Day Two and Three: Hong Kong

Day Two – Hong Kong (Kowloon Peninsula) in a day

Saturday 16 January 2010

7:00am Wake up
9:00am Attend session at the temple
12:00pm Temple of Ten Thousand Buddha’s
Afterwards Walk through city, go to Kowloon Park
4:00pm Walk To the waterfront
6:00pm Amazing Turkish dinner
7:00pm Walk of Fame – watch amazing Cantonese singer perform
8:00pm Light Show
8:30pm Return to hotel

At the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddahs.

And where does that name come from?

They are all over the place. I think there was actually over 12,000.




I like this picture. It is in the MTR or the subway. You can see Thomas's head sticking out way above everyone else. Thomas and Jessica are our friends from Flagship who we went with.

One example of how Hong Kong is different from China. This is people campaigning for the Democratic party. You would not see that anywhere else in China.

Walking through the streets:


I really like how the store signs poke out over the road.

This man is hand carving a name stamp.





Day Three – Hong Kong Island in three hours

Sunday 17 January 2010

9:00am Church in Hong Kong
12:30pm Walk around Hong Kong Island
2:00pm Visit Botanical Gardens
5:51pm Catch sleeper train to Guilin (13 hour ride)

Kiersten:
Both Eric and I were surprised by how much we liked Hong Kong. All I had known was that it is a huge city. But it is so different from the other Chinese cities we have been in. Even though it is technically part of China, it definitely looks and feels like a completely different country. Besides being able to go to the temple, my favorite part of our couple days in Hong Kong has to be just all the walking around the city we did. Oh, and our amazing Turkish kebabs that we found. So good! I haven’t had one in years. Yum…

Eric:
Yes, Hong Kong was nothing like I was expecting. I really don’t know how to describe it, and perhaps it wouldn’t startle you as much if you weren’t coming from another Chinese city to visit it. But we were coming from five months in Nanjing, and it took me by surprise. I love China; please don’t mistake me on that point. I love Nanjing. But there are some things that just seem to be holding segments of the culture back. In Hong Kong, all of those things seemed to disappear. They were small things: people waiting to the side of the subway as others exited before they got on, signs in the subway and along the streets advertising symphonies and plays, well-kept botanical gardens, zoos and aviaries where the animals were properly cared for, the workers actually cared about the animals, and the visitors likewise respected the animals and surroundings. It was a China that I had not seen before, and it gave me great hope for what the rest of China can become.

Besides the behavior of the people, though, I loved the city. I can’t say I’m an expert on either city, but to me it reminded me of a mix between New York City and Seattle (with a splash of London in there too – a.ka. look BOTH ways before you cross the street). We definitely hope to go back for a longer visit sometime, because there seems to be endless things to do and see in Hong Kong.

Kiersten:
Oh, that’s right. Eric had a close one our first day in Hong Kong. I got used to cars traffic going the ‘wrong’ way while on my mission but poor Eric kept forgetting. It definitely was stressing me out!

Our friends Jessica and Thomas


This was interesting. On Sunday, we kept seeing women like this sitting in groups, tons of them, just lining the streets. They were just talking, eating, and playing cards. I'm pretty sure these are some of the women who come from the Philippines or Indonesia to work and this is their day off. They don't have any family with them so they sit where they can with their friends.

'Fool Proof' plant? Hmmm... This was at the botanical gardens.

As were these cute guys. They were giving a free concert as we walked by. It was quite funny.


Time to go! Off to catch our night train...

I guess we didn't get a picture of our beds but this is where Eric and I camped ourselves out for the first part of the trip. Fully stocked with cookies, oranges, and a good book.

Guilin here we come!