My trip to Hong Kong, part 1: I learn about the city

In the past month, I have been to three very small, very urban places on the continent of Asia: Singapore, Kuwait, and now Hong Kong. Unlike Singapore and Kuwait, however, Hong Kong is not an independent country. It is actually part of China. It is located partly on a peninsula and partly on several islands in southern China next to the South China Sea. Can you find Hong Kong on a map?

During the 1800s, lots of Western countries wanted to sell products to China. At first, the Chinese government did not want to trade with the West. During the 1840s, the United Kingdom defeated the Chinese in a war. One result of the war was that the British got to control Hong Kong. At the time, Hong Kong was just a tiny place with a population of only 7,000 people, most of whom were fishermen. After that, however, it boomed into the megacity you see here today.

The Hong Kong skyline.

Hong Kong has lots of tall buildings. In fact, it has 1,247 skyscrapers, more than twice as many as any other city in the world. New York, which has the second most, has only 575. That means that, wherever you are in Hong Kong, you will always be able to see tall buildings. Here is the view from the apartment of my friend Kara, with whom I was staying.

My view of Hong Kong.

And here is the view from the side of a hill.

Tall buildings are never far away in Hong Kong.

All through the 20th century, Hong Kong boomed, in large part because it was still a British territory and it was seen as the gateway to China. In 1997, the United Kingdom finally gave Hong Kong back to the Chinese in a big ceremony. Today, Hong Kong is part of China, but it is ruled by a different government and some different laws. It even has its own currency, the Hong Kong Dollar. The Chinese call this arrangement "one country, two systems." Consequently, I am not sure whether I should color in China on the maps of countries I have visited. Hopefully, I will go to mainland China soon so it won't be a problem.

The food in Hong Kong is excellent. One thing that Kara and her friends like to do is to go out for dim sum. When you get dim sum, you get lots of bite-sized dishes that you eat with chop sticks. In this picture, you can see lots of traditional dishes. My favorite is the dish just behind my left arm, which is glutinous rice wrapped inside lotus leaves. Inside, you will also find some chicken, some sausage, some scallions, and maybe other fun things. In the Cantonese language, this dish is called lo mai gai.

Here is a photo of all the things I ate for dim sum.

There is a saying about the Cantonese people, who live in Hong Kong and other parts of southern China, that they will eat anything that walks that isn't a car, anything that flies that isn't an airplane, and anything that swims that isn't a boat. I think that might be true.

People in Hong Kong like to have really fresh food. Consequently, lots of the food they sell in their markets is still alive. Here is the chicken section of the market. I have to say that I prefer Safeway.

I pose in front of the chickens in the market.

In my next post from Hong Kong, I will tell you about my visit to a very pretty local temple.

--Benny