Xiamen and Hong Kong

Bruce with a Hong Kong Island back drop

So on my way home for the holidays I stopped in a couple of cities. One of which was Xiamen to see Steven.

Steven told me that Xiamen is one of the nicer cities in China, and ....and ok, I can see it. It is really pretty nice, clean and located on the ocean. People are really relaxed and the driving is not too crazy. I got to eat at some good restaurants (can I mention that I can never spell restaurant easily) and I visited their famous island. I forget what the island was called simply because I have been home for the holidays for a month now, and have since forgotten alot of names. Its a shame really.

This is the view of Xiamen, looking out across the famous island off of Xiamen

One of the cities I went to was very dirty and poor (this was not Xiamen). It had alot of child street performers. I believe they are homeless. Its sad really, but then alot of people were giving them money, and I think at the end of the day they probably make more money than if they had worked in restaraunt as a waiter. At one point the police broke up the show, but it seemed like it was only because it was their job. As soon as they walked down the street, the kids resumed their act, and I think the police had to know that.

Ah, this doesnt fit into the timeline, but its worth mentioning that on the bus ride to Xiamen a ~5 year old boy crapped his pants on the bus. Luckily we were on a nice bus that had a bathroom so mom could go and clean it up off of her pants because he was riding on her lap at the time. The funny part is the point where you first smell it. It was like fart, but more so...so I was looking around like, "Does anyone smell this?" but I could tell that they all did because they were all sitting slouched in their seats, arms crossed with one hand over their nose. I had to laugh out loud every time I looked around because there is something really really funny about a bus full of chinese people sitting with their hands over their noses. Out of ~70 people, I was the only one with my shirt over my nose...the epitomy of innovation.

So the next task was to get from Xiamen to Hong Kong where I was to fly home from. Plane tickets were expensive, so Steven recommended that I take the bus. "How long is the bus ride?" I asked. "I think, not very long...like 3 -4 hours", said Steven. But what I found out once on the bus was that he really meant to say was "13 hours".

I sat next to a nice incense salesman (which you will not find in the States) and around some really nice old people who spoke a surprising amount of English. Half way through our bus-riding marathon, we stopped to eat at a restaurant where the meal was already pre-paid by the bus company. It was the first time I have eaten at the same table as Chinese strangers. It was interesting to see how they interacted because normally, I think chinese manners are less considerate than what we are used to. For the most part, they were very polite, but some people would still try to take food while others were trying to get theirs. There were no senior citizen fist fights or anything like that, but sometimes they exchanged words.

Finally I arrived in Hong Kong. going through the 2 customs checks was annoying only because I was hauling 140 lbs of gifts with me. I finally get through, the bus changes over to the other side of the road, and I start to think that it kind of reminds me of San Francisco in a way....and the food was expensive.

Hong Kong is NOT China.

The first day, I took a bus over to the south side of HK island. Most of the action is on the north, so the south is a nice reprieve from the city. The picture shown above was taken from Victoria peak, a major tourist attraction on HK. This picture is facing...maybe north-east and gives you a bird's eye view of "busy". Anyways, the south side of HK island is pretty mellow: alittle more "resorty".

...a "resorty" shot

One of the bays is famous for having all those Junks parked during the down season for the fishing industry. Im sure you have seen pictures of those ancient chinese boats all tight-packed together. Well, now there weren't that many, but at least I went there. I hired this little boat to take me around the bay.



In another bay on the south side, they had a small little boating deal set up where people were taking windsurfing lessons and hanging out. They also had a large boat rack which was worth taking a picture of...



I spent the good part of one day on one of the neighboring islands called Lantau Island. It was very nice, not as congested as Hong Kong or Kowloon. A quick lesson to those who are not familiar with HK. Kowloon is part of mainland China, but not politically. You must cross customs to get to Kowloon, then across the water to HK, which is an island. Lantau is also an island to the west of Kowloon and Hong Kong. It is where they built a Disneyland resort, and it is more untouched than the other places; however, the subway will still take you out there. The chinese subways that I have been on have been outstanding. I wish they would do something like this in more cities in America.

On Lantau island, someone built....a giant budda.

Pretty cool though, this one had ladies offering him things.

On a whim, I decided to hike up this mountain off to the side of the giant budda...I think it was the highest peak in HK.









I took a small little bus up to the location of the big budda, but I took the newly-built cable car down. It was a super long ride. Here is just a small part of it.



On the subway ride out to Lantau Island, I saw this large hill covered with graves....like a really large hill, so when I had time, I went back the next day to wander around. The signs implied no trespassers, although you could easily climb the cement rain channels and get in. So I was wandering around the outside, and I asked this random guy how to get in. He looked at me like I was stupid, smiled and pointed up the rain channel. So thats what I did (i dont know why I felt I needed this guy's permission to do it but whatever). I couldnt help but wonder if it was bad luck to take a picture of the place.



Later that night I went to this huge market which is very famous in HK. It is called the Ladies Market. I didnt really realize how sexist that is until now...there are probably over a hundered booths like the one shown here.


After the sexist Ladies Market I walked down to the water and saw the world's largest light show. You sit on the Kowloon side and look over onto the Hong Kong side where afew of the buildings sycronized their lights and put "freakin' lasers" (Dr. Evil? get it? no.) on top of their buildings. It needs alittle work in my opinion, but it was still cool.



Here is the view from Victoria Peak towards the south side of HK island. Not bad huh? So yes, now I have been back in the States for the holidays for the past month, and its kind of like I never left. Its strange, but when I go back mid January, I will keep posting pictures and my stupid stories. It was nice to see everyone, and thanks for the positive encouragement with the blog.