Hong Kong

I wondered when China would fully take over Hong Kong. That’s why I spent five days in Hong Kong. Five days are of course far too short to see everything in such a huge city, but you never really have enough time for 'everything'. Besides, I can always come back if I enjoy it so much.

On the advice of Oliver, whom I met in Chiang Rai, I booked two Free Walking Tours. The first was called 'Kowloon Market Safari' with guide Andy (Kowloon is the district where I was staying) and the second was titled 'Introduction to Hong Kong' with Summer as our guide.

Both tours were exceptionally good! Andy took us to ten different markets, the Tin Hau Temple, and an 'Insta'-spot from the Chinese version of 'Instagram' where you can photograph the red-roofed city buses from a skywalk. Instagram is blocked in China - except for Hong Kong - but this spot is apparently going viral on the Chinese Instagram equivalent.

Fun fact: While the Chinese are world champions in online shopping, according to Andy, Hongkongers prefer to go to a market or a store to look at the goods before buying. Hence, there is a Jade Market, a Fruit Market, a Sneakers Street, a Goldfish Market, a Flower Market, a Bird's Market,... and also many small shops offering specific items. I saw shops with technology (cameras and camera accessories, speakers, phone cases, vacuums,...), laminate, tiles, lamps, safes, bathroom accessories, coffins, and much more.

Summer showed us some historic landmarks on Hong Kong Island and illuminated some backgrounds:

• Why is there only one statue in Statue Square? - The other statues were melted down by the British during World War II to make weapons and ammunition.
• What is the catch with the Court of Final Appeal? - China has authoritarian structures, while Hong Kong has more democratic ones. How will Hong Kong be integrated into China by 2047?
• What is a Central-Mid-Levels-Escalator? - It is the world's longest escalator at 800m. You can ride up but must walk down.
• Why are there cannons on the roof of Standard Chartered Bank? - Apparently, everything revolves around how to get rich for Hongkongers. Among other things, the view of Victoria Harbour plays a big role to ensure money flows directly into your pockets. Therefore, several banks have built buildings at Statue Square with direct views of Victoria Harbour. There was a huge uproar when the building of British Standard Chartered Bank suddenly became much larger than the building of Bank of China. So the Chinese simply built a larger building, prompting the Brits to place cannons on the roof of their building, aimed at the Bank of China.
• What makes the restaurant Tsim Chai Kee so special? - It has been awarded Michelin stars for many years, offers only three dishes that can be combined differently, and sells them for under 10€. By the way, the stars are not fake; I double-checked on the Michelin Guide website.
• What should you do to make a proper wish in a Buddhist temple? - Stand in front of the Buddha and hold one or three incense sticks with both hands to your forehead. Think of your wish, of course not revealing it, and place the incense sticks with your left hand into the urn.
• What went wrong with the translations of Queen's Road Central and Rednaxela Terrace?
• Why are there lion statues in front of banks? And how can you tell which is the male and which is the female?
• What makes St. John's Cathedral so special?

Too many questions to explain everything in detail here...

One evening, I met up with Lara and Sebastian, whom I had met in Flores and who were passing through Taiwan on their way to New Zealand. We watched the Light Show at Victoria Harbour together, and otherwise I had picked a few sights for myself: Avenue of Stars, Clock Tower, K11 Musea, Victoria's Peak, Space Museum, Kowloon Walled City Park, Wong Tai Sin Temple,... It was quite a challenge to take a good photo of a Ding Ding! These are trams that somewhat resemble the buses in 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.'

Since I was flying out later on my last day in the evening and the airport is located on Lantau Island, I spent the day on Lantau Island. There I visited the Big Buddha and the monastery in Ngong Ping and watched planes taking off and landing. When I had checked in at the airport, exited, and gone through security, I still had 45 Hong Kong dollars left - exactly as much as a (quite overpriced) ice cream costs there. But it tasted good!