Turn your clock around 13 hours and you can still sleep pretty well. Or maybe we were tired from the excitement the day before. Either way, Sunday saw a lazy start, both of us doing a little bit of computer work before going down to breakfast (same as yesterday – it’s not like it was the food’s fault, and there were no extensive roller coaster rides anticipated) and heading out.
Today we were going to board the Big Red Bus, one of those open-topped, on and off things that we like so much. Tickets for both of us to do all three of the routes, ride the Star Ferry across to Kawloon and take in the night light symphony, all in the course of 48 hours, were about $141 US, which really isn’t far off of NYC prices.
Plus we get to stay more or less on the same vehicle during the trip and I was betting that big double-decker buses weren’t up to the challenges that the road up the mountain presented.
We walked a couple of blocks to another hotel, where we bought our tickets and caught the bus. This was actually stop #4 on he trip, but that’s largely irrelevant. We got a great overview of the city and figured out some places that we probably want to come back and visit, assuming we have time. They gave you free headphones and you selected from about 8 languages to listen to the audio.
The Pawn Restaurant dates back to 1840, when it was an actual pawn shop.
There’s a typhoon shelter built in 1915 which came about because over 10,000 people drowned in the 1906 typhoon.
Stop #6 is the Peak Tram stop. This is a way to get up to the top of the mountain without going up the winding road – they have an incline railway that goes in a straight line. Not so good if you’re afraid of heights, but a godsend if you have motion sickness. They apparently weren’t thinking about modern buses when this location was designed, though, because once they get into the area by the tram stoop they have to do about a 148 point turn inside a parking garage to get back out.
As long as they weren’t trying to drive up the mountain, though, I was happy.
HSBC, which stands for Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok Corporation, has their headquarters here. (Duh!) The interesting part, though, is that it is on the same location as originally established in 1865. Inside are two statues of lions that are named “Stevens” and “Stit” which were apparently part of the original structure. During the Japanese occupation in WWII, the soldiers used them for target practice and they still bear bullet marks.
Before you get too bent out of shape over that, remember that the nose came off the Sphinx in Egypt because British soldiers did the same thing. I realize that folks with guns have to shoot at something, but you’d think they could stick to tin cans instead of archeological treasures.
The British introduced HK residents to tea. To get even, the Chinese introduced them to Opium. Kind of the same way that Europeans gave Native Americans smallpox and syphilis and in return they gave them tobacco. Anyhow, there were a series of “Opium Wars” that caused significant problems and the resolution of one of those in 1847 resulted in the Chinese ceding Hong Kong and several hundred surrounding islands to the English.
In the 1840’s, residents were required to hang lanterns outside to light the dark streets. In 1862, permanent gas fixtures were installed, making Hong Kong the first city in the far east to have permanent street lights. Some of the lights are still in place and operated nightly.
I gather you didn't get to the Chinese Department store in Kowloon.
ReplyDeletePeninsula Hotel, when I was there, had a bunch of Rolls Royce's. Wonder if you saw them.
Are the scaffolds for the skyscrapers still made of bamboo?
We did not go in the Department Store. To do so would have been tantamount to going into Bloomingdales in NYC between T'giving and Xmas. Just not our idea of fun.
DeleteMore about the Peninsula upcoming.
Scaffolds are still bamboo, although taller ones seem to be steel.