Day 2 & 3 - Hong Kong

Sunday we woke up with the imperative of booking our train ticket from Hong Kong to Shanghai. After walking along the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade (photo 1) we were informed that the first possible train ticket to Shanghai was on Feb 25, so we were going to spend 3 extra days in Hong Kong. No problem – Hong Kong has a plethora of spectacles and activities. Another benefit of Hong Kong, or Hung Hom as the Chinese call it, is that almost all signs are in English so everything is easily accomplished.

Photo 1: Hong Kong Island in the background:

Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers of any city

We then headed over to “Central to Mid Level Escalator” which is 800 meters in length and claims to be the longest escalator in the world (photo 2). Seems like everything around here claims to be the biggest, longest, tallest, etc… But in the case of this escalator it is more of a series of escalators which combined make up the longest escalator in the world. It took us about 20 minutes to go from bottom to top.

Photo 2

Traveling around the city we noticed that there were literally hundreds of thousands of women sitting in groups on the sidewalks, in the parks, just anywhere with any room (photo 3). At first we thought they might be homeless immigrants from Indonesia (many of them were Muslim), but we settled on the theory that it was a Sunday tradition to hang out outside their claustrophobic apartments.

Photo 3: Thousands of people camped out at Victoria Park

We ended the night with a trip to Stanley Beach on the Southside of Hong Kong Island to check out the weekly “Laser Show” however we got there and there was no laser show. It was still nice to get out of the city and check out a beautiful beach (photo 4).

Photo 4: Stanley Beach at night

On Monday moved to a more spacious hostel on the other side of the city (photos 5&6). We then continued our tourist rampage by visiting the free Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden which had an abundance of tropical plants, flowers, trees, apes, monkeys, and birds (photos 7-10). We then walked to the Flagstaff Teaware Museum which my mom would like (photo 11) and then on into Hong Kong Park (photo 12). All the parks and roads are immaculately tended to – hardly a leaf on any of the paths. This is one of the most impressive cities I have ever been to, only rivaled by the scale of NYC.

Photo 5: The street outside our new hostel

Photo 6: Behind me the International Finance Centre:

7th tallest skyscraper in the world

Photo 7

Photo 8: Strangest bird I have ever seen

Photo 9

Photo 10: Orchid Garden

Photo 11: One of many cool tea pots

Photo 12: Part of the 2008 Olympics were held in Hong Kong

Photo 13: Our first experience of random

people wanting to take pictures with us

Tonight we enjoyed succulent Peking Duck at the city’s finest “Singing Deer.” We were waited on by no less than two officious waiters watching me struggle to wipe the duck grease from off my chin. We need to figure out what is the appropriate tip in this town.

-George