March 12, 1918 – Hong Kong – Day 1

A British Overseas Territory until 1997, Hong Kong is home to long-cherished Eastern traditions amid modern Western sensibilities. This forest of glittering skyscrapers stands between soaring mountains and bustling Victoria Harbor.

Hong Kong is partly mainland and partly islands, of which there are more than 260. The largest is Lantau. We did not visit Lantau, but did visit Hong Kong Island, which is the second largest. Of the 260 islands that make up Hong Kong, only about 5% are inhabited, with 80% of the land being mountains. The population of Hong Kong is 7 million, with an average of 6,000 people in 1 square kilometer. The most populous area is called Mong Kot, where they have the night market called the Ladies Market. There the population is 200,000 per square kilometer. Because of this most of the people in Hong Kong live in apartment buildings. Hong Kong is the most expensive place to live in the world.

In 1997 Hong Kong reverted back to China. However, Margaret Thatcher made an agreement with China that nothing will change for 50 years, which is up in 2047. That means that the street signs stay English names, they still drive on the other side of the street, and they cannot rename buildings. Our guide said he does not know what is going to happen in 2048. Hong Kong today still has its freedoms, different from China. Those living in Hong Kong are free to travel anywhere in China, but those in China, must get a visa to come to Hong Kong. Also, there is no limit to the number of children you can have in Hong Kong; and Hong Kong does not use the same currency as China. We had some great information given to us by our guide.

We are docked at a cruise terminal, but a long way from downtown. I believe this is because this is the first time Viking has visited a lot of these ports with an ocean ship, and they have no priority as to the best berths.

Here are some pictures of when we came in early in the morning. The last couple are of us docking at the terminal.

Here we took a tour called a Walking Tour of Hong Kong. We took a bus over to Hong Kong Island with our first stop being Man Mo Temple—Hong Kong’s oldest, and most famous. The temple is a picturesque tribute to the God of Literature (Man) and the God of War (Mo), both of whom were worshipped by ambitious students looking to succeed in the civil examinations in the Ming and Qing dynasties. This is a Taoist temple, not a Buddhist temple. The air was full of incense; hence the pictures are not clear. You will see the two gods in a couple of pictures, the god of literature has a pen in front of him and the god of war has a sword in front of him.

From there we walked a while taking in all of the hustle and bustle of the downtown area. We are in an older section, not where all the new buildings are, though you can see them.

Next at what they call a wet market. This is where they sell vegetables and meat. The people will shop twice a day, once in the morning for lunch and then in the afternoon for dinner. They enjoy fresh food.

In Hong Kong, it is very hilly. They have steps everywhere. So, we went on the Hong Kong Escalator—also called "the people mover"—a moving sidewalk that is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. You can take an escalator to the top of the city, during the day, then at 3 PM, it switches to a down escalator. So up we went on the escalator.

But what goes up, must come down, so down the steps we came.

We also were able to stroll down Pottinger Street in Central Hong Kong, better known as the Stone Slabs Street by the locals, and enjoyed the Li Yuen Market.

The next stop was a walk to the ferry to get back to the mainland of China. We got there through a tunnel. As before, more escalators and sky ways like we had in Minneapolis.

We then got aboard the famous Star Ferry to cross Victoria Harbor. Notice, there is a cruise ship tied up there right where we were going. It was the same Oceania ship we are taking from London around Iceland and to Greenland, Scotland and Ireland in 2019.

Then it was time to go back to the ship.

After having lunch, we took the shuttle to a mall where Steve bought some nice pants, which I now have to hem, but that will wait till I finish my blogs. They look good on him. The weather has been beautiful, in the low 70’s. Tomorrow one more tour and then we are off again.