HONG KONG

                                          City Information

Hong Kong means frequent harbor. Also called The Gateway to China, Hong Kong is home to 8 million people. The World’s Playground covers only 400 square miles. China’s Jewel is actually a group of 235 islands in the South China Sea. The City of Life has more billionaires and Roll Royces per capita than any other city in the world. No matter what one calls the city he is talking about Hong Kong, which a hundred years ago was a sleepy fishing village.

Hong Kong is made up of three sections, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. Hong Kong Island covers 31 square miles and has a population of 1.8 million, Kowloon covers 18 square miles with a population of 2.1 million, and the New Territory’s 235 islands cover 374 square miles with a population of 3.4 million people.

Kowloon is a 40-minute drive from the airport. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong and the word for hello is lay ho and  doe chay means thank you. Hong Kong  has its own currency and on my last visit one US dollar equaled 7.75 Hong Kong dollars. Driving is done English style  on the left side of the road, so be aware and careful crossing the street as  pedestrians do not have the right of way. I noted that traffic moved very fast but it stops immediately, no matter where they are, when a traffic light changes. It was amazing to see this. Obviously brakes are very good as are reflexes! Ice and water in restaurants is ok to drink, but drink bottled water otherwise.

Today the Wall Street of Asia is a hard paced, materialistic society. It is a city of marked contrasts where modern skyscrapers and cell phones mix with Chinese junks and ancient medicine. Although England turned its colony over to China in 1997, a British influence remains. After all, England ruled the colony for nearly 100 years. High tea is still popular in the city.

Because of limited real estate space rents are extremely high and the cost of living is one of the world’s highest. Another contrast, awesome to think about, was the bamboo scaffolding along the sides of the new hi-rises being built. Sensational modern architecture often cling to 45-degree slopes.

Although today Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city, it continues to be steeped in Chinese traditions, spiritual beliefs, rituals, superstitions and the ancient art of Feng Shui. This combination creates a rich cultural tapestry of life.  Feng Shui is the art of positioning objects in harmony with nature to create good fortune. Even today architects consult Feng Shui masters in regard to construction. In Chinese mythology dragons live in mountains, and Hong Kong is built on mountains. Openings and glass doors are common sights in buildings so that dragons can pass through them from the mountains to the harbor for a drink. Hong Kong is certainly a city of contrasts of old and new, east and west and ancient traditions blended with a gleaming modern city.

Streets were teaming with people---all the time. The city is a shoppers’ paradise. In fact many people visit the city for the express purpose of shopping. A tailor-made suit can be ready in 24 hours at about one-quarter the cost if made in the United States. The city’s tailors are some of the best in the world. Hong Kong has no exports, but they repackage a multitude of products. It is said that one can buy anything in the shops lining the lanes leading off the main streets.

            We arrived in Hong Kong the last day of the week-long Chinese holiday and the streets were one big mob scene. Since all the hotels that used to be on Hong Kong Island have been moved to Kowloon, that is where we stayed. The area is half the size with twice as many people, but there was little we could do about it. Kowloon means nine dragons and is named for the hills behind the city. Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island is locally known as the back of a dragon and provides a magnificent view of the city and harbor.

            City cabs were red with a gray roof and all looked new. They were everywhere, so finding one is no problem. The best views of the city are from the water or from the mountains. One high-rise after another sprawl up the mountainsides.

            There are five tunnels under the harbor. The first one, opened in 1972, is a mile and quarter long and  65 feet below the water level. It can accommodate 110,000 vehicles an hour, but the average is only 79,000. The second tunnel opened in 1979, and the last one, a train tunnel, in 1998. It was good to learn that taxis charge round-trip when using the tunnel, because they have to get back to where they started.

                Reflections in glass building fronts were seen everywhere. The 5^th tallest building in the world with 88 stories is on Hong Kong Island. Another building known as the Swiss cheese building has 1728 round windows. It is difficult to find a building that is not a high rise, and when you do it is dwarfed by the high buildings around it.

