Headed to Hong Kong

After 25 days of travel through mainland China, we were ready for an urban setting.  We boarded one last overnight train and headed toward Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is interesting, because it was a British territory from the mid 1800's until Japan's brief occupation during WWII and then again until just 1997.  Currently, Hong Kong is considered a special administrative region of China.  It's education and political systems are different than mainland China, and it's a bit more international.  

The city has an interesting culture that's very unique.  It's easy to see the British and international influence more than that of the Chinese.  All in all, I loved the city but felt that it was a bit bland.  Most people visited to shop and cash in on the many deals, both in clothing and electronics.  Since I'm not too keen on shopping, I searched for a bit more culture.  

The past three pictures are of the city's financial district.  It was located on Hong Kong Island.  The only way to get there was by ferry across the harbor.  

It was very beautiful and there was a light show every night. This is Victoria Harbour for which Hong Kong was named.  It's name in old Chinese actually means "fragrant harbor".  The rush hour on the harbor is intense and thousands of boats cross daily.    

Of course, we had to have high tea at the Peninsula Hotel.  It was one of the "must do" items from my "1000 Things to Do Before You Die" book.  Apparently, it's been "the" thing to do in Hong Kong since 1928.  We saw this Rolls Royce waiting outside and wondered if we would feel out of place.  

We ended up waiting in line for a couple hours in line before even getting seated.  Apparently, this was a really popular thing to do while in Hong Kong.  Of course the delicate finger sandwiches and french pastries were worth the wait.

It was actually the first time in a month that we had dressed up during the trip.  It was pretty formal and it was exciting to have a proper tea...especially with our friend who was English!

The grandeur was palpable, which was unique to our trip as a whole.  Here's to pretending to have some class!

Following tea, we headed up to Victoria's Peak on the world's steepest funicular railway.  It has been making the 1805 foot trip since about 1888!

It was supposed to be a fabulous view, but this was all we could see from the top!

Not too clear during our time in Hong Kong!  Rumor has it that on a clear day one can see over 200 outer islands dotting the South China Sea.

Here we are on the train.  It was packed!

So, we had to spend some time on the water front on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars. 

Here are Jackie Chan's hand prints.  We also saw Jet and Bruce Lee's handprints.  

These colorful ferries took us back and forth to Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.  This one is the famous Star Ferry.  

Hong Kong was really interesting.  We even took a short ferry ride to Macau, which was a Spanish settlement about 40 miles away.  I would definitely like to go back in order to see more and spend some more time exploring.  Just don't go there expecting to get the Chinese experience, because instead it feels like any big international city.