Hong Kong

Today we shall start off with a quiz, yes the teacher in me is trying to escape.
True/False

1) Hong Kong was a dependent territory of the UK until 1997 when it became a Special Administrative Region of China.

2) Hong Kong is a single island located off mainland China.

Hong Kong is home to

1) The world's longest escalator.

2) The tallest building in the world.


I've spent a couple of whirlwind days in Hong Kong, arrived Sunday evening and am now on my way to Beijing. It's unfortunate that I wasn't able to spend more time here, there is still so much that I haven't seen. I guess that means I'll have to come back some day. I did manage to make it to the peak and take the photo on the left. I was very lucky that a rain storm hit on Saturday causing a lot of the haze to clear up resulting in a pretty clear view.







Also took a ride on the world's longest escalator on my way to lunch today. It goes down in the morning to bring people to work and from 10:30 AM til midnight it runs uphill. After lunch I had an opportunity to stroll through the markets. Fascinating to see the fresh fish and butcher shops lining the roads. Unfortunately you can't quite see the fish flapping in the picture.

I have found it amusing driving around town and all the street names sound British - Waterloo Road, Queen Victoria Way. Beneath each street sign is also the name in Cantonese. The street names are obviously a result of it being a dependent territory of the UK since the 1800's. In 1997 sovereignty was transferred from the UK to China. (Look I've already given you answers to 2 of the questions.)



One thing I learned quickly is that business cards are exchanged and received with 2 hands. Not sure the origin of this, I'll look into that. I'm off to wander around the city for a little while longer before my flight.