Hong Kong

http://hongkongvietnam.blogspot.com

As one recently widowed, going on holidays presented a new thought process.  My daughter Robyn asked "what is on your bucket list Mum"?  I had never been to Vietnam so we started to investigate the idea of starting off in Hong Kong and ending up in Vietnam. I had been to Hong Kong in 1973 but Robyn had not been to either countries. The holiday was booked in September 2017 so we had a year of anticipation with 3 days in Hong Kong and 13 days in Vietnam.

For the 3 months prior to our departure I was troubled with sciatic nerve pain.  Should we go or not?

Robyn booked wheel chair access through all 7 airports which made it manageable and I used a walking stick to help me get around.  Our photos were all smiles, we had a great adventure and did lots of exciting things, but at times the pain was quite severe.

7 September 2018 Melbourne to Hong Kong

Wheelchair access through Tullamarine airport

We were able to spread ourselves
so had a very comfortable flight to Hong Kong

We made our selves known to the Qantas stewards
Valentino and Nick spoilt us
Valentino knew Sven Lauersen

Wheelchair access through Hong Kong airport
Opened 1998
320 shops & 100 restaurants
2 parallel underground railways

A 9.30am flight had us in Hong Kong in daylight
Airport express train 35 km to city in 24 minutes
We got off at Kowloon Station and bussed to Hotel
Platform screen doors along the edge
 keep passengers off the tracks

8 September 2018 Hong Kong

Today we took a Big Red Bus to Stanley, had a ride on a Sampan in Aberdeen, had high tea at Hotel, went to Temple Street night market and enjoyed the light show from our room. We conveniently bought a 2 day pass for the Big Red Bus while in Melbourne so we were able to see the sights of Hong Kong without too much walking.

View from our Hotel room
Kowloon Park in foreground
 Harbour and Hong Kong Island
Peak Hill in distance

Chef at BP International Hotel

Great way to keep hard boiled eggs warm

BP International Hotel behind Robyn
Excellent location

Pleasant walk through Kowloon Park to Harbour

Underpass at busy intersection to keep traffic moving

Lots of taxis in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Island from Kowloon
A 15 minute ferry ride across harbour 

Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island

Big Red Bus Tour of Hong Kong

Cemetery on Hong Kong Island

Overhead rail line from Big Red Bus

Exploring Hong Kong from Big Red Bus

Deep Water Bay from Big Red Bus

Big Red Bus trip to Stanley
Ocean Theme Park on the peak

Ferrari showrooms

Repulse Bay from Big Red Bus

Aberdeen is famous not only to the tourists but also to Hong Kong locals for its floating village and floating seafood restaurants located in the Aberdeen Harbour. We enjoyed a ride on a sampan where we saw close up the fishing boats and sampans. 

Sampan ride at Aberdeen

Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen

Rear of Floating Restaurant
What a contrast

Sampans at Aberdeen

Sampans at Aberdeen
Note lights for night fishing

Sampans at Aberdeen

Government of Hong King provides affordable housing for low-income residents.  It is a major component of housing in Hong Kong with nearly half the population now residing in some form of public housing.

House boats at Aberdeen

Sampans at Aberdeen

The rain poured down at the conclusion of our tour

Fortunately the rain fell at the conclusion of our sampan ride

Ferry terminal Hong Kong Island side

Ferry leaving Central Pier on Hong Kong Island

1881 Heritage Hotel

1881 Heritage Hotel built 1902
Formally a Police Station

1881 Heritage Hotel

We forgot our umbrellas but
we remembered our sunhats

High tea at BP International Hotel

Exploring Kowloon

Kowloon
Note 7 Eleven & Mc Donalds

Temple Street night market

Temple Street night market

Robyn purchased at back pack at Temple Street night market

Robyn purchased chopsticks at Temple Street night market

Temple Street night market

Robyn enjoyed her fried dumplings

Night life in Kowloon

Light display across harbour from our Hotel window

Hong Kong from our Hotel window

We survived our first day in Hong Kong.  Weather day and night was warm (about 30C) even though it rained while we were in Aberdeen.

9 September 2018 Hong Kong

Another day trip on Hong Kong Island. We went up Peak Hill in the cable tram to see the spectacular views and took the Big Red Bus to Repulse Bay, Stanley and return.

