Already a little bit depressed from the loads for rain during our last days in China, we took the metro to Hong Kong. Bad luck, getting a new stamp in the passport was not enough to change the weather. Although Hong Kong belongs again to China, they still have a high degree of autonomy and therefore their own immigration rules. For us it mainly meant that we could use facebook again.
The first surprise in Hong Kong was its size. Somehow we expected it to be like Manhattan (87.5 km2) or maybe Singapore (710km2) but it is way bigger (1104km2). The second surprise was the huge amount of skyscrapers, not only in the city center but everywhere. We traveled around by bus and tram and they seem to be all over. Actually it is no wonder, since there are more than 7 million inhabitants, not counting all the tourists and businessmen, that live, work, study and commute there. Third big surprise was, that many corners look run down, such shabby and crowed streets we expected in mainland but not in Hong Kong.
Besides the weather also the local food was a disappointment. We had delicious meals everywhere in China and were looking forward to some nice treats. In Hong Kong we had tasty pizza, great Japanese and Indian food, nice pasta, crispy pastry but only bland and slick local stuff. Maybe next time?
Day 1
Weather conditions: 25-28C, cloudy and humid
Activities:
- Finding our guesthouse in the Chunking Mansions: Chunking Mansions is a five blocks complex known for offering the cheapest accommodation in Hong Kong. When entering the ground floor with its many money exchanges, Indian food stalls, African traders and Chinese security you feel like in a globalized melting pot or at an African – Indian-Subcontinent trade meeting. Finally we made it to our room, which was less than 10m2 but had all the described facilities.
- Watching the international dragon boat competition: We assumed that international means that several countries or cities would compete against each other. Once again we were proven wrong, it was mainly a local race with international participants, with nearly every big company or university owing a team. Although it had a private function atmosphere it was nice to see a few races, learn that Hong Kong has beaches and watch the many housekeepers having fun at their day off at the beach.
Not recommended activity: Peak visit
Day 2
Weather conditions: 24 -27C, cloudy and humid, showers in the evening
Activities:
- Walking around Tsim Sha Tsui: Equipped with a Hong Kong Walks booklet we started our journey mainly to find out, that this part is far away from being charming, cute or pleasant to stroll.
- Freezing at the History Museum: We bought a great, cheap museum pass and visited our first museum, about the history of Hong Kong. Problem with all indoor activities in Hong Kong is that they cool down everything to about 15C. No matter how interesting something is, if you do not wear thermo undies you feel like a frozen fish stick after a while.
- Watching the Symphony of Light, a multimedia show, which involves more than 40 buildings on both sides of the harbor: Maybe it was the drizzling rain and the clouds, but we were not really impressed.
Not recommended activity: Peak visit
Day 3
Weather conditions: 25-28C, cloudy and humid, showers all day long, fierce squalls
Activities:
- Riding a tram: Hong Kong has double decker trams that look pretty cool and are cheap. But they are really slow and not sealed, I will never complain again about trams in Zürich. The ride was recommended by the tourist office to see the street life from a covered place; again, we were not utterly impressed.
- Visiting museums: Since our pass covered the admission, we tried to broaden our minds in the Art Museum. It did not work out properly, we still have no clue and most of the stuff was pretty boring. The space museum was unfortunately closed. The heavy rainfall and the strong winds made us turn around before we could reach the Costal Defense Museum.
- Watching a movie: Freezing cold hall but we were prepared.
Not recommended activity: Peak visit
Day 4
Weather conditions: 25-27C, cloudy and humid, showers all day long, fierce squalls
Activities:
- Visiting a temple: Great temple but due to the heavy rain we were soaked within minutes.
- Joining a “Chinese Opera Appreciation Class”: The tourist board offers different free or cheap activities within Hong Kong, the opera appreciation class was one of them. We were the only actually appearing participants and got a private introduction. For the record: I hate people subscribing and not showing up just because it is free! The class was great but the entire time a security was watching us, not sure why, but it was strange.
- Visiting another museum: The space museum was open and we learned some new stuff about the Chinese space program. Did you know that they plan to have an own space station by 2020?
Not recommended activity: Peak visit
Day 5
Weather conditions: 27C, cloudy and humid, frequent showers
Activities:
- Joining a cake baking class: Squeezed into the backspace of a bakery, two masters showed us how to make “wife cakes” and egg rolls. The instructor also told us the romantic story of the “wife cake”: A women was willing to prostitute herself to raise money for her ill father, but her husband invented the cake to make extra money and saved her from selling her body. A moving story…
- Visiting another museum: Yes, we took full advantage of our pass, but the science museum as well as the others are really well done and a great alternative to shopping centers on rainy days.
Not recommended activity: Peak visit
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