We arrived in Hong Kong for a short 2-day/3-night stopover – my 3rd time there and Nicki's 1st. In these 2 days we've packed a lot in.As we came in to land, the view from the city was incredible. The clouds were patchy, grey and swirling, like a disaster movie as the wrath of God gathers. The glow from the numerous tower blocks made it an amazing sight. As we drove into the city by bus, we saw thousands of containers at rest in or being moved around the huge harbour.
Our first surprise has been how cheap everything is. The journey to our hotel was just 11 GBP/13Euros each, a 40-minute trip, and our hotel itself was 30 GBP per night. Water has been 2 big bottles for 1 GBP, you can eat a big bowl of noodles and meat for less than 5 Euros and sending a postcard to the UK was cheaper than sending a first class letter within the UK. Even a hangover-cure McDonalds was half the price we paid in Australia.
We stayed in Kowloon, across the water from the main Hong Kong island,
and while there are glassy high rise banks and buildings around, the area is more residential and down to earth. As we walked around the area of our hotel on our first morning, we stumbled into the midst of the markets, complete with live chickens being traded and powerful odours of fish (still flapping in trays, they were so fresh), livestock and sewage.Other backstreet sights included tiny metal workshops and tool shops with piles of dead tools lying all over the place and spilling out onto the pavement. Looking up, 40-storey blocks of flats were commonplace, and you had to be aware to avoid the line made by drips of water coming down from the countless airco units
We took a day-tour around the city, starting at a
temple in the very centre. There was an almost overwhelming smoke of incense as the locals paid homage and the tourists joined in with burning the free sticks. I felt strange taking pictures of this religious activity, but snapped away along with my fellow visitors. We headed onto the The Peak, a high point on the hill behind the main city with an amazing view across it.Our guide, Roger, was a very knowledgeable but weird, unlikeable guy with a matter-of-fact manner and a lazy patter based on 20 years as a guide. He strangely had a plummy English accent peppered with Australian inflections on certain vowels. He explained that the tram line up to the Peak had been built because the British governors used to be carried up in a sedan chair – and given that they tended to be large people, the tram was constructed to give the sedan-carriers a break.
He also explained why 70% of Hong Kong is still countryside, and why little beyond the intense pocket of high-rise civilisation had been developed. In 1848, Britain was handed the 99-year lease to Hong Kong, and there was an understanding at the time that on the termination of the lease, all except Hong Kong's main island would be returned. Therefore the British focused on developing that main island and little else – why develop
something that you couldn't keep? In the years leading up to 1997 and the lease's end, it was clear that this was not going to be the case and everything would be returned to China.We took a Sampan ride (a small, traditional boat) at the harbour where Jumbo is moored, the biggest floating restaurant in the world. It was a big shock because when I came 5 years ago, the harbour was full of real working boats. Now the majority of it is taken by rich people's yachts and multi-million dollar boats, with a small section of the harbour still preserving the old ways. The times are changing fast in Hong Kong and cultural icons are at risk, according to Roger.
In the evening, we took the ferry back across to Kowloon and I spied the Canon logo - a reminder of how this all started - amongst the various neon signs. I smiled and thanked them wordlessly for being set free to make this amazing journey.As night fell, the laser show that goes on at 8pm every night across the harbour was fantastic. We then headed on to the Night Markets at Temple Street which run until 11pm. As we walked back, we came across a backstreet open-air Karaoke
area with various locals wailing into a microphone – an utterly terrible sound. This was side by side with a series of stalls housing fortune-tellers.We landed in bed, tired and full of the city.
Footnote.
When we were up at The Peak, I felt a really strong sense of very positive nostalgia and well-being. The last time I had been there was in Spring 2005 on a Canon trip and I have a treasured photograph of myself, Morten and Andrea there. That time was a golden little period, as I had moved to Austria 18 months before. I'd settled down in my new city, got to grips with the work, business was going well, we had a great team and I was fit and healthy.
Being there again gave me a moment to look back and realise how lucky I was during that period. Vienna is a great city and I was working with some great people in an excellent company for a boss who gave me the freedom to develop things my way. That trip to Hong Kong (and then onto China) was one of the strong memories of that time. It was a lovely feeling to re-live that. 