                The city has few historical sites and only a handful of cultural sites. But one of them is Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong’s oldest temple that is now dwarfed by surrounding buildings. Built in 1847, the temple honors the gods of literature, man, and war, Mo. The strong pungent scent of burning incense was noticed immediately upon approaching the temple. Inside the front door hung huge bell shaped incense coils. The air was very smoky and hazy inside. To the left of the entrance sit the ten judges of the underworld. Fabric banners are displayed all over the walls. Buddhist and Taoist statues are inside.

            People come to the temple to ask for guidance as well as to give thanks afterward. Profits from the organization that own/manage eleven temples support schools. The prayer bell was cast in Canton in 1847. Along with a drum it is a call to the gods for their attention that an offering has been made.

            For the shopper the city is a paradise with everything from street hawkers to high-end upscale department stores, with everything in between. You can buy anything here. In Hong Kong they believe that the body is a delicate balance of the forces known as yin, (water, quiet, substance and night) and yang (fire, noise, function and day). It is said that the balance of these forces is what makes Hong Kong unique.

             I’ve been in several cities where there are steps up hills or even short gondolas, but the mid-level escalator on Hong Kong Island was a new feature for me. We were told it cost 30 million dollars and takes twenty minutes to ride the two-mile-long escalator from one end to the other. Elevation goes from street level up to 185 feet. The escalator runs only one way and changes directions to accommodate rush hour traffic. There are 29 exits/entrances; one about every block. The escalator is well utilized and relieves a lot of street traffic and pollution in the city.

            In a post dated 5-25-14  I noted the changes that have taken place at Victoria Peak in the years between my visits to Hong Kong when our hotel was actually on HK Island.

THE GUINNESS EXPERIENCE

                        A Fascinating Museum and a Surprise at the top

       I am a wine drinker and not a beer drinker, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t visited a lot breweries and distilleries in my travels.

      The #1 attraction in Dublin, Ireland is the Guinness Brewery built on 60 acres in 1759. That year Guinness inherited $150 and decided to acquire what was then a small, unused and ill-equipped brewery at St James's Gate. The lease, signed on 31 December 1759, was for 9000 years at an annual rent of £45.

      Arthur Guinness was born in 1725 near Dublin in the town of Celbridge, County Kildare where his father, Richard Guinness, was a Land Steward. Part of Richard's duties included supervising the brewing of beer for the workers on the estate, and it is probable that young Arthur learned the art of brewing from his father. The brewing industry in Dublin at that time was suffering because English beer was taxed less severely than the home-produced product.

       At first Arthur brewed ale, but by the 1770s a new strong black beer called porter was being exported from London.  Arthur took a chance on brewing this new product and the rest as they say is history. Just FYI, Stout contains more hops than either lager or ale. It takes 119 seconds for Guinness to settle. A pint is shy of 200 calories and contains 4.3% alcohol.

       The Guinness Storehouse is a 1904 cast iron and brick warehouse that now serves as a museum. We were able to get in on the senior rate everywhere in Dublin that had an admission. At Guinness the senior rate was 9.50 Euro compared to 14 Euro.

      The museum’s six floors circle an atrium. There were a lot of people, but the museum in the Storehouse is well spread out and with everyone moving at their own pace it worked just fine. The displays included multi-media and lots of old equipment. It was most interesting as we moved slowly up four stories. At that point we could take an elevator up the next couple of floors to the Gravity Bar. But a crowd was waiting for the elevator so we opted to continue walking. The Gravity Bar at the top offers a spectacular view of the city.

       It was a beautiful clear sunny day and the 360 degree view of the city was awesome. After rotating around the room soaking in the scenery we found a couple of empty seats just as people were vacating them. I went to the bar to get my friend her pint and asked for a half pint for myself. I drank about half of it. It was not as strong as I anticipated. Eventually it got pretty warm sitting in front of the sunny window, so we took the elevator back to ground level to continue sightseeing.

      This exhibit is unique in its layout and is very well done. It’s certainly worth one’s time to visit when in Dublin, regardless of one’s preferred drink.