A Visit to Hong Kong

We’ve been in our apartment now just shy of one month. The newness of being in the city has passed, although I still don’t feel like a resident yet. We had a quick trip to Hong Kong for work and visa related missions and as we re-entered Beijing and came though immigration, Steve asked me if it felt like I was coming home. It did not.

Hong Kong is a fascinating city; a collision of Western modern, traditional Chinese and colonial British. Hoards of people, skyscrapers and markets everywhere. We stayed at a hotel on Hong Kong Island and spent most of our time there. The streets are narrow and hilly. Thank goodness for the escalators and stairs which are available inside and outside of office buildings to assist with the steep terrain. In addition, covered walkways connect the sidewalks two and three stories in the air to take pedestrian traffic off the sidewalks and out of the cross walks. It is maze-like in that not all the covered walkways connect to a building or a sidewalk. Many times I found myself backtracking to get to my desired destination.

We visited the “Peak” which is a high point on the island where you get a view of the downtown business area and further onto Kowloon, which is the part of Hong Kong on the Chinese mainland. Because we went there at night, we saw the lights of the city and missed out on seeing views of the China Sea and other natural terrain. The weather was not particularly cooperative during the daylight hours, sun but lots of haze. Maybe another time.

On our trip to Kowloon, we had a chance to visit with fellow Crotonite Ally Goldberg, who is in Hong Kong teaching English at a local university. She took us to markets in Kowloon which were even more crowded that the ones on Hong Kong Island! Bird market, goldfish market, ladies’ market, flower market. Lots of shopping going on for the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) which begins on February 14th. We had dinner at a restaurant near the ferry terminal with beautiful views of Hong Kong Harbor and then watched a laser light show that is presented daily at 8 pm. (It reminded me of the light show at Epcot.) We then ferried back to Hong Kong Island.

We went to a Tea Museum in Hong Kong Park that has a wonderful collection of tea pots and other tea related items. We learned about the various types of tea, how they are prepared, the different types of pots, the health benefits of the various types of teas, etc. The Park also has an aviary with many spectacular bird species. They attract the birds for public viewing by hanging fresh fruit near the elevated walkways in the aviary. The birds would swoop by, fill up, and fly off. It made for good viewing.


I can get around Beijing pretty easily now. I have learned to use the subways and found a street map that has the subway stops marked on it. Steve and I have both begun our Chinese lessons. Our tutors have very different approaches. I have learned how to introduce myself (wo jiao Diane), to identify my family members, and how to count. He has learned counting, food and restaurant vocabulary. Between the two of us, maybe we’ll have enough to get by soon. So far, in a pinch, I haven’t had words at my fingertips what would have been useful. But, we’ll get there.