Hong Kong, Part II - The skyline of Hong Kong Island, Victoria Harbour, and some thoughts on Spiderman

So one of the very last movies that I watched in Bangkok before leaving was Spiderman III, which was an entertaining film, especially on the Imax. One thought that crossed my mind when I watched this film was about how Spiderman, as a superhero, could only use his superpower effectively in very few places in the world. He would really not be a terribly effective nor interesting crime fighter/rescuer if he was in, say, Grand Forks, North Dakota, now would he? Even in cities like Minneapolis or San Francisco, which have skyscrapers, but in only a pretty limited area, his crime fighting territory would be pretty small. Perhaps he'd be able to be effective in a few natural areas, such as the Grand Canyon or the Redwood Forest, but in general, it would be a pretty lame movie based anywhere other than Manhattan, Chicago, Singapore, and a few other cities.
However, if Spiderman were in Hong Kong, his superpowers would be quite useful. Hong Kong may have the world's most impressive skyline, rivaling even Manhattan or Chicago, and with an impressive foreground with Victoria Harbor and a spectacular background with the mountains of Hong Kong Island (the topic of my next posting.)

So, here are some pictures of Hong Kong's skyline, with a few pics of Victoria Harbour and a couple of other random shots mixed in.


Not too hard to imagine Spiderman swinging through here, is it?

The view of Hong Kong Island (right) and Kowloon (left), as seen from a ferry in Victoria Harbour.

A banner (not sure what it says,) with the Hong Kong Skyline behind it.

Not sure what this Kowloon building is supposed to be, but it kind of looks like a very large toy from the Transformers or Gobots line. Hmm...


A cable car in Hong Kong. San Francisco and Hong Kong have more in common than I ever realized.

Some of the cranes in Victoria Harbour. Victoria Harbour, which is the body of water between Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, and Aberdeen. It is one of three natural deep-water harbors in the world - the others are Rio De Janeiro, and, drum roll please... San Francisco! Huh. I was in two of those three cities within a 14 hour span. Anyway, for this reason, Victoria Harbour is one of the world's busiest, and Hong Kong is an important shipping center.

Eastern part of the skyline.


A view of the skyline from the Kowloon waterfront, on a rainy, foggy, cloudy day.

This is the site where The UK and China held the ceremony on July 1, 1997, formally returning Hong Kong to Chinese control. An important site for the history of de-colonization. In the Background is the Hong Kong convention center.

The flag of Hong Kong in the foreground, with Hong Kong's tallest building (at the moment - one is now under construction that will be taller,) International Financial Center Tower #2.

A very old looking tugboat in Victoria Harbour, while I was on a ferry. Ferries are still an important mode of transportation in Hong Kong, especially connecting Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong also has an extensive subway and a very nice bus system, with British-styled double-decker buses. And, as you saw above, there are cable cars, too.

Quintessential Hong Kong - the old Chinese Junk ship in front of the ultra-modern skyline.

The Junk, up close.


IFC Tower #2, with a coast guard boat in front of it.

More of the skyline on a foggy, rainy day.

The red and white lighted building is the world headquarters of the Hong Kong - Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC,) one of the largest banks in the world - it's even big in parts of the US. Not sure what the other building is.

Probably the coolest building on the skyline, the Bank of China Tower, at night.

The Bank of China tower, in the daytime.

The skyline from Kowloon at night. I accidentally left my flash on for this picture. Looks kind of strange, doesn't it? Not sure what that red haze is all about.

Hong Kong puts on a skyline light show every night, the world's largest laser-light show, according to Guinness.

More night views from Kowloon.

Ferry and the light show.

More light show.

Hong Kong, Part 1 - Colonialism and Chinese Gardens

So at the moment, I'm freezing in chilly Northern California. I will have more on this later. However, on my way here, I spent some time in the city that calls itself "Asia's Global City," Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China. I took loads of pictures, especially of the city's spectacular skyline (I will have a post just about the skyline in the not-so-distant future.)

What makes Hong Kong such an interesting place is that it was a colony of the UK from 1843 until 1997. So while you are in China when you are there, there are mixed in pieces of British influence everywhere. Most people speak Cantonese with each other, yet almost everyone, save for recent immigrants from "the mainland" (which is what they call the rest of China,) can speak English very well. There are other vestiges as well.

There's a certain nervousness in Hong Kong these days that has been present for quite some time. This stems from the fact that the region is now controlled by the Communist Chinese government. While Hong Kong enjoys a great degree of autonomy, save for the Beijing government controlling the region's defense, foreign policy, and having veto power over leaders elected by the people of Hong Kong. In 2047, this "one county, two systems," is set to expire. When one reads the newspapers in Hong Kong, especially the South China Morning Post (which, by the way, is fascinating, and was the first thing I did each morning,) you can see just how palpable this nervousness is - the opinion page especially is dominated by columns and letters opining on relations with Beijing. I am considering getting an online subscription to scmp.com.

Anyhow, there are hundreds of pictures I took, so let's get to them!

These are Hong Kong dollars. Hong Kong is perhaps the most unregulated abode of capitalism in the world. If you enlarge this picture, you will see that various banks, such as HSBC (Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation, a very large international bank founded in Hong Kong,) Standard Chartered, and Bank of China, have their logos on it. Also, if you like shopping, there is no place better than Hong Kong. In fact, there are some shopping malls that are open twenty four hours.

One vestige of the colonial days - most of the place names still have very British names.

Thankfully, I did not need to visit this place.

This was in the bathroom at a Szechuan Restaurant I ate in.

There are lots of Chinese Gardens all around Hong Kong. The next series of pictures are all images from various gardens around the city. This one was at the top of The Peak, or the large mountain which dominates the city.

No terrapin in the pond!

Public garden on Hong Kong Island.

This is a garden in Kowloon.

The gardens are a good place to take a rest on hot and humid Hong Kong afternoon. This is on Hong Kong Island.

In Kowloon.

A business in the Soho district of Hong Kong.

Garden on Hong Kong Island.

Also on Hong Kong Island.

The garden in Kowloon again.

Hong Kong is much like San Francisco, in terms of terrain - many of the roads, especially on Hong Kong Island, are quite steep. These are condos on the Island.

Steep streets in the Soho district.

Looking up toward the peak, on a wet day in Soho.

In Hong Kong, as well as in Bangkok, McDonald's is trying to compete with Starbucks for the coffee market. Quite interesting - a different style for Mc Donald's.

Just in case you forgot.