glamour shots from HK

Here are some neat pics of HONG KONG ISLAND:
(this one is from across the water on Kowloon Peninsula)
(this is the same shot, but from behind--taken atop Victoria Peak:)

Hong Kong is really beautiful-- I had no idea that almost 80% of what constitutes the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong is actually mountainous greenery:

These three were all taken from Victoria Peak--one of the oldest tourist attractions in HK. A tram has been operating since the 1880s to bring people up to the top of this mountain where one can see the city and the scenery juxtaposed next to each other.

The influence of the British colonial rule from the 1840s - 1997 has had a lasting effect on the culture, cuisine, and architecture of the island, peninsula, and surrounding areas that make up the SAR. In many ways, HK reminds me of Shanghai--especially the business district:

One of the notable differences that I have experienced between Hong Kong and all the many cities I went to in China last year, is that Hong Kong is very CLEAN. I haven't seen anyone spitting (which happens everywhere in the mainland, even inside a Walmart, I remember), people actually take time to put their garbage in trash receptacles, and there are not heaps of rubble/trash just laying around. This truly makes it feel like a different country, because so much of the character of the Chinese cities I visited last year had a grittiness that was articulated by the filth. In a good, interesting way.







Another major difference I've noticed is that there is not a noticeable wealth gap as there is on the main land. One of the most alarming aspects of visiting Shanghai was seeing the massive hotels with bellboys and redcarpets literally right next to slums where houses were made of tin roofs and dirt floors. I realize I haven't been to that many places in Hong Kong yet, but from what I've experienced, the 'slums' are either far removed from the nicer areas, or there just aren't slums that are comparable to China's in the first place. I would say the wealth gap was one of the most depressing things about the cities in China, so Hong Kong has been really enjoyable and pleasant thus far.








Another interesting thing we encountered was the diversity of the city. We went to Kowloon Park on Sunday and were surprised to see many Filipinos, Indians, Southeast Asians (perhaps Malay or Indonesian), and blacks lounging around eating and chatting. There were also large group of Muslim women singing prayers together in Arabic:




We're going to go some temples today, so hopefully I'll have more great pictures for ya. It's been frustrating being here because no one understands Standard Mandarin Chinese... each time I've tried to speak to people in the language that I've been devoting myself to tirelessly for the past two years, they stare at me blankly and reply in Cantonese (they are completely different languages... I can't speak any Cantonese). For the most part salespeople/waitresses can speak sufficient English so I haven't had too much problem, but at one store I asked for directions in English and the cashier didn't know what I was saying-- it's as if he knew how to sell me things, but no more than that!