Arrived in Hong Kong - Internet Access Again

Panda in Chong Qing at feeding time.

Arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday night from Chong Qing, the end point of our Yangtze River trip. We had no internet access while on the Yangtze River, but now that we're in Hong Kong, we have both internet access, and I can access my blog site (which was blocked on the mainland).


Our tour group at Victoria Peak.

We went to Victoria Peak on Wednesday and had incredible luck as the rain, wich had been severe, stopped and the views were stunning.


View from Victoria Peak.


Flower Market directly across the street from our hotel in Hong Kong.

I lost the charger to my computer, and but was able to buy a universal charger in at the computer Center in Mong Kok (a neighborhood near our hotel, and famous for its specialty streets) so I can use the computer once again. It rained torentially on the way back from our half-day site-seeing, and continued to rain throughout the rest of the day. We were fortunate that the rained held off when we visited Stanley Market, Repulse Bay, and Aberdine for a junk boat ride on the harbor. We went to the harbor last evening on the hotel shuttle which lets you off at the Penninsula Hotel, the most upscale in Hong Kong. We made our way to the bar on the 28th floor at Felix's, their high-end restaurant. We passed on eating there (the fixed price dinner ran $1,500 HK (about $200 US) per person) but sat at the bar and watched the light show accross the harbor on Hong Kong Island. It rained during the show, but even without the rain the show would be so-so. Not at all what we expected -- just a lot colored of lights on the buildings that flashed on and off in changing patterns.

Our hotel is spectacular, just a few blocks from a massive shopping area, each street with its own specialty, i.e., electronics street, women's wear street, sporting wear street, etc. Crowds are unreal, the weather in the 80's, humidity in the 90's, and traffic like I've never seen.

The Yangtze River trip was interesting, but it would have been better to cut a day out of the trip and added it to Hong Kong. We had three excursions off the ship, including one at the three gorges Dam, another on a tributary of the yangtze where we were rowed up the river on small native canoe like boats with 12 passengers and 7-oars men. the boaters are known as Trackers, and before the advent of the dam, they would pull boats accross the mud flats during the dry season naked. Since the dam, thee are no longer mud flats (the river went from an average depth of 10 meters to 60 meters), so they now row tourists up and down the river to earn some extra money. the views were spectacular, and it was one of the more pleasant excursions I've been on.

The last excursion was to the ghost city of Feng Du, which we really could have skipped altogether. It rained most of the day, and the city is more carnival like than of historical interest. The people were relocated well before the advent of the dam due to seasonal flooding, and there was a lot of superstition associated with the temples which have a lot of demon characters carved and maintained there. We left the tour early to get back to the ship.

Upon arrival in Chong Qin we immediately went to the zoo to see the Panda's. We were told that if we arrived early, we would likely see them at eating time when they are active. We really lucked out as they were just being fed and were incredibly active. We actually saw one of the younger ones climb a tree, which our guide said she had seen them do only once before. I have a lot of great photos to share from that visit. After lunch at an excellent restaurant in a large apartment complex, we went to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong.

Today was our only full day on our own in Hong Kong before we return to the Mainland. Flights between HK and the Mailland are international and we have to pass thru immigration, as do all Chinese. We took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and back, just wandering through the shops near Hollywood, the antique area. We ate at a wonderful French Brasserie, Le Fauchon in that neighborhood.

When we returned to Kowloon on the Ferry, we spent about an hour andering around the Arts and Crafts Center near the Ferry Terminal. The offerings were exquisite, and expensive. It was fun to look, but we bought nothing.

It started to rain again, so we cabbed back to our hotel (The Royal Plaza) about 15 minutes away without traffic. We learned that today is a national holiday, so traffic has been mercifully light. We haven't decided what we'll do tonight for dinner, but if the rain keeps up, we may just eat in the hotel. Tomorrow we leave for the airport at 1pm, but there are some interesting markets accross the street to visit -- the flower market and bird park/market. Men actually take their caged birds to the park, hang them on branches of trees, and spend tme talking with one another.

I'll try to post more when we return to the mainland, but access to the internet (and especially this blog) is difficult.