Yes! We managed to arrive in Hong Kong even though the federal government is in the midst of a funding shutdown. Yes, TSA was fully staffed. Yes, air traffic controllers manned their stations. Yes, we managed to sleep a bit on our almost 15 hour flight. Yes, Kathy did need a glass of wine on the plane to help her doze. Yes, Dave did watch an entire season of 30 Rock. Yes, Kathy did finish two books. Yes, Kathy still managed to almost finish watching a movie. Yes, the food was actually pretty good on the plane. Yes, we finally got to the hotel.
Phew! Is the word “no” not in our vocabulary? Well, we can try……. Yes, we went to bed as soon as we arrived at the hotel. Yes, we managed to get in a short walk after breakfast. Yes, we went on our tour. Yes, we did lots of cool things, like taking a cable car up to the tallest hill in Hong Kong (Victoria Peak – 552 meters tall!), taking a tiny boat ride a round Victoria Bay past the dozens and dozens of mega yachts, walking to one of the many beaches in Hong Kong (and then taking refuge from the torrent of rain under a Buddhist Temple!), and finally walking through a narrow row of shops looking for trinkets (where we bought a statue of Buddha made out of solid jade). Yes, we met the other four people on our tour. Yes, we found a pastry shop. NO, Kathy does not like their oatmeal cookies in Hong Kong! There you have it folks: the first “no” in the initial 48 hours of our trip, and all because of some cookie.
We did learn a bit about Hong Kong while on the tour. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is made up of many islands and has a population of 7.5 million residents, making it the 4th most densely populated city in the world. In 1841, it was a fishing village which was colonized by the British for its strategic location. Eventually, the British signed an agreement with China whereby it would lease Hong Kong for the next 99 years, after which it would turn the area back over to the Chinese. Twenty-eight years ago, on July 1, 1997, the lease expired. (By the way, the People’s Republic of China is celebrating its 76th anniversary this year!) Not much has changed for the residents in these past 28 years that it has been a part of China again. Hong Kong still has its own currency (the Hong Kong Dollar versus the Chinese Yuan), its own language (Cantonese Chinese versus Mandarin Chinese), and its own tax structure (they are taxed around 16% versus around 40% in mainland China). Hong Kong has grown into a wealthy city where condos overlooking the bay sell for $5 million USD! Mega yachts abound. There are thousands of banks here as it has become a financial hub for the world. It has become an area with one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world. But not everyone is wealthy. To combat homelessness, they have government-owned apartments where people can pay a reasonable rent if they have a lower income. These government properties are very small (around 100 square feet), but they do provide most people with a roof over their heads. When Britain turned the area back over to China 28 years ago, Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. This SAR is to last for 50 years, after which it will become a regular part of mainland China. No one really knows what will happen 22 years from now when Hong Kong is fully assimilated into China. We would presume that things like currencies, languages, and taxes will be the same across all of China, which will be a big change for the residents of Hong Kong.
