misconceptions about Hong Kong

A few misconceptions that we had about Hong Kong:

Misconception: There are lots of foreigners living there, especially Brits.
Truth: It is 96% Chinese, and there are more Americans living there than Brits at the moment.

Misconception: Dim Sum restaurants are everywhere.
Truth: We had a devil of a time tracking one down, and when we got there we found out it had moved and no one know where. So no dim sum for us! (Soup Nazi voice)

Misconception: In Hong Kong, we would not be subjected to the constant solicitations of Indian tailors/watch salesmen, etc as we were in Bangkok and Koh Samui.
Truth: It was just as bad, if not worse. Apparantly there is no escaping them anywhere in Southeast Asia

Misconception: Chinese residents of Hong Kong like westerners.
Truth: Not really. They don't particularly mind white westerners, though they generally refer to any foreigner as a "foreign devil." Apparantly they have a particular dislike for people with dark skin to the point where if one sits down on the subway, people will stand up rather than be touched by them.

Overall Hong Kong was quite impressive as a city. It's amazing how little land their is to build. It is very much like the mountains along the Pacific Coast Highway from Malibu up to Santa Barbara. Mountains diving right into the ocean. There is apparantly a lot of reclaimed land in Hong Kong, and more to come. The harbor is amazing and it is easy to see why it was such an important port.

We were also big fans of the public transportation too and from the airport. We told them at the airport where we were going, they told us to get off at a certain stop and take bus K4, which would drop us off at the door to the hotel. And sure enough it did.

On the way back, we were able to check our bags with a JAL employee at the train station. Very, very nice. I don't know if such an operation would be possible in the U.S. for security reasons (though I really don't see why not) but let me tell you, people would take notice.

Our time was brief in Hong Kong. We walked around a bit, took some photos from the Kowloon side of the harbor and took a trip to the top of Victoria Peak. Mercifully the observation deck was slightly lower than the cloud cover, so we got some excellent pictures of Hong Kong. Here are a few of them:















A statue of the Man (aka Bruce Lee) on the sidewalk near the harbor. It is the Hong Kong equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, except in Hong Kong there are no whores, IV drug users and petty thiefs to block the view.

Here are a few shots of the Hong Kong side of the harbor, take from the above mentioned walk of fame.
























































Here is some video shot off the observation desk at the top of Victoria Peak.


Enjoy!