Davis in China: Hong Kong

High on my bucket list for China was Hong Kong. I'm so glad I finally got the chance to visit because it is truly a great city. But before I get into HK, I need to spend a little time on its neighbor Shenzhen.

SHENZHEN

Shenzhen Int'l Airport

My entry point into Hong Kong was through its mainland China neighbor Shenzhen. If you are flying domestically in China, it is far cheaper to fly to Shenzhen as HK is treated as an international flight. Shenzhen was nothing more than a fishing village (emphasis on village) until 1979 when the Chinese government reorganized it as the country's first SEZ (special economic zone). Fast-forward 33 years to the present, Shenzhen now has a population of 10 million people, a stock exchange with a market capitalization over $1 trillion (USD), the world's fourth busiest port, and is the largest manufacturer of Apple products.

I had the pleasure of spending one night in Shenzhen before heading into HK and the displeasure of spending a second night in Shenzhen when my return flight to Xi'an was canceled. Shenzhen is a beautiful city, and despite its manufacturing capacity, has much cleaner air than Xi'an.

Shenzhen has wide tree-lined streets, but dont forget to bring a sunbrella for those sunny patches!

The Shenzhen skyline as seen from the Hong Kong border

Factories AND blue skys??!

HONG KONG

Hong Kong was a British colony for a little over 150 years. It returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 yet has retained its unique culture, capitalist market, and democratic political system. Hong Kong has its own currency (the Hong Kong Dollar) separate from the Chinese Yuan. Even communication in Hong Kong is very different from in mainland China. Hong Kongers speak Cantonese, use traditional Chinese characters with Jyutping romanisation, where as Mandarin, simplified characters and Pinyin romanisation are standard on the mainland.

Hong Kong originally consisted of just Hong Kong Island. Over the years the territory expanded with British acquisitions of Kowloon peninsula and the New Territories on the mainland, and several smaller islands. The center of Hong Kong is on Hong Kong Island, but Kowloon and the New territories are just as densely populated. The topography of HK is very mountainous, making 70% of the territory uninhabitable. This gives people access to lots of natural forests and hiking grounds, but it makes the living situation very cramped.

The skyline of Kowloon across the harbor from Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island skyline (with pirates!)

Hong Kong Island skyline (with rich people!)

When I arrived in HK I looked for the cheapest accomodations I could find. This led me to the Chung King Mansion. Cheap is hard to come by in HK, and Chung King, probably the city's cheapest guest house, was 5 time what I'm used to paying in Xi'an for a decent hostel. My room in Chung King was a 6x6 cell that barely could fit a bed and toilet. Also the atmosphere on the ground level of the 'mansion' was...seedy. After two nights I moved to a hostel on HK island.

BIG BUDDHA OF LANTAU

Lantau is HK's largest island and home to its two biggest tourist attractions: Disney World Hong Kong, and the Tian Tan Buddha. The Buddha was completed in 1997 and was the world's tallest outdoor seated Buddha until 2007 (there are a LOT of big buddha's around asia). Despite its no-longer record holding status, it is still very impressive. To reach the Buddha, I took the Ngong Ping cable car.