China ... Day 2

May 2
Woke up in Hong Kong
Fell asleep in Hong Kong (for 2 hours)

Random thoughts on Hong Kong ...

- There are a lot of people. 'With a population of 7 million people, but only 1,108 km2 (428 sq mi) of land, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.' But also interesting is that they have one of the lowest fertility rates in the world at less than one child per woman. So in order to sustain the current population they need to rely on immigration, which apparently isn't a problem. I'd thoroughly enjoy immigrating to Hong Kong. :)

- Daniel and I both agreed that Hong Kong had one of the best transportation systems out of any of the big cities that we've been to. I think I read somewhere that over 90% of daily transport in Hong Kong is done on public transportation ... and I believe that. Between taxis, the subway, ferries, peak trams, express trains, buses, and the only double decker tram system in the world, it was so easy (and cheap!!) to get from point A to point B. Cheers to that.

- Hong Kong is incredibly hilly. Everything is a steep slope, an intimidating flight of stairs, or a 'longest outdoor escalator ride in the world' away.

We had the entire day to spend in Hong Kong and a long list of things to do, so when the alarm went off at 8:00am (after just a few hours of sleep) Daniel and I were ready to rock. First up ... a temple.

Man Mo Temple was built after two gods, Man the god of literature and Mo the god of war. The temple is full of these huge coil incense that are burning to 'feed the spirits of the gods'. Well the gods certainly weren't going hungry because it was all sorts of smokey and I am pretty sure ALL of the incense were burning. I should have worn a hat because I'm pretty sure I ended up with ashes all in my hair.

Next up was Victoria Peak. This is the ultimate touristy thing to do in Hong Kong, but the view was suppose to be amazing so we put it on the list. We took a tram up to the peak and the view was just like they said, absolutely amazing.

We're kind of an international big deal ... :)

Our next stop for the day was to take a ferry across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. The weather was perfect and the view was pretty sweet and it was only like 11:00 am. Daniel and I were rocking on time.

'Hong Kong has the world's greatest number of skyscrapers, at 7,650. The high density and tall skyline of Hong Kong's urban area is due to a lack of available sprawl space. This lack of space causing demand for dense, high-rise offices and housing, has resulted in 36 of the world's 100 tallest residential buildings being in Hong Kong, and more people living or working above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth, making it the world's most vertical city.' And I always thought Tokyo was the move vertical city ... learn something new every day.
The skyline was stunning at night. The buildings were all lit up, as were the boats, everyone was gathered along the water, and at 8:00 there was a laser show. Called 'A Symphony of Lights', the show is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's largest permanent light and sound show. It was pretty amazing to watch & I'm pretty sure I have some video somewhere, although we all know how good my video taking skills are. :)
We spent the day taking in the city and walking, people watching, and mingling starting with an upscale area called Jordan Road before making it to the local markets, which were an absolute riot. The people were hilarious, the bargaining was fun, the stuff was crap, but everyone was buying regardless ... it was just a lot of fun. Even more fun the the markets in Korea & Mexico. :) We made it to a few different ones ...

- The Ladies Market
'Probably Hong Kong's most famous market, and one of the best for visiting tourists to soak up the hustle and bustle of a Chinese market. Despite the name, the markets sells clothes for men and women and plenty of cheap Chinese curios, as well as being one of the locations for Hong Kong's buzzing trade in copies and fakes.' (And yes, we had the experience of being taken into a back alley closet & shown all of the 'A class' black market goods. Bags, watches, belts, jewelry, DVDs. You name it, you could find it. We didn't make any fake purchases though. Definitely not my style).

- The Golden Shopping Arcade
'Probably Hong Kong's best computer market, and there is plenty of competition, the Golden Arcade features hundreds of independent stores, flogging the best in computer technology at fairly low prices. Be prepared, the arcade is a maze and almost always packed, on top of that sellers can be aggressive. Check out our guide to buying electronics in Hong Kong, for some tips.'

and

- Temple Street Market
'A night market selling mostly gadgets and small electronic items, including a wide-range of second-hand mobile phones. The streets surrounding the market are transformed at night into one big, open-air restaurant, as street food sellers set tables for hungry shoppers.' We ate dinner and drank a lot of TsingTaos at the temple street market. :) Definitely a good time.

We made it back to the hotel well after midnight to fall asleep in Hong Kong for the last time ... only to be woken up 2 hours later by a 4:30am alarm that neither of us were excited about.

I posted more Hong Kong pictures on facebook ... here are the links:

Hong Kong Day 1

&

Hong Kong Day 2

much love

-tara-

xx