rise buildings constructed into the sides of Mt. Victoria that now tower to the point that at its peak, you are nearly parallel with their rooftops.  A laser “symphony of light” show is held every night on Victoria Harbor to music acknowledging the city and its tallest buildings.  Where do we start telling about Hong Kong…..maybe at the harbor?

Twenty years ago, Victoria Harbor was a place where ferries, fishing boats, barges, freighters, cruise ships and sampans were so prevalent that you almost would think you could have run across it jumping from deck to deck of moving ships.  Now, the harbor is being filled in and high-rise structures – a cultural center, a harbor shopping center, condo buildings and more – and roadways are built upon the reclaimed land.  And in the future, already recently reclaimed land will be used for the terminus of a high speed rail system and for more buildings.  The harbor is now much smaller with less boat traffic and fewer people taking the ferries.  The ferries are all high-speed now and look fairly modern.  All the freighters are moved further away from the main city water front, towards the west end of Kowloon where there is a massive container port.  The harbor piers have been rebuilt with clubs and shopping malls.  Our captain mentioned today that the Queen Elizabeth, on entering and leaving Victoria Harbor, had to negotiate areas that were less than two “cable lengths” (720 feet/cable) in width, difficult areas to “push a stick through” unless it has modern steering devices that are all functioning properly.

The shopping – several modern malls right at the piers where are ship docks, called Harbor City.  Ocean Terminal, Ocean Centre and Gateway Arcade are all interconnected.  Four levels of every kind of store you can imagine, as well as restaurants and snack places.  Each store has more people working the floor than you can count – all under the age of 30.  There is every designer store you can imagine and they are so popular with the mainland Chinese tourists there is a long queue at opening, and at select stores like Chanel, throughout the day.  We are told that they had to establish the queues, complete with a tough-looking bouncer, to screen out the true shoppers from the girls who just want to see a designer item and take their picture.  To go in the store you have to be a serious shopper.  Apparently, the mainland Chinese come to Hong Kong to shop because there are no taxes and because of the ubiquity of upscale merchandise.  They shop, load up suitcases and fly back to their homes.  Sounds a little like some people who go to New York or Chicago to shop.  However, we are talking about mostly designer stores – not the Stanley Market items.  The west will soon have conquered the Chinese with capitalism and designer goods.

Stanley Market – still there but seems smaller.  Some women on the ship did not feel the items and deals were as good as in the past.  There is a Ladies Market and Night Market on Hong Kong Island and the Temple Market in Kowloon available for shopping as well and for mastery of negotiation skills (realistically, if you buy something, you probably overpay no matter how much you negotiate!).  Some women claimed the Ladies Market was where the deals were this time.  We visited the Temple Market and found a few items.  It felt to a bit like something we could have done in a New York or San Francisco flea market.  It didn’t have the same feel as it used to have when the items from Hong Kong seemed more unique.  It was though a fun experience to walk through the Temple Market. 

Fashion – all the young people – everywhere!  Where are the seniors?  Very few in the main area of Hong Kong, and the ones that are there seem to stand around in amazement, just like us.  And the young people look like they could be walking down the street of New York City.  Jeans, Uggs, the layered look, leggings, leather boots – looking very similar to any young person, anywhere else.  When you get away from the Kowloon and Hong Kong Island into a fishing village, you do see a little of the older woman and men dressed in the more peasant look.  Poverty prohibits fashion statements. 

Lantau Island – what a difference a bridge, an airport and tourism can make.  Lantau is actually the larger of the islands off of peninsular Kowloon – bigger than Hong Kong Island.  It is mountainous and forested.  It mainly was the home of fishing villages, three monasteries and three prisons.  Since 1992 when Lynn last visited, they moved the Hong Kong airport to Lantau Island, built one of the largest double-decker suspension bridges in the world to connect Kowloon and Lantau Island, expanded the tourist facilities near Po Lin Monastery where the largest Bronze Buddha in the world is located, added and groomed trails in the mountains for weekend visitors who ‘get away’ from the city and finally, ushered in Disneyland Hong Kong, which is built on Lantau island.  In the principal fishing village, visited by Lynn two decades ago and again on this trip, the streets were improved and small connecting pathways were built over canals that you once had to cross via a boat you powered yourself via a hand-over-hand rope.  The Po Lin Monastery lunch, once a humble meal served by monks, is now a Chinese-style buffet meal provided to tables of ten tourists.  And the monastery is presently undergoing a renovation so huge that the sound of the cranes, drilling and jackhammers eclipsed the tolling of the large bell calling monks to prayer. Maybe they use a smartphone app these days to receive the temple call?

The Giant Bronze Buddha is easy to get to these days because there is a paved road to the top of the peak, or you can walk the 256 steps that replaced the “trudge” up the old unimproved mountain trail.  You can imagine our amazement at the sights and sounds of this holy place.  “Progress” and the shrinking world are subjects that become the focus of our discussions as we enjoy our Starbuck lattes – yes, Starbucks – at the base of poor Big Buddha.  We are deeply concerned that Siddhartha will sprout Mickey ears before our next visit.

Mt. Victoria – The Tram to the peak was undergoing massive maintenance, so our tour took us to the top via bus – a long and winding road weaving its way up.  So many more buildings have been built along the way – huge condominium buildings reaching to the sky, large mansions and, when we get to the top, an entire shopping center.  And yes, another Starbucks.  All where twenty years ago there were only a simple tram building and a lookout spot.

When we visited the last time, the Peninsula Hotel, where we then met a business associate for a drink one evening, was located right on Victoria Harbor – spectacular views looking across from Kowloon to Hong Kong.  We went back to re-live that moment in time.  It is still a very special hotel; however it no longer sits overlooking the harbor!  The Cultural Centre is built on reclaimed land directly along the waterfront in front of the Peninsula Hotel on Salisbury Street.  There is even an IMAX theatre and a statue of Bruce Lee!  The waterfront walkway is great for viewing the laser light show and thank goodness someone saved the iconic Canton Railway Clock Tower.

Other observations – people walking with masks over their nose and mouth (why?); signs on buses saying “This Bus Disinfected Every Day” (why?); very tall buildings with apartments that are only 300-500 sq. feet, with people still hanging their clothes out to dry; Hong Kong has to buy and haul in its water from China because it has no source for water except rainwater runoff and no desalination plants have been built (yet!); toilets in some places are still a hole in the ground (why?!).

We would still recommend Hong Kong as a destination since it’s extremely exciting, and for anyone looking to experience a little Chinese culture, it’s a comfortable and easy way to do so.  All the signs and restaurant menus are in English and everyone speaks English.  It is an incredible city with so many sights and sounds unique to anywhere else in the world.  But don’t expect the Hong Kong of yesteryear; that has simply disappeared.