Hong Kong

Day 13:

            This morning we met up with our tour guide Albert who took us on a tour of the Island of Hong Kong.  We started out the day by driving up some really narrow, windy roads to the top of a mountain that they call Victoria Peak.  We took some great pictures here and had time for our stomachs to settle from that crazy drive!  After that we spent some time at Stanley Market where we all got some great deals.  Albert advised us not to bargain as much with these vendors like we did in China.  It was a relief to not have to spend so much time arguing over prices.  We ended our tour by hopping on a small ferryboat to get to our restaurant for lunch.  It was called the Jumbo Floating restaurant.  A section of Rush Hour 3 and one of the James Bond movies were filmed here.

13 fun facts about Hong Kong:

·      People of Hong Kong don’t get Social Security—they call it Yo Yo, meaning you are on your own

·      Couples can have as many children as they wish

·      Hong Kong is made up of many islands but only one island is actually called Hong Kong

·      Their version of women’s basketball is called Netball which is a combination of basketball and handball

·      There are a lot of nice cars (Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini)

·      Gas is more expensive than in the U.S. and is sold by the Liter

·      You pay a 110% tax when buying a car

·      It has a Hard Rock Café

·      The tallest building is in the Batman movie

·      They drive on the left side of the road

·      They were a British Colony until 1997 at which time they were given to China and China has given them 50 years to establish their own government and economy

·      Scaffolding is made of bamboo…even for the high-rises they are building

·      They have only ever won 1 gold medal in the Olympics

Chelsea & Emily

Some photos:

Fans at the netball tournament

Views from Victoria Peak

More views from Victoria Peak

Stanley Market in Hong Kong

Jumbo Floating restaurant