Hong Kong
We said goodbye to Cheng in Hong Kong, and passed through Passport Control before we could board the hydrofoil bound for Hong Kong. This was Friday, June 1, 2001. We had been on the go constantly from May 21st when we left San Francisco. The trip on the hydrofoil was much slower than we had anticipated, but we were finally there. It took a while to go through passport control in that city, but once we did we were able to locate our city guide right away. He led us to our bus, and we were off, through a long tunnel, to the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Once we were checked in we had a nice dinner with Kate and Joe in an ultra nice coffee shop. This hotel was not only the best one of the trip, but also one of the best hotels I've ever stayed in, and the service was superb.
The next morning James picked us up early for a half day tour of Hong Kong. We visited the Peak Tower Complex of shops, but taking photographs from their lovely high viewing deck was out of the question since it was terribly hazy. From there we visited some areas of Hong Kong that were pretty expensive looking, and then on to a Sampan ride in Hong Kong harbor. And then he took us to the Stanley Market. That is an outdoor market of little stalls with vendors selling all kinds of goods. Sue bought some jade chopsticks, and I bought a silk scarf. We were saving the good shopping for the next day, when we would be on our own.
Hong Kong Harbor
with the Mandarin Oriental hotel the third from the left.
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This is in Hong Kong, but everywhere in China that we went they are building, and the part that was so surprising to us was that they use bamboo scaffolding. Our guide said that they use it because it is plentiful and very strong. Goodbye steel, hello bamboo. |
| Here I am about to board our sampan. It was a fun trip around the harbor. |  |
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These are the docks that the sampans use, and this photo was taken from our sampan. It cost $10 American money, around Hong Kong harbor for about half an hour. |
| This is the Stanley market. Lots of little shops, and some pretty good bargains if you are willing to shop around. Almost everyone in our group bought something there. And many were coming back later. |
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Sue and I did take a look at the wonderful treadmills they had at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Notice the television screens at each station with earphones. We were very impressed with the health club, but didn't have time to work out.
| This is my favorite building in China, and we could see it from our balcony. Obviously I didn't take this photo. It was on a piece of advertising. It is the Bank of China. They commissioned architect I.M. Pei. to design this stunning building. His father had been the bank's first Hong Kong manager of the Nationalist era. Pei's 70 story structure is wonderful looking with it's interlocking triangles. Pei said that he had been inspired by a bamboo sapling, seen by Chinese as a symbol of strength and endurance. |
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Here we are headed for Kowloon, the well known shopping are of Hong Kong. We traveled over on the Star Ferry, and there was no charge for seniors. Guess they could guess my age. We are looking for Nathan Street, where there are some good shops we have heard about, and then we are headed for afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel. Shades of our trip to England about 6 years ago. |
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Hong Kong is a very busy city, and in particular the island of Kowloon where most of the businesses are located. This is not a poor city at all, and people here were very fashionably dressed. Loads of double decker buses. Obviously the British influence remains. |
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Sue trying on a new outfit that she ultimately bought. The top is completely embroidered with the pants having the embroidery just around the cuffs. She had brought along fancy high heel shoes to try on some outfits which came in very handy at tea time. |
| As you can see from this photo this was a lovely afternoon tea, set in a lovely lobby. We were surrounded by stores like Cartier, Ferramgamo, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffanys. |  |
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Here is Sue at afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel. They started to turn her away because she was wearing walking sandals, but she said she would change her shoes in the ladies room, and be right back. And sure she was right back wearing her high heel sandals. She was seated. It was a lovely tea with finger sandwiches, scones, little desserts, and watermelon plus fruit in a lovley glass. |
| When Sue and I were ready to depart Kowloon to return to our hotel we went over to the Star Ferry area again, and saw many wedding couples posing for photos. These two seemed especially attractive to me. And what a lovely background. Can you see "The Bank of China" in the background? It is the tallest building, and is on the extreme left. |
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When Sue and I returned to the hotel it was with the knowledge that this marked the end of the trip. Sue was our marvelous packer, so she got everything ready to be picked up at 6 AM the next morning, June 4th, 2001. I decided to call it a night, but Sue along with Julie and Joanna wanted to see Hong Kong at night, so they had had a great time looking at the sights. |
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