First Day in Hong Kong

 We made it to Hong Kong— and man, it is it tall!

First impressions are important and after being in a city without any public transportation, the amazing train from the airport to the center was awesome: fast, clean, easy, and comfy.  It took us about 35 minutes on the train to get to the Central, walking straight onto the train from the airport.  It was perfect.  Switching lines at Central, we were staying in the Sheung Wan area on Hong Kong Island.  The hotel wasn’t anything special and we were on the 29th floor, and there were lots of taller building around us.  Coming from DC, where there is a height restriction, seeing all these skyscrapers is just astonishing.

from our hotel room, looking into bay

looking out the windows in our hotel into the city

We went for a neighborhood walk in one of the earliest settled areas by the British.  We were a few blocks away from Possession Street, the original site of occupation of Hong Kong Island by the Brits in 1842.  It is also the Wholesale District, where shop after shop sells dried seafood and herbal medicines.  The whole area reeks of rotting seafood and salt and most shop owners are very reluctant to have their photos taken.  This is their business, dealing in Chinese traditional food and medicines, and they do not like all the tourists coming by with their cameras.  I had to be quite stealthy in snapping some of these shots.

drying fish on the guard rail by a busy street corner 

dried seafood shop

mushrooms and dried mussels

birds’ nests

mushrooms

 The public transport options in Hong Kong are endless: the metro. ferries, buses, cabs, and trams— our personal favorite.  Entering from the back, you pay when you leave out the front.  They have a limited area where they run, but it is all you need: you are traveling along the main road on Hong Kong Island and you pass by several metro stops.   Each ride was 2,60 HKD, or about 30¢ US.  So cheap and so fun!  The trolleys are very narrow and tall, and sitting on the upper level, you are about 2 stories off the ground.

Because of the space restrictions all over Hong Kong, buildings are squeezed in and build upwards.  Every space is planned out and used to maximum capacity.  Parks and green spaces aren’t natural, but  maintained and made to look wild.

Man Mo Temple

 We went to Hong Kong Park, a large recreational area surrounded by skyscrapers.  We wandered through the Edward Youde Aviary and the Forsgate Conservatory.

orchids in the conservatory

water iris

celebrating the 2008 Beijing Olympics

banyan tree

The aviary has about 90 species of birds (about 600 of them total) flying around this man-made rain forest.  We walked through the treetops on a wooden walkway and the birds were quite used to humans, landing on the railings and squawking at us, wanting food and grain.

crested pigeon