BP International Hotel
Our room was on 33rd floor

Ferry crossing to Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island from the ferry

A steep incline up Peak Hill in Cable Tram

Cable tram up to Peak Hill

We made it to the top of Peak Hill

Down she goes again

Look who I met on Peak Hill but our very own Nicole Kidman
There is a Madam Tussaud's at Peak Tower

We enjoyed the views of Hong Kong
and Kowloon on other side of harbour
from Peak Tower on Hong Kong Island

View from Peak Tower

View from Peak Hill

The Peak I love you

Celebrating with champagne at Peak Hill

Joy & Robyn at Peak Hill

Hong Kong from Big Red Bus Tour

Hong Kong from Big Red Bus Tour

Tunnel to get through to other side of the island

Another tight squeeze

Resort at Repulse Bay

Steep walk down to Repulse Bay

Which toilet will I use?

Repulse Bay

Repulse Bay

Joy last put her feet in Repulse Bay in 1973

Returning to Central Pier from Big Red Bus

Looking back at Hong Kong Island

Looking back at Hong Kong Island

The crowded shops
It was very empty in the morning

Walking back to our Hotel
Lots of pedestrians

Walking through Kowloon Park to our Hotel

Past McDonald's

In time for high tea at BP International Hotel

Night life at Kowloon

Extravagent Jewelery
note the prices

Extravagent jewelery

A Symphony of Lights on Hong Kong harbour

A Symphony of Lights on Hong Kong harbour

Hong Kong Harbour by night

The Peninsula Hotel

Resting in Peninsula Hotel

10 September 2018 in Hong Kong

This morning we relaxed and packed up as we were saying goodbye to Hong Kong and flying to Hanoi in Vietnam in the afternoon.   We planned a ferry tour of the harbour at 12 noon. We already had tickets so slowly walked with our luggage to the ferry terminal.  We nearly didn't get on the ferry as five minutes before the ferry left we went to board, but to be told the gate was closed.  We furiously complained, the ticket lady rang the crew and we were hastily escorted to the ferry with all our luggage.  

View from our 33rd floor room

Walking to ferry terminal for harbour tour
Then our flight to Hanoi

Clock Tower by harbour

Sun shining for our harbour tour

Promenade alongside the harbour

Enjoying our harbour tour

Central Pier

View from our harbour tour

View from our harbour tour

Views of our harbour tour

Views of our harbour tour

Views from our harbour tour

Hong Kong Airport was opened in 1998, has over 320 shops and 100 restaurants.  It has 2 Terminals and 2 parallel underground railways. The Airport Express Train takes 24 minutes to the city, a distance of 35km.

Wheelchair access at Hong Kong Airport 
10 minute underground train with 4 carriages
between terminals

Wheelchair access at Hong Kong Airport
We were gate 520
So glad for the wheelchair

Flew Hong Kong to Hanoi with Hong Kong Airlines

Leaving Hong Kong Airport

For your interest:
History of Hong Kong and History of China

The region is first known to have been occupied by humans during the Neolithic period, about 6,000 years ago. Early Hong Kong settlers were a semi-coastal people who migrated from inland and brought knowledge of rice cultivation. The Qin dynasty incorporated the Hong Kong area into China for the first time in 214 BCE, after conquering the indigenous Baiyue. The region was consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom (a predecessor state of Vietnam) after the Qin collapse, and recaptured by China after the Han conquest. During the Mongol conquest, the Southern Song court was briefly located in modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before its final defeat in the 1279 Battle of Yamen. By the end of the Yuan dynasty, seven large families had settled in the region and owned most of the land. Settlers from nearby provinces migrated to Kowloon throughout the Ming dynasty. The earliest European visitor was Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares, who arrived in 1513. Portuguese merchants established a trading post called (Tamão) in Hong Kong waters, and began regular trade with southern China. Although the traders were expelled after military clashes in the 1520s, Portuguese-Chinese trade relations were reestablished by 1549. Portugal acquired a permanent lease for Macau in 1557.

