Hong Kong — Day 1, Kowloon

This entry is a first. I am writing and posting pictures THE SAME DAY. 🙂 I know that’s how this site is supposed to work, but rarely do we take a break with enough time to sort the pictures, resize them, AND post the text. So, hopefully, this more timely approach will help alleviate a little of the time burden.
OK, so, here’s what our Hong Kong experience has been thus far. For those of you not familiar with the area, here’s a map of China.

We arrived late last night and checked into our hotel. We promptly fell asleep, despite intentions of wandering around the hotel to get our bearings. Oh well, it was a good night’s rest for today’s walking tour, at least.
Our hotel is in Kowloon. Here’s a map of the Hong Kong area, so you can get a better idea of the area.

Hong Kong was turned back over to the People’s Republic of China back in 1997 (after 99 years leased by the British), but it certainly still retains many western (British) aspects (streets named Waterloo for example). So, while this may not be like “mainland” China, it is certainly a unique culture.
We began our day on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong’s homage to it’s film industry and stars. Here I am trying to be like the venerable Bruce Lee. Pretty good impression, huh?? 🙂

Ok, so the statue looks better without me making a fool of myself in front of it…

Anna’s hands are almost as big as Jackie’s.

The harbor afforded interesting juxtapositions of old and new:

From there, we wandered along Nathan Street and came across this unique statue:

Then, over to Kowloon Park. Perhaps since it was a Saturday morning, there was a large group gathered to do what appeared to be Tai Chi. We stayed and watched for a while. Anna was really tempted to join in, but didn’t.



Another vestige of British rule.

Our big event for the day was shopping. We stopped by the Jade Market, the Ladies’ Market, and several other smaller ones. In fact, the whole area is absolutely packed with shops with just about everything imaginable for sale.

We also sampled some of the local food. It was a little scary at first (and sometimes hard to communicate what it is and what we wanted), but it was quite tasty in the end.

So, we are now in the hotel room resting up for tonight. We’re planning to watch the light show (many buildings on Hong Kong Island have lights on them and there’s a nightly show … supposedly, it’s the world’s largest regular light show). Then, over to Hong Kong island for dinner and perhaps see how the night life is over there. 🙂
Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to update you with the story and pictures from that!
Until then.
–Jim