A Long Weekend in Hong Kong

The shortest flight on the trip was from Taiwan to Hong Kong - around an hour and then we were in one place for three days. Let's spend a minute talking about Hong Kong, one of the many SARs in China. Ironically the place known for SARS is actually a SAR (Special Administrative Region). This is how the People's Republic allows places like Hong Kong and Maccau to maintain their freedoms, economic powerhouse environments, etc. even though they are technically part of China (Hong Kong was handed back from Britain in 1997). It is an "international" flight from Hong Kong to anywhere in mainland China...odd. Aside from odd arrangements (SAR) with China, Hong Kong is one of my favorite places in the world and is one of the two places I could live outside the United States.

Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong Island and across the harbour Kowloon and the New Territories. The Island is what most people think of when they imagine Hong Kong - skyscrapers, the hustle and bustle of a city like Manhattan, steep hillsides and mountains, etc. Kowloon is a newer area across the harbour and beyond Kowloon are the New Territories and then the border with China. There are many more islands, one of which is where the airport is located, and that is where we arrived on Thursday night. Our hotel was on Kowloon so we faced the Hong Kong skyline across the harbour. You can take a ferry across the harbour or the MRT high-speed subway train underneath the harbour between Kowloon and HK Island.

On Friday we had a full slate of school visits - four total so we were going at 7:30am and wrapped up around 3:30-4 in the afternoon. Our final visit was the German Swiss International School, and it is on the way up to Victoria Peak (or "The Peak" as everyone calls it in Hong Kong). So, to end a long day of visits we went to a restaurant on the peak and had a snack and some drinks. It was actually kind of cool that high up (probably around 75-80 down below, but probably the high 50s up on the peak) and we were sitting outside and the heat lamps were on! That afternoon I had a meeting with a Vanderbilt alum at 6:00pm for late tea at the Oriental Mandarin Hotel in downtown HK Island. After that we were all meeting up that evening in SoHo to go out to a great North African restaurant with some school college counselors. HK is really pedestrian-friendly and from the hotel near the harbour up the hillside to SoHo I was able to take a series of elevated walkways and then the world's longest (and steepest grade) escalator. The escalator goes down in the morning and up after 10:00am (for commuters - smart).

Saturday was a productive day on the professional and personal sides. I had lunch with some very important Vanderbilt prospects - the Wans (the husband owns one of the largest shipping fleet in the world - HK is the world's second largest port after Singapore). Before I met them for lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the Conrad Hotel I went down along the harbour and took some pictures and a video and then enjoyed the ferry ride across the harbour on a beautiful morning. Lunch went for a few hours, it was delicious, great Cantonese cuisine, and then I took the MRT train back to the Kowloon side to the hotel. I met up with Seaby and Becky and Becky and I decided to go hiking.

Hong Kong is impressively natural - 40% of HK Island is natural parkland and reserve in the form of "country parks" - that sounds so British. These parks include scenic hills, woodlands, reservoirs, coastline, and striking views all across Hong Kong. Based on the recommendation from Mr. Wan we chose to go to Tai Tam Country Park. Tai Tam is one of the largest, constitutes a large part of eastern Hong Kong Island, and includes a number of semi-mountainous peaks. We started hiking before 4:00pm and wrapped up after sunset at 7:00pm. The hike was fairly steep, but included amazing views of the harbour, the skyline, and the natural beauty of the island just minutes from the urban core of the city. Saturday night we went to the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon and watched the Hong Kong Light Show at 8:00pm. This is an actual skyscraper light show that runs for about 15-20 minutes, and it is just what it sounds like - the many buildings across the harbour light up in many different, extremely creative ways, and the whole thing is set to music. It is quite an experience and very unique.

Sunday was a relaxing morning before we headed back out to the airport for a flight to Bangkok. It was a great stop in Hong Kong - the school visits went well, alumni meetings were productive and enjoyable, experienced some amazing restaurants, and even had time to hike around Hong Kong Island. Yes, definitely a great place to consider living outside the United States.