hongkong

Saturday, February 10th, day 224 of our adventure, we landed in Chek Lap Kok Airport, on Lantau Island, of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), at 3:45 P.M.. (We had to set our watch back one hour.)

Since July 1st 1997 Hong Kong has officially become the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, when the British returned the region to China. Hong Kong had been a British colony for 156 years.

European trade with China goes back some 400 years. When the balance of trade began to get outweighted in favor of the Chinesse, the Europeans began to offset their intense demand for tea and silk by running opium into China. The Middle Kingdom of China responded by trying to throw the Europeans out. The result was two Opium Wars, one in 1841 and the other in 1860. After the First Opium War, Britain took control of Hong Kong Island. After the Second Opium War, Britain took control of Kowloon Peninisula and then in 1898 the British were granted a 99 year lease for the New Territories and the Outlying Islands.

When this land lease was up, in 1997, the British were only legally obligated to return the New Territories and the Outlying Islands to China, but with 50% of the Hong Kong population living within these regions, it would have been an awkward split. For this reason the British agreed to return all of the four main regions of Hong Kong to the Chinese; Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories and the Outlying Islands.

Up to the hand over, Hong Kong has been a capitalist's dream. With a maximum tax rate of 15% (only after the first 100,000.00 Hong Kong dollars), free enterprise, free trade, a hard working labor force, a world class seaport, excellent airport facilities, top rate telecommunications and a government hands off approach, a budding entrepreneur couldn't ask for much more. The Chinese government has agreed to respect Hong Kong's unique free enterprise economy for at least 50 years, but with mainland China's hardline approach showm for example at Tianamen Square in 1989, natives to Hong Kong have been in a wait and see mode. The Chinese government has implemented a propoganda campaign to quench any fears natives to Hong Kong have about the takeover. The offical slogan of the transition is, "One country, two systems." We will see.

One current issue that may bring the future of Hong Kong into focus deals with The Falun Gung Movement. This religious movement has been banned on mainland China but thrives here in Hong Kong. When members of the movement began to speak out against the repression of their mainland counterparts, the Chinese government began to look at The Falun Gung as political in nature. An initiative in the Chinese government has been started to create anti-subversion laws in Hong Kong, which could outlaw The Falun Gung. Many people in Hong Kong, and throughout the world for that matter, see this issue as a potential turning point for Hong Kong. If the Chinese government outlaws the Falun Gung, will a slippery slope situation be created, which could result in further repression of Hong Kong's many other unique freedoms, even going so far as to disrupt the free enterprise system? We'll have to wait and see. But be careful China. The world is watching.

Hong Kong, with its 6.4 million people, is one of the most densely populated places on earth. This fact became very apparent as our bus from the airport took us from Lantau Island onto the Kowloon Peninsula. Skyscrapers reaching for the clouds are surrounded by decrepid looking housing monstrosities that have no where to go but up. People, people and more people -- it's a true urban jungle.

We decided to stay in the Tsimshatsui area of Kowloon, known by those native to Hong Kong as "the tourist ghetto". Tsimshatsui is filled with shops, hotels, bars, restaurants and nightclubs. It's definitely a happening scene. Nathan Road in particular is a trip. If you take a stroll down Nathan Road, be perpared for touts to approach you about every 5 yards. They will yell into your ear, attempting to overcome the drowning noises of the urban jungle, "Copy watch!, Copy Rolex!, Please look!", or "Cheap suit!, Very cheap!, Please look!". It becomes comical after a while. Our temporary abode, The Imperial Hotel is really close to Hong Kong Harbor, so we decided to take a walk down to the water before we crashed for the night. The harbor view, particularly at night, is truly amazing. It has to be one of the most impressive harbor views in the world. Dozens of skyscrapers, adorned with huge neon signs, epitaphs to the modern superpowers -- multinational corporations -- fill the night sky. All this is ensconsed by beautiful green waters, reflecting the images of the lights from above on the hundreds of boats that fill the harbor.

You can feel the dynamic nature of the place all around you and a pungent smell fills the air. What is it? The smell of money! That is really what Hong Kong is all about -- money. Making it, spending it and showing it off. Hong Kong is definitely not a backpackers haven, it's just too plain expensive. An average room will cost you about $200.00 U.S. per night and an average meal about half that. Don't come to Hong Kong unless you plan on spending some cash. With that said, we are still glad we came. Hong Kong's a very unique place and everyone should see it, at least once. Speaking of cash, the exchange rate in Hong Kong is approximately $8.00 Hong Kong dollars to $1.00 U.S. dollar. Since 1983 the Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of US$1 to HK$7.80, though it is allowed to fluctuate within a narrow range around this level.

Sunday, February 11th, 225 days since we left Boston, we walked to the Star Ferry terminal on the Kowloon side, stopping for a few more photos of Hong Kong Harbour. One the way we saw a huge concert being set up which featured a strange looking violin-like instrument native to China. A ferry took us across the harbor to Hong Kong Island. From the ferry terminal we walked to the Peak Tram terminal. The Peak Tram took us straight up to Victoria Peak. We were rewarded for our efforts with some fantastic views of Hong Kong harbor. There is a walkway that goes all the way around the top of Victoria Peak which we took with loads of other Hong Kongers out for a Sunday stroll. The walk takes about 2 hours, unless you stop to gawk at the spectacular, panoramic views.

After taking the Peak Tram back down to Hong Kong Island, and recrossing the harbor on the ferry, we went to see a planetarium show at the Space Museum and used our fake student IDs that we purchased in Bangkok to get in at half price! The topic was UFOs and the most interesting part was the head phones we had to wear, in order to understand the narrator. The show was presented in Cantonese. (98% of natives to Hong Kong are ethnic Cantonese.) For an English translation we had to wear special headphones.

Monday, Februray 12th, day 226, we went back over to Hong Kong Island. Our first stop was the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. They are not set up for tourists at all, so we couldn't get a tour. All we could do was to stand and watch from the outside behind a red rope for a few minutes. They wouldn't even let us take a picture but all we really saw were a bunch of computer terminals and a crowd of people going to lunch. Get this! There is no capital gains tax in Hong Kong! All profits from the stock market are tax free! Lucky bastards!

After getting turned away at the Stock Exchange, we checked out the Central Market and then got onto the World's Longest Escalator. It was built as a method of commuting for the people who live in the mid-levels so that they wouldn't have to walk up the steep incline after a hard day of work. It only goes one way though because the cost was too prohibitive for a two-way escalator. So it goes down until 10:00 am. and for the rest of the day it goes up. It's 800 meters long and has different ramps so you can get on and off at different points, including the Soho area of Hong Kong. After exploring the chaotic streets of Soho, we ventured to St. John's Cathedral and IM Pei's Bank of China Building, which incidently, Hong Kongers see as a terrible violation of fung shui. (The view from the 43rd floor was amazing!) Before returning to Kowloon, via the ferry, we stopped at the Hong Kong Arts Center to see a photographic exhibit.

Tuesday, February 13th, day 227, we jumped on a ferry that took us 60km west of Hong Kong Island, across the Pearl River's mouth, to Macau.