Hong Kong Weekend

Since I was already down in southern China (Shenzhen) for Thanksgiving, Michael and I decided to travel into Hong Kong after Michael finished up his work day on Friday.

Hong Kong is an enigma... it's China, but it isn't: Once ruled as a British colony, it became a "Special Administrative Region" of China in 1997 when the British government relinquished its 156- year control of the territory. Even though Hong Kong has officially been "Chinese" for over a decade, it is still quite different from mainland China, probably because it maintains its own political and economic systems. Some of the main differences between Hong Kong and Shanghai/China that we noticed were:

1. For such a densley populated city (over 7 milion people in just 426 sq miles), Hong Kong is very clean.

2. People follow rules and generally respect other people. It was so weird to actually wait (in a line!) for a cross walk signal.

3. There are LOTS of hills. Only 25% of HK landmass is actually commercially and residentially developed because of the mountainous terrain with steep slopes. Over 40% of the remaining land is dedicated to parks and nature reserves.

4. Most taxi drivers speak some English. Good for us since the native language in Hong Kong is Cantonese, not Mandarin!

5. It is EXPENSIVE! (Think NYC prices...)

Saturday, we spent the better part of the day in a region of Hong Kong on the mainland called Clearwater Bay, where the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is located. It is possible that Michael will attend this school to earn his MBA sometime in the future. We attended an information session, a light lunch, and a sample MBA class (FYI, I am now an expert on creating value through corporate restructuring (acquisitions and mergers, people!).

Saturday evening, we hung out in the SOHO neighborhood in the Central District of Hong Kong Island. This area is filled with fun restaurants and bars etched into the steep terrain of the mountainous base of the island. Within SOHO, there is a unidirectional escalator that carries people up (or down) the hillside. In the morning the escalaor goes down, and in the afternoon and evenings it goes up. If you find yourself wanting to travel in the opposite direction, you must hoof it!

We took the escalator up as high as it went and then travelled back down on foot. It was quite a stretch.

On Sunday, we decided to venture up even higher into the mountainous terrain of Hong Kong Island. We took a tram up to "The Peak". From this location on the mountain, tourists can walk around the perimeter of the mountain on a paved path in around an hour.

As we were walking along this mundane, and relatively flat, path, we happened across a hidden trail that traveled upwards. Always looking for a challenge, Michael and I decided to follow it to see where it went...

It went on and on, and up and up...


Never caught without his smartphone, Michael was determined to figure out the best route to take at this fork in the trail... When google didn't deliver, we continued on the more upwardsly path (naturally!).

We even found some caves along the way...

My cave was slightly less scary than Michael's.

Finally, we reached the TRUE PEAK! (Victoria Peak Garden)

This area was filled with other meandering hiking paths and large grassy expanses.

The views were amazing!

From all sides.

Because we had exerted ourselves so much by taking it upon ourselves to reach the TRUE PEAK of Hong Kong Island, we decided to reward ourselves with some loaded fries from New York Fries, one of the restaurants at The Peak. (Seriously, they only sell fries! HEAVEN!)

After our lunch/snack, we opted to forgo the tram back down the mountainside and hike instead. As expected, the scenery was amazing and the extra effort was worth it.

After our hiking adventures, we headed off to other parts of Hong Kong Island. On the south side of the island, which is less inhabited, there are many public beaches. The wet sand looked very inviting to our overworked feet, so we decided to de-shoe and walk around for a bit.

Sunday evening, we returned to Shenzhen via the MTR, arriving back at Michael's hotel just after 9 pm. We were aching and exhausted from our full day of exploration, but we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.