After the Qing conquest, maritime trade was banned under the Haijin policies. The Kangxi Emperor lifted the prohibition, allowing foreigners to enter Chinese ports in 1684. Qing authorities established the Canton System in 1757 to regulate trade more strictly, restricting non-Russian ships to the port of Canton. Although European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods was insignificant. To counter the trade imbalance, the British sold large amounts of Indian opium to China. Faced with a drug crisis, Qing officials pursued ever-more-aggressive actions to halt the opium trade.The Daoguang Emperor rejected proposals to legalise and tax opium, ordering imperial commissioner Lin Zexu to eradicate the opium trade in 1839. The commissioner destroyed opium stockpiles and halted all foreign trade, forcing a British military response and triggering the First Opium War. The Qing surrendered early in the war and ceded Hong Kong Island in the Convention of Chuenpi. However, both countries were dissatisfied and did not ratify the agreement. After over a year of further hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded to the United Kingdom in the 29 August 1842 Treaty of Nanking.

Administrative infrastructure was quickly built up by early 1842, but piracy, disease, and hostile Qing policies towards Hong Kong prevented the government from attracting merchants. The Taiping Rebellion, when many wealthy Chinese fled mainland turbulence and settled in the colony, improved conditions on the island. Further tensions between the British and Qing over the opium trade escalated into the Second Opium War. The defeated Qing were again forced to give up land, ceding Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter's Island in the Convention of Peking. By the end of this war, Hong Kong had evolved from a transient colonial outpost into a major entrepôt. Rapid economic improvement during the 1850s attracted foreign investment, as potential stakeholders became more confident in Hong Kong's future.

The colony was further expanded in 1898, when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher-education institute. Kai Tak Airport began operation in 1924, and the colony avoided a prolonged economic downturn after the 1925–26 Canton–Hong Kong strike. At the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared Hong Kong a neutral zone to safeguard its status as a free port. The colonial government prepared for a possible attack, evacuating all British women and children in 1940. The Imperial Japanese Army attacked Hong Kong on 8 December 1941, the same morning as its attack on Pearl Harbor. Hong Kong was occupied by Japan for almost four years before Britain resumed control on 30 August 1945.

Its population rebounded quickly after the war as skilled Chinese migrants fled from the Chinese Civil War, and more refugees crossed the border when the Communist Party took control of mainland China in 1949. Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies to industrialise during the 1950s. With a rapidly increasing population, the colonial government began reforms to improve infrastructure and public services. The public-housing estate programme, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), and Mass Transit Railway were established during the post-war decades to provide safer housing, integrity in the civil service, and more-reliable transportation. Although the territory's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, it transitioned to a service-based economy. By the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre and shipping hub.

The colony faced an uncertain future as the end of the New Territories lease approached, and Governor Murray MacLehose raised the question of Hong Kong's status with Deng Xiaoping in 1979. Diplomatic negotiations with China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which the United Kingdom agreed to transfer the colony in 1997 and China would guarantee Hong Kong's economic and political systems for 50 years after the transfer. The impending transfer triggered a wave of mass emigration as residents feared an erosion of civil rights, the rule of law, and quality of life. Over half a million people left the territory during the peak migration period, from 1987 to 1996. Hong Kong was transferred to China on 1 July 1997, after 156 years of British rule.

Immediately after the transfer, Hong Kong was severely affected by several crises. The government was forced to use substantial foreign-exchange reserves to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg during the 1997 Asian financial crisis,[64] and the recovery from this was muted by an H5N1 avian-flu outbreak and a housing surplus This was followed by the 2003 SARS epidemic, during which the territory experienced its most-serious economic downturn.

Political debates after the transfer of sovereignty have centred around the region's democratic development and the central government's adherence to the "one country, two systems" principle. After reversal of the last colonial-era Legislative Council democratic reforms following the handover, the regional government unsuccessfully attempted to enact national-security legislation pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law. The central-government decision to implement nominee pre-screening before allowing Chief Executive elections triggered a series of protests in 2014 which became known as the Umbrella Revolution. Discrepancies in the electoral registry and disqualification of elected legislators after the 2016 Legislative Council elections and enforcement of national law in the West Kowloon high-speed railway station have raised concerns about the region's autonomy.

If you wish to contact the author, Joy Olney with comments, please email me on -joyolney@gmail.com