Asia - Hong Kong

Hong Kong

 We stayed in Tsim Sha Tsui – Kowloon

Tsim Sha Tsui is a place where you can find hotels and restaurants with beautiful views and great food, and shop from luxury brands to cheap boutique items.

In 1888, the Star Ferry offered regular transport between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, we took the Star Ferry Hong Kong Island, using the Octopus Card.

You can grab an Octopus Card to store money and use on buses, trains, and in convenience stores. It will save you a lot of time queuing or fishing for change.

The Peak Tramway is a funicular railway in Hong Kong, which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island. Running from Garden Road Admiralty to Victoria Peak provides the most direct route and offers excellent views over the harbor and skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

 

There is a very long waiting line to get onto the Peak Tram.

Probably one of the most popular ways to get to Victoria Peak, other than the Peak Tram, of course, is via CityBus Bus route 15.  Bus 15 takes you all the way to The Peak itself.  You can pick it up at the ferry pier in Central.

Peak Road

This is an example of good Fung Shui. The dragons can pass through it.

A bit cloudy today.

A touch of sunshine.



On Victoria Peak

The Peak Tramway will take you down to the lower levels. It is easier going down rather than up - fewer crowds.

Hong Kong Museum of History

2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Museum of History.

The Hong Kong Story comprises 8 galleries located on two floors. The display has over 4,000 exhibits, life-size exhibits, and short documentaries.

  This museum is set up in a way that makes you feel as though you are going back in time because they do a great job with settings and costumes. It has an easy to walk through.

 The Tanka people customs and living conditions.

Every object tells a story.

Hoklo Dragon Boat Dance

The Seven Sisters Festival is held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar year. This year's festival will be held on August 20, 2015. These are paper offerings for Seven Sisters Festival. 

Wedding Ceremony according to wedding traditions of the past, a bride must neither see the sky not step on the ground as she is being brought to the groom's house.

In Hong Kong's village communities, Chinese opera is staged to give thanks to the gods as well as to entertain the villagers during festivities.

The Cantonese Opera Theater

Festival decorations

The Opium Wars gallery shows a film about how the Opium Wars came to be and the ceding of Hong Kong to Britain.

Street Scenes from the early days is replicated with the variety of shops and buildings, the barber, bank, post office and a grocery store before the Second World War.

Sky100 is a 360-degree indoor observation deck on the 100th floor of the International. Commerce Centre.

Time Tunnel Level 2 

The International Commerce Centre (ICC) was completed in 2010 and is the tallest building in Hong Kong, reaching 118 stories into the sky.

We visited Sky100 on a day it was a bit foggy, so we did not have the benefit of a clear day view.

There were groups of school children visiting Sky100; they had questions to answer about what they saw today.  They are doing homework before leaving to go back to school.

On a clear day......but not today.

 This way out -

To exit the building, you walk to the floors and floors of high-end shops.

Hong Kong has become the playground of the rich who love to shop.  There are shops in every building and every street corner.

Diamonds and emeralds.

Megastores - on every corner, this one is Gucci.

This one is Coach.

Let's not forget about the fast cars; I saw more Tesla's here than anywhere else. They were to fast to photograph.

The Avenue of Stars, modeled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is located along the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

It honors celebrities of the Hong Kong film industry.

Director's Cut

Bruce Lee is a Seattle, USA born star, but he is the best attraction here.

This is a giant replica of the 2008 Summer Olympics Torch.

Photo by Wikipedia

Named the "Worlds Largest  Permanent Light Show and Sound Show by Guinness World Records.

You can listen to the show's free music and narration nightly live along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront between the Avenue of Stars and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

This is what it looks like on a clear night.

Photo provided by discoverhongkong.com

We spend four days in Hong Kong. We took ferries, buses, trams, and taxies to get around town.  We rode escalators, elevators and walked up many stairs. Hong Kong is crowded.  It is noisy. The air quality is poor. The high-rises are amazing, the food is delicious, the weather was foggy and smoggy, but Hong Kong, China, was never dull. It was always interesting.

Zai Jian, Hong Kong  = Goodbye, Hong Kong