Two Days in Hong Kong

Queen Elizaeth in Hong Kong

Star Ferry

At 6:30 AM, on March 14, we are sliding into the harbor. We were in Hong Kong only 10 years ago, and there are even more high-rise buildings now. We are docked at Ocean Terminal, on the edge of the Kowloon waterfront. We exit the boat through a four-story mall, and then it is only a 5 minute walk to the Star Ferry. We could not be better located.

Walled Home

Single Clan Home

Our first day in Hong Kong is a busy one. We leave early in the morning for the New Territories. We visited the New Territories in 1967 - while Hong Know was still a British colony. The area had been acquired by the British to provide agricultural support to Hong Kong. It was a rural, undeveloped area at the time. Now it is high-rise buildings, highways, tunnels, and light industry. A few of the old buildings are still there, and we visit them. They are walled “homes” for large families - one is the Sam Tung UK Museum, and another is a walled city belonging to one clan (now a set of small dingy apartments).

Bamboo Woods Temple

Four Faced God

Large Buddhas

Coiled Incense

We visit a large Buddhist/Taoist temple, Bamboo Woods The site is a set of buildings, and stairways, with each temple overlooking the others. This temple complex has both the four faced god - from Thailand - as well as large indoor Buddhas. The culture seems to have melded Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. One can buy coils of incense that can be hung in the temples, and which will burn for a month. The normal three incense sticks are there as well.

Fortune Sticks

Busy Street Market Options

We return to the ship in time to have a few tea sandwiches, and then leave again at 4:30 PM for a Hong Kong by night tour. We first visit a busy street market, that extends for 8 blocks. One can purchase paintings, electronics, toys, crafts, clothes, food, and jewelry. Convenient money changers are available to convert U.S dollars to Hong Kong dollars.

Street Market

Peking Garden Dinner

Due to traffic, we arrive late to dinner at the famous Peking Garden for a northern Chinese banquet (eleven courses). The meal includes fancy cold cut combination, sautéed shrimp and scallops with vegetable, sautéed diced chicken with chili sauce, seafood soup, barbecued Peking duck, deep fried fillet of fish and pineapple, sautéed sliced beef with spring onion, braised Tientsin cabbage with minced ham, fried Peking noodles with shredded pork, steamed minced vegetable dumpling, and chilled sago cream and honeydew melon. We sit at a round table with dishes placed on a Lazy Susann in the middle. The quality of the food is excellent.

Symphony of Lights

Symphony of Lights 

Pearl of the Orient

Jean in the Fog

We rush from the restaurant to the Kowloon harbor-side for the 8:00 PM sound and light show, Symphony of Lights. Buildings along the harbor, on the Hong Kong Island side, are lit with fanciful and changing colors, and lasers flash from the top of buildings in a variety of colors. After the light show, we board the bus for a drive to Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island. We use the tunnel under the harbor to reach the island. Since this is Spring in Hong Kong, mist is to be expected, and at the top of Victoria Peak we see only the fog. However, our guide is resourceful, and knows a stop half-way down the mountain where we can see Hong Kong island glowing below us - truly the Pearl of the Orient. We arrive back at the ship at 10:30 PM.

Avenue of the Stars

Jean and Bruce Lee

 

The next day we are on our own. We walk first to the “Avenue of Stars”, where the hand or foot prints of famous Chinese film stars are located in the pavement along a harbor-side walkway. From there we take the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island. The ferry has operated for over a century, and it is the same as it was when we visited Hong Kong in the 60s. The rules now allow free passage for anyone over 65, whether a resident of Hong Kong or not.

View from the Walkway

View from the Escalator

Escalator on Hong Kong Island

From the Ferry Terminal, on the Hong Kong side, we follow a series of walkways which cross over the major roads in the central district. (There was a model of the city of the future at the 1940 World’s Fair that had walkways over all the streets - Hong Kong is almost like that). You can enter many of the shops and malls from the walkway level. We are searching for the escalator that goes up the hill. It is about 800 feet long - the longest in the world we have been told. We find it and ride up to several interesting districts on the side of the hill before we walk back down, and using the ferry, return to the ship. After a quick lunch, we go to the art museum, only to find it is closed on Thursdays. Next we try to book a table at Felix - a restaurant on top of the Peninsula Hotel. (We ate there 10 years ago, and loved it.) Sadly they are having a private party so we cannot repeat the experience. On the way back to the ship, Jean finds a bargain in beetle watches, and Sumner finds an allergy drug, in case he needs it. Finally we return to the ship to have dinner, watch the light show for a second time, and have a drink in the Commodore Club on the 9th level. We return to our room late, but stay awake to watch the ship sail out of Hong Kong harbor at 11:30 PM.

We are on our way to Viet Nam. Our next port is Chan May, the port for Hue and the Perfume River.