abg shanks: June 2018

We arrived in the Hong Kong International Airport about 5 hours after leaving UB and took the 26 minute tourist friendly Airport Express train into town central disembarking at the Hong Kong stop on Hong Kong island on the south side of Victoria Harbor. Temps were in the mid 90s and humidity was hovering around 90%...it was hot and humid.

Hong Kong, as you may know, was a British colony up until their 99 year lease came due (they were under a total of 156 years of British rule) on 1 July 1997 when Prince Charles successfully returned Hong Kong's sovereignty to the Peoples Republic of China. Today, Hong Kong is an autonomous territory of China, with it's own currency, different visa requirements for visitors and many English speaking locals.

The sky line encompasses over 1,223 sky scrapers, the most in the world, and with more buildings taller than 500 ft than in any other city. 36 of the worlds tallest 100 buildings are in Hong Kong and more people than anywhere else in the world live and work above the 14th floor, making Hong Kong one of the most vertical cities in the world. Much of the harbor prime waterfront is reclaimed land (from the ocean), including that of the Convention Center, the Hong Kong International Airport and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Hong Kong is the 4th most densely populated area on earth with over 7.5M Hongkongers in ~426 sq miles, or 17,000 people/sq mile. Despite it's population, HK has the 2nd highest life expectancy in the world (about 84 years), next to Japan, and 90% of the inhabitants use the very sophisticated public transportation system.

the Airport Express--very clean and modern and operates from 6am until midnight daily

Our 4-night stay was in a Best Western, which we actually did not find to to be a 'best' at all--billed as a 3-star, we were expecting more...the rooms were very small (thank goodness we travel light), breakfast was not included, the elevators were really slow and crowded and it was a bit run down...but the location and the roof top pool made up for the inadequacies!

As were the views

We walked miles during our 4-day visit, sometimes on elevated covered walkways where you don't have to be out in either the direct sun or rain or deal with traffic--quite the innovative way to walk through a crowded, bustling city.

We also chose the hillside escalator, another covered walkway which 'zipped' you to some of the best shopping, wining and dining the city had to offer...

We wanted to get in as much as we could, so for 2 days we hopped on and off the Big Bus, a hop on/off bus network not only showing us around the city, but providing us with really great commentary on history, geography, culture and interesting tidbits about Hong Kong. We took all 3 of their looping tours (for 1 great price), the Hong Kong Island tour, the Kowloon (mainland) tour, which included ferry rides across Victoria harbor, and the Stanley tour (around the island of HK--outside of the city) seeing the quieter side of Hongkonger life.

One of our favorite stops was at the base of 'Victoria Peak', or better known as 'the Peak' where we stood in line to board the Peak Tram, a funicular railway, up the highest peak on HK island (1,811 ft).

The 360 degree views of the city and surrounding islands was something...quite beautiful really...

the tallest building in HK is the one across the harbor, ICC, at 118 floors (on the left of the photo)

Back down in the city, in and along the streets, restaurants, bars and shops were busy selling everything from food, drinks and flowers, to cheap Chinese trinkets to VERY expensive gold, jade, Rolex, Gucchi, Vera Wang, and so much more...shopping is one of the most popular past times in HK and people literally line up to go into stores (the store keepers have to let people out before they let more people in)...it's amazing to watch how civilized they are...

Hidden gems in the city, were small parks, temples, and concealed alleyways...

Man Mo Temple built in the 1800s--dedicated to the Gods of literature and war

Tin Hau Temple also built in the 1800s

waterfront Observation Wheel park

We boarded a small boat and visited the 'tanker people' who are fishing people who live on their boats amongst the city of high rises...

and passed a jumbo barge converted into a tourist attraction--a floating restaurant (we did not visit)

The beaches on the other side of the island, away from the tankers, the harbor and the port, attracted people from all over, looking for a relaxing time out of the city and away from the high rises...

We visited the jade market...

...the women's market, an outdoor street market, which reminded us of a GIANT dollar general store

and Temple St market, another outdoor, pedestrian only market...

The fishing village of Tai O was an interesting visit seeing how the fishing families live in houses on stilts with their boats moored out back or is it out front?

Tian Tan Buddah is the tallest outdoor sitting bronze Buddah in the world at 112 ft tall and weighs over 250 metric tons. It sits atop a hill outside of the city and visitors have to climb 268 steps to the base of the Buddah. To get to the Buddah, we took the Ngong Ping Cable Car, visited the monastery and then climbed the stairs...