Travels in the Land of the Dragon, pt 8 (final)

Hong Kong

If you've managed to wade through all the previous posts, congratulations on your stamina!  It's been great to re-live the trip by writing this and editing the 800-odd photos taken as it helps to cement it in our minds as everything was so full-on at the time.

Flying from Beijing to Hong Kong was only a bit over 3 hours and we arrived to high temperatures and crippling humidity.  We were staying at the Park Hotel in Kowloon, right amongst the shops and restaurants.  The Park isn't to the standard of the hotels we stayed at on the Chinese mainland but is nonetheless well-appointed and comfortable.  The staff were excellent and the dining room for both breakfast and dinner was superb.

During the last part of the China trip, we'd both developed coughs and colds so the plan was to take things a little easier.  Ha!  The best-laid plans.....

A Kiwi friend of ours (thanks Bruce!) had lived in HK for 3 years and before we left, had given us a great guide of things to do and see.  The weather forecast (high temperatures, low cloud and heavy showers) affected our plans but we were able to hire a guide (Rex) to show us the sights, some well-known and others less so which provided a great mix.

Kowloon waterfront, looking towards Hong Kong Island

Note Jennie's light cotton top, she's a sight smarter than me.  I wore a lightweight travel shirt which was darker in colour.  With the humidity and heat, we were both soaked with sweat in minutes. Jennie looked as fresh as a daisy throughout and I looked like someone had chucked a bucket of water over me.  (Ok, dangerous mistake on my part - ladies don't sweat, they glow, sigh....).  By the way, the observation/ferris wheel across the harbour is 60 metres tall, just to give an idea of scale.

Hong Kong Island

The observation/Ferris wheel is 60 metres high and the International Commerce Building on the right is 484 metres and apparently the 9th highest building in the world.  No charge for these fascinating facts.  We crossed the harbour on one of the ferries shown in the photo which only took a few minutes.

About to get on the Ferris wheel

Jennie looking fabulous, me looking like I've fallen in the harbour

Great views from on high

At the start of the tour, we were under the distinct impression that our tour consisted of mainly motorised transport as Rex rattled off the words, ferry, open-top bus and tram.  These were merely short connectors to what was essentially a walking tour covering several kilometres in sweltering conditions.  Our plans to take it easy were rapidly coming off the rails.  Oh dear......

Next stage was a trip on an open deck bus for half a dozen stops to the next part of the walk.  At least the breeze sitting up top helped dry my shirt out in readiness for being soaked again.

Yup, that's tall all right - all 118 storeys of it

Arty farty reflections

Traditional Chinese medicine outlet (I think)

Lovely blossom in a courtyard

Scooter with decent weather protection - a good idea in Hong Kong

Bye bye bus - back on foot

Traditional bamboo scaffolding - not much in the way of lashings!

Our guide Rex, thought we might to see something a little different from routine sightseeing, which is how we ended up at the old Police Married Quarters (PMQ)!  Originally opened in 1951 to provide accommodation for an increase in police numbers, the small multi storey apartments often housed large families.   One example had 9 family members living in an apartment of 350 sq ft!  Beds were tiered or simple fold-away mattresses and cooking and meals were often done on the balconies outside the apartments.

Model showing the original apartments

In 2014, the building was re-purposed and turned into studio workshops for creative young designers and the like at attractive rents. We wandered round several floors and these designers and artisans were producing some impressive art objects, jewellery, paintings and so on.

Apartment converted into a designer store

Cool children's chairs

Nice place to chill between the two apartment blocks

A painted "graffiti" wall on one of the side streets

Next spot was a stroll round the old central police station, jail and courthouse.  Part of the complex dates back to 1864.  It's been renovated with part of it showing what the jail was like, plus cafes and restaurants.

  Shadow projection in a cell showing corporal punishment

Two new arrivals being processed!

What was once an exercise yard for prisoners

We were rather taken by the tree at the far end of the photo above.  Although they can't be seen in the photo, it had gorgeous pink flowers.  A plaque said that it was Plumeria Rubra or Red Frangipani, native to Central and South America. Really attractive.

Plumeria rubra

We were becoming rather footsore with the slog in such taxing conditions but thoroughly enjoying diving in and out of the lanes and alleyways.  Next stop was Pottinger Street, extremely steep with uneven cobblestones.  Bad enough in dry conditions but would be really tricky when it's wet.  There are market stalls towards the bottom which Jennie took advantage of for a bit of shopping.

