Stanley and Cheung Chau

We really did try to get around to as many places as we possibly could when we were in Hong Kong.  Two of the day trips we took were to a very popular tourist destination on Hong Kong Island called Stanley and to a small island southwest of Hong Kong called Cheung Chau (truthfully, they were more like half day trips, but we were trying to not exhaust ourselves!)

Stanley is on the northern side of Hong Kong Island and has beautiful beaches, markets and architecture.  We didn't know until we got there, but it is the location of one of the big battles in World War II, when the allies were trying to hold the island against the Japanese invaders.  We visited a graveyard that has the remains of many of the Allied soldiers who died in the battle and the citizens who were held in camps or died in the bombing raids that preceded the surrender in December 1941. 

 

Stanley Harbour

 

 

Stanley Harbour

 

WWII Cemetery

 

Cheung Chau is a fishing village on an island that is about 10km southwest of Hong Kong.  The village is full of narrow, winding streets and the only vehicles there are mini fire trucks and emergency vehicles.  There was a beautiful temple with ornate dragons and the harbour was full of all kinds of fishing boats.  It is a very small place and only took a couple of hours to cover the harbour and many of the small streets.  Cheng Chau is known for its seafood and there were dozens of small restaurant, as well as stores selling dried seafood.  As soon as the catch comes in, it is hung out to dry.  This was definitely one of the most unique places that we visited on our trip!
 

 

 

Cheng Chau Harbour

Cheng Chau Cat

Pak Tai Temple

Drying fish

More Hong Kong

There are a couple of things that everyone says you must do in Hong Kong: have some clothes made and visit the street markets.  We did find a place to make us clothes and it is just as fast as they say it will be.  We went to the tailor in the morning to pick fabric and get measured, then returned late in the afternoon for the first fitting.  We went back 24 hours later to pick up our perfectly tailored clothing.  It was that easy!  We got our tailoring done on the Hong Kong side which is a bit tamer.  Whenever we walked anywhere in Kowloon we would get hassled to get some tailoring done.  Mostly they target men and we literally would hear "Tailoring, sir?" five or six times per city block.  Oddly, they don't really cater to women for this service.  Maybe there are too many variables in fitting women or maybe women would rather try on the clothes before they buy.  Regardless, JT got chased and hassled all over the streets of Kowloon.

 

Ladies' Market, Kowloon

 

Flower Market, Kowloon

 

Rock 'em, Sock 'em...no idea what this was about

 

Street in Kowloon

The open-air markets are interesting to see and they can get incredibly crowded.  There is a ladies' market, a flower market, an electronics market and a market with everything that is busiest at night, called the Night Market.  The markets are okay but the really fun part is just looking at all the little things, making small purchases and haggling.  It is very un Australian (and un North American) to haggle on prices, but we had to try.  We managed to get the prices down by about 15%, which still means that we paid about 35% more than we should have, so good thing we weren't spending a lot of money!

Hong Kong!

We just returned from two weeks in Hong Kong and Singapore.  This was a first trip to anywhere in Asia and we absolutely loved it!  We started with 8 nights in Hong Kong, split between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.  Out first 4 nights were in Hong Kong and it completely blew us away.

We didn't really know what to expect so we hadn't done much forward planning.  We really just wanted to experience the city and we loved every minute of it!  This is a trip that we will do again and would encourage everyone to visit Hong Kong.

Out first day there we took the cable car up to Victoria Peak and the amazing views of Victoria Harbour.  The ascent takes less than 5 minutes in the cable car, but there is a staircase for the crazy/fit/cheap people.  It is incredibly steep and at some points the angle is so great that it is like you are lying on your back.  We couldn't imagine trying to climb up.

 

Victoria Harbour from Victoria Peak

 

 

Original Gatehouse going into Victoria Peak Gardens

 

 

We walked around the tourist area at the top, then set off for Victoria Peak Gardens and the views out to the South China Sea.  This was an area that was quite posh back in the day, with its glorious views and cooling summer breezes.   There are still some very smart homes up there and we certainly saw more than one Bentley and Rolls Royce driving around.

 

 

Gardens

 

 

Looking out to the South China Sea

 

 

 

The most surprising part of the visit was how different the city felt from any other place we have been.  It is an amazing combination of primarily Chinese and Western culture, made of so many different components that the feeling is just so hard to describe.  In what other city do people commute to and from work on an escalator that goes up a mountain!

 

 

Riding the 800m escalator