Exploring Hong Kong

By Julie Wilson

Our official tour of Hong Kong and the Olympic facilities finished on Friday night. We had a wonderful time and have been reassured that without disastrous weather conditions, the Equestrian Events in Hong Kong will be a huge success. Unlike other Olympic Games, the Government is not footing most of the bill, here a private non-profit company (the Hong Kong Jockey Club) is paying for most of the infrastructure needed to conduct the Equestrian events. From what we have seen the HKJC is an amazing organisation and will do everything in their power to make the Games successful. The HKJC gives over one billion dollars to charity per annum, is the largest employer in Hong Kong, is the largest tax payer in Hong Kong and is also responsible for the health and well being of the equine population of Hong Kong. So you can be assured they know how to manage money, staff and most importantly, horses.

On Saturday morning, after saying our good-byes to our great group of international journalists (who were all flying home that day) we headed off to the museum of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which was really worth a visit. From the museum, located at the Happy Valley Race course in the center of Hong Kong, we were also able to see all the other sporting facilities on offer in the center of the racetrack, as it is a public park (one of the few in Hong Kong). The museum has a very good display on the Mongolian pony and how the English acquired then and used them in the first 100 years of racing in Hong Kong. There was also a display about the Australian Walers that were used in Hong Kong for racing between the Mongolian ponies and the registered Thoroughbreds.

After our museum trip we headed back to our hotel, along the professional lighting road. A number of streets in Hong Kong have themes for the shops; in our street the theme was lighting. There was shop after shop selling every sort of light fitting imaginable with lots of enormous chandeliers. On our walk, back we also saw a number of owners taking their dogs to the park at Happy Valley. There are lots of dogs in Hong Kong, however, the most popular pets are goldfish and cats. In many cases dogs seem to be treated a bit like children and there are numerous shops selling designer clothes for dogs and many dogs do not walk on the streets but are carried or pushed (this may be due to the large numbers of people trying to move about).

On our travels I always like to look at the real estate market, and so far Hong Kong would be one of the most expensive for what you get for your money. With seven million people living in Hong Kong, they virtually all live in apartments. If you are buying an apartment you pay per square foot, and $HK1,000,000 per square foot is not out of the question for the right position. A basic flat in a 40 to 50 level block without a view starts around $HK5000 per square foot (there is roughly 6.5 HK dollars to $1 Australian).

On returning to our Hotel we checked out and moved to another hotel with a very good view of the harbor. Hong Kong Harbor is one of the busiest in the world and is spectacular, with all the tall building backed by the surrounding mountains.

During our stay in Hong Kong we were keen to take a tram ride on one of the double-decker trams, as they looked charming. Like virtually all signs in Hong Kong the destination on the trams is written in English and Chinese, so that part was easy and we had been told that the fare was $2HK, which you paid on exiting, so it all sounded easy. However, getting on was not quite so easy. The tram arrived, the narrow doors opened, no one on the packed tram moved, the tram closed the doors and moved off, and we were left still standing on the street. This happened with the next tram, but we were nearly knocked over by the locals pushing us out of the way to get on. On our third attempt to board a tram and after watching that no one does move you just push them, we boarded and headed into town, but some of the charm of the tram ride had gone.

We took the tram to the other end of town where we caught the Star Ferry to Kowloon, which took about five minutes and cost $2.20 HK. On some occasions it had taken us over half an hour to cross the harbor in the bus via the harbor tunnel. Hong Kong has the main Hong Kong Island and across the harbor is another major city (Kowloon). From Kowloon you can travel to the New Territories and many of the other islands. The public transport system is excellent, but can also be very crowded, however, it is far better than driving. Sha Tin (site of the Olympic) is not far from Kowloon, which is a better place to stay than the main island if you are coming for the Olympics, as you will not need to cross the harbor late at night to get back to your hotel.

We were told that the Chinese refer to white people as “gylos” (white ghosts), sometimes when you are moving around the streets, there are so many locals all specking Chinese you feel a bit like a “gylo”. Unlike Malaysia where most people speak at least some English, in Hong Kong speaking English and being white really makes you stand out from the crowd, and at times that crowd is quite large.

In Kowloon there are a number of markets, masses of shops and we also found a department store that only sold computers and cameras. We visited the famous Ladies Market (you can buy cloths and fashion accessories for ladies and not ladies themselves, as one of our male colleagues had enquired), but there were just too many people for us to stay very long.

Also in Kowloon just near the harbor is the famous Pennisular Hotel, which is one of the most expensive places to stay in Hong Kong. However, if you what to have a look at how the rich and famous live, you can have afternoon tea there and watch the world go by. We did this before returning by ferry to the main Hong Kong island.

The shops in Hong Kong open at about 10 am and the big department stores stay open until 10 pm, with many of the smaller shops opening latter and staying open well into the night. You feel very safe walking along the spotlessly clean streets at night, so we just walked back to our hotel, doing lots of window shopping.

Opposite our hotel was a good-looking Thai restaurant, so we chose that for dinner. There are 10,000 restaurants in Hong Kong, so there is plenty to choose from. To a lesser degree than a place like Malaysia, you can also buy food from the street vendors and tiny market stalls. You can virtually get any type of food you like in Hong Kong. However, three things that are hard to get are good coffee, real milk and good bread, but other wise it is a smorgasbord. On the Thai menu you could have many of the things we know at home, plus if you were adventurous you could have fried duck tongues or fried chicken feet; we stuck with what we knew. One of the most unusual (if that is the best way to put it) things to eat that we have seen is birds nest soup, a local and very expensive delicacy made from bird salvia. We also stayed away from that one. After dinner we just packed and headed for bed.

One of the most interesting means of transport in Hong Kong are taxis. There are lots of them and they are cheap. But, taking a cab can be an exciting activity. Most of the drivers do not speak any English, so ideally you need the destination written down in Chinese, (the hotels provide cards with their address on them so you can get home) and you pay a small entry fee and then the cost is per 0.2 km traveled. If the traffic is bad, many of the drivers refuse to take you, and many drive flat out taking traffic signals as a guide only, so they can get you out and pick up the next fare. The taxis taking off with you only half in or out seems to happen regularly, but it is all part of the adventure.

On Sunday morning we took one of the red rockets (taxis) to the Airport Express in the center of Hong Kong. Here you can book into your flight, dropping off your bags and take the 23 minute train ride to the airport; it is a really good system. Along with the city, the airport is well decorated with Olympic signage and promotion of the Equestrian Events in Hong Kong. However, it is surprising how many people have no idea what it all means. The Government and the Jockey Club are spending large amounts of money promoting equestrian sports and the Olympic and they are expecting sell out crowds based on 60% participation from overseas.

We then started our trip back home, it is always nice to come away but it always seems nicer to go home!