Steeper than it looks

After a bit of shopping, we hopped on one of HK's famous trams to get us to a place where we could have some afternoon tea.

Hong Kong tram

Tram internals - nice to rest our feet

Photo op - soaked through again and stuffed

Rex lead us to the tea rooms which were at the top of some narrow and winding stairs and said his goodbyes after showing us where to find the nearest underground station (The MTR) which would take us back under the harbour close to our hotel.  Really enjoyed his company.

A delicious selection of cakes for afternoon tea

Refreshing China tea

Negotiating the MTR including changing trains was incredibly easy with good signage and trains departing every couple of minutes.  Why can't every country be that good?

The other thing which was really noticeable was the sheer number of supercars in the streets - Lamborghini, Maserati, Porsche and so on.  Given that they would rarely get out of first gear, status was clearly the main objective.  Of all the high end cars, the Tesla electric brand had a significant presence.  Far more practical for Hong Kong conditions, I would have thought.

We had the best part of another day in HK but with our sniffles and with it pouring with rain, we decided to chill in the hotel before heading for the airport in the middle of an electrical storm.  Fortunately, our flight departed on time and we were able to lie flat and get some reasonable shuteye before landing in Auckland some 11 hours later.

A wonderful holiday full of surprises and meeting lovely people.  Wonder what's next?

Travels in the Land of the Dragon, pt 1

Auckland to Shanghai

By air and river

We've done a lot of travelling out east but China is a place we've never visited and have only briefly passed through Hong Kong.  The World Heritage-listed Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River, Terracotta Warriors and Great Wall have all long been on the bucket list and our fantastic travel agent put together a great itinerary where we could do that plus a few of the other "must see" attractions in China.  The China part of the trip was with Viking River Cruises, who have a well-deserved reputation for excellence.  For Hong Kong on the return leg, we did our own thing. All this in late May and June for a celebration of our 47th wedding anniversary, albeit a few weeks early.

I bloody detest long haul flying, not because I have a phobia or anything like that.  Living at the bottom of the world a long way from anywhere has some distinct advantages but inevitably means that any substantial travel involves sitting on your butt for hours at a time, going quietly insane.  There's only so many movies you can take in or similar before getting terminally bored or seizing up.  Odds on that it's an economy class passenger with long legs who finally invents a Star Trek - type matter transporter.  He or she will have the gratitude of humanity for eternity.  Jennie and I are way past putting up with ageing bodies taking a hiding in long haul economy.  A solid 18 hours non-stop to Doha on our way to Kenya and Tanzania convinced us of the benefits of business class on that flight so it's the same again up to China and Hong Kong for our latest adventure.  It may be a bit pricey but at least we can hit the ground running when we get there, rather than being knackered through jet lag and cramped seating.  The following photos in each part of this trip are just a tiny selection of the 800-odd we took altogether.  Definitely a case of what to leave out!

Auckland-Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific - don't waste your time watching the movie shown on the screen - it's crap!

The trip to Shanghai involved a leg to Hong Kong lasting a bit over 11 hours, an overnighter in the airport hotel, then a "redeye" flight to Shanghai very early the next morning.  We arrived in HK and headed for the carousel to pick up our luggage.  After a lengthy wait and a no-show, it was unfortunately discovered that our stuff had been checked straight through to Shanghai - bugger!  No point in getting upset so we had a laugh and made do with what was in our back packs, which wasn't much.  After about 4 hours sleep, we got on another flight feeling a bit second-hand and arrived in Shanghai, not exactly smelling of roses!

Viking had organised a 5 star hotel in Shanghai (the Westin Bund Centre) which was seriously good in every respect and it was only a short walk to the Bund and Yangtze River.  Shower, drink, meet some other people assembling for the cruise, meal, bed!

Bathroom with a view - everything was marble!

Next morning, we met our escort Iowa (which sounded phonetically like his Chinese name Aihua Xian).  What an absolute legend he turned out to be throughout the holiday.  Excellent self-taught English, totally organised and nothing was too much trouble.  He also had a very sharp sense of humour and was quite happy to poke fun at both himself and us - much laughter over the whole trip!  The other thing which was perhaps surprising but immensely refreshing was his transparency.  If asked contentious questions (politics for example), he was quite happy to discuss them from his personal viewpoint.  This helped our understanding immensely and was a great means of building bridges.  An outstanding ambassador for both his company and country.  What we particularly liked was Iowa's low-key approach.  Wherever possible after a good briefing, he gave us time to do our own thing rather than feeling shepherded everywhere.

A walk along the Bund revealed a thoroughly modern city with great architecture and equally impressive infrastructure such as roading. Temperatures were in the low 30's C with relatively low humidity so walking about wasn't a trial.  There was no obvious pollution whilst we were there - more about this further on.  Oh, and another thing....... the standard of cleanliness in towns and cities wherever we went was exceedingly high. I'd say higher than the average western equivalent.

View from the Bund

A wall of living plants several hundred metres long on the Bund

Example of architecture - retro Gothic in this case?

The rate of progress was starling - no mucking about once development decisions were made.  Where the land on which old privately-owned dwellings stood was required for development, it appeared that a fair price was offered straight up to the homeowner rather than trying to screw them or try for compulsory purchase like many countries including NZ.  This enabled rapid progress.  No way to verify this without further digging.

A visit to the old quarter of Shanghai followed which was a real delight with some of the structures being several hundred years old.

Just gorgeous

The aquatic equivalent of a street cleaner!

Tranquility in the middle of a city with a population of 26 million

Local Dim sum takeaway - yummm!

Next, it was off to a factory which made silk products, principally high end embroidered pictures and carpets.  The standard of work was breathtaking with individual pieces taking between a few months and a year depending on size and complexity.

Working on an embroidery of carp

The range of subject matter was huge, a case of something for all tastes.  Jennie and I tend towards simplicity and elegance, somewhat towards Japanese traditions.  The embroidery below took our breath away.  Seemingly simple, it was made up of several hundred slightly different shades of silk thread to achieve an almost 3D effect.  One of the most beautiful pieces of work we'd ever seen and the photo doesn't do it any form of justice.  Apparently, it took over 6 months to complete.  The asking price of about US$6000 might seem expensive but not for the time taken and the fact that it's a one-off piece of art.  Approximately 0.75 of a metre high.  We bought something far smaller and more modestly-priced!

An absolute masterpiece

Weaving a silk rug

Colourful collection of silk fans 

Next stop was Shanghai Museum.  We both love museums but seeing artifacts from 5,000 years of Chinese culture was something special.  The museum was huge so we just concentrated on the ceramics, bronzes and jade sections.  Here are a few representative photos from the stunning collections.  And most of this was when most of western civilisation was barely above barbarian level!

Jade dragon, barely over an inch long

Ceramic platter, about 3/4 metre in diameter - breathtaking

Beautiful engraving on a bronze vessel

I took the following photo just as we were leaving the museum.  With my interest in motorcycles, I noticed that a motorcycle cop had pulled over an electric bicycle rider rider and appeared to be booking him.  It certainly wouldn't be for speeding.  Other than the cop's bike, I only saw one other internal combusion-engined bike in Shanghai - a 1250cc Suzuki.  Everything else on 2 wheels was electric-powered - scooters by their thousands.  It would seem to be a deliberate policy to reduce pollution.

Let's have a look at your details, lad!

Separate lanes for scooters and bicycles - protective gear doesn't appear to be a requirement

That ends our stay in Shanghai and the next day was  a flight to Wuhan to begin the Yangtze cruise.  However, before starting on that, some general thoughts.   

It really was a great surprise to see how quickly China was modernising with great architecture and infrastructure which would match the best anywhere. Clearly, positive steps were being taken to address automotive pollution issues.  Driving standards were interesting.  When changing lanes, indicators were rarely used but everyone kept a decent gap.  It seemed accepted practice and apparently, there's no road rage. Young Chinese in particular dressed the same as young people in the west and all had mobile phones glued to their ears.  Everyone we met was friendly and went out of their way to be helpful. Food was outstanding.  We love Asian food anyway but the variety available would suit most tastes.  We tried some "unusual" food items just to say we'd done it and suffered no adverse consequences at all!

Oh, and a comment about using the internet.  China has some restrictions on what can be accessed through the internet, partially or largely due to the current trade sanction tit for tat with the US.  I was aware of this before leaving NZ and knew that it would affect my Gmail account.  I therefore installed a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on my phone to get round the problem.  I chose Express VPN as it got good reviews.  It worked just fine in Shanghai but for the rest of the trip, it was either patchy or non-existent.  Disappointing, but given the relatively low cost; not a really big deal.  

Bye bye, Shanghai!

Next - on to Wuhan.