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Hong KongINTRODUCTION This is one of the Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China. The Central People's Government is responsible for the territory's defense and foreign affairs, while Hong Kong maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organizations and events. This big, efficient city is always buzzing. If you need to get away from the hustle and bustle, there is always a temple or park for quiet contemplation. HISTORY Hong Kong was a territory of the United Kingdom from 1842 on long term loan until it was handed over to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The Japanese occupied Hong Kong during WWII. Afterward, many people fled to Hong Kong to escape communist prosecution. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Time Zone: UTC+8 Currency: Hong Kong Dollar Languages: Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) and English Power: 220 V, 50 Hz Climate: Hot and humid tropical weather, so expect some rain. ATTRACTIONS The Peak RESTAURANTS Ho Hung Kee Congee and Noodle Wonton Shop - Ho Hung Kee is THE place to discover the delights of congee. This is Chinese porridge, made with rice instead of oats, eaten not just for breakfast but late at night too, is flavored with a weird and wonderful variety of ingredients - anything from fresh crab to fish, hundred year-old eggs to pork and giblets, fermented bean curd to chicken with ginseng. Basically, this is Chinese comfort food. Lin Heung - Hong Kong is the best place in the world to eat Dim Sum, and nothing compares to the experience of lunching at Lin Heung. Opened 70 years ago, this place is always full but doesn't take reservations. Don't even think of asking the waiter for a table; copy the locals who stand like vultures behind diners who seem to be near finishing, ready to grab their seat. Mak's Noodle - This simple noodle shop is a Hong Kong institution, equally popular with locals and visiting celebrity chefs like Anthony Bourdain. For over a century, three generations of the Mak family have been making what are probably the best wontons and noodles you will ever taste. Their two secrets are the broth - specially cooked each morning with dried shrimp, ground flounder and pork bones - and the noodles, which are made with duck eggs rather than chicken. Try either simple dry noodles sprinkled with prawn roe, or soup of wontons stuffed with saltwater prawns. Wang Fu - Look through the window of Wang Fu and you'll immediately see what this hole-in-the-wall eatery specializes in - dumplings, handmade and stuffed with twenty different fillings, made on the spot by the owner. Tak Cheong Noodle - Tin Hau is an up-and-coming neighborhood in Hong Kong, with hip restaurants like Kin's Kitchen beginning to attract a fashionable clientele that previously would never have ventured this far out of Central. Local food-lovers have been drawn for a long time to Electric Road just to savour the signature Fish Balls soup of Tak Cheong, served Teochew-style with tangy preserved vegetables, and Hor Fun- thick, flat rice noodles. LODGINGS Cosmo Hotel, Wan Chai - Mainland China once kept a close watch on the city it loaned to the UK from the windows of what used to be the home of the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency. These days it is a cozy and immaculately clean hotel, popular due to its location just blocks away from the Causeway Bay shopping district. It is just a quick canter across the road to the Happy Valley Racecourse. It also boasts one of the best local restaurants - La Maison de l'Orient – next door at its more up market (and expensive) sister hotel, the Cosmopolitan. King's Hotel, Wan Chai - The spirit of Suzy Wong - the Wan Chai red-light district's famed femme fatale - is alive and well after management two years ago spent HK$30 million upgrading facilities to include an all-night pool room and a dining and drinking deck on the roof that is perched right over Victoria Harbour. They have still managed to keep prices down for the budget-conscious however, and night owls need look no further. Hotel Jen, Sheung Wan - The streets of Sheung Wan still echo with all manner of trade, even as the city's CBD stretches out ready to swallow them up. So, for now at least, you can still feel a sense of the old Hong Kong outside the Jen and enjoy the best of the very modern city inside. The rooftop swimming pool is a perfect place to recharge before heading out into the night. Bridal Teahouse Hotel, Sai Ying Pun - There are nine versions of the Teahouse scattered around the city, all situated close to the big shopping centers. That means they are right in the hustle and bustle, but they are still comfortable, clean, and the rooms in the Sai Ying Pun edition can be quiet enough if you get a high floor. The bonus here is the surroundings – streets of traditional shops selling everything from medicinal herbs to antiques. Stanford Hillview Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui - The mean streets of Tsim Sha Tsui can test the mettle of even the most serene souls, but the Stanford offers an escape, just a block away. It sits right behind the Knutsford Terrace bar and restaurant strip but is positioned on top of the hill surrounded by trees and looking out over Kowloon Park. The almost impossibly cheap boutiques of Granville Road are also just a short walk away. Dorsett Far East Hotel, Tsuen Wan - Tsuen Wan is about as close as you can get to suburbs in Hong Kong – but it is still just 20 minutes away from the center of town. The pay-off for the extra travel are the parks, temples and museums all within walking distance of this two-year-old hotel – and the fact you're likely to find more bargains in the local shops than you could ever hope to scoop in town. PERSONAL STORIES Random thoughts of the day: There are a lot of dragonflies in Hong Kong. Tons. Even looking out our 14th-floor window, they're everywhere. You know how in the US, if you pronounce Tao as "Tao," you get corrected and told it's pronounced "Dao?" Well, in the past 2 days I've heard 3 different Chinese/Hong Kong people pronounce it "Tao." And "Taoism." And "Taoist." Not a "D" sound in the bunch. So I'm going to say "Tao" if I want to, and Mom, you can stop correcting me. :0) OK, managed to stay asleep until 6am. This time-change thing is working out pretty well...thanks to the white wine and Valium on the plane. I had breakfast in the room--thanks Mom for the oatmeal! We headed over to the Hotel Kowloon at 8 to get our day-long tour to Lantau Island. Once again, Sue had it all under control - our reservations were ready to go. We were driven to the Star Ferry and took the ferry to Lantau Island. Lantau Island is so cool - it's far less developed than Kowloon. Hong Kong Island is just like we imagined it...when you see it from the water, it's just acres of giant skyscrapers rising directly from the sea. We took the ferry to Silvermine Bay, Lantau. On Lantau, you really realize you're in Asia. Everyplace else I've been in the world (barring Alaska), I could say "This place reminds me of..." But China is China. You know those Asian watercolors of the very steep, rounded mountains? And the bristly trees? That's it, one after another, everywhere you look. It is just amazing. Our first stop was Cheung Sha beach, on the South China Sea, rocky, with amazing shells and lava formations. It has very warm water. Then we went to the Tai O fishing village. I really hope the pictures come out. Tiny houses on stilts, all piled up and smooshed into each other. There are vendors everywhere with live seafood jumping around in buckets. Tiny, short-haired cats live there by the hundreds. Then we headed for the Po Lin monastery, which has the largest seated bronze Buddha in the world. Since it's on top of a mountain, it's impressive to say the least. Usually, you have to climb 268 steps to get to it, but our tour got special permission to drive up by bus. Inside, we actually saw two bone fragments of Buddha. When Buddha was cremated, in the ashes they found over 1000 bone fragments and divided them up among Buddhist temples all over the world. We then went down to the temple. It was so beautiful and ornate. Unfortunately, no photos allowed inside. We had an amazing vegetarian lunch there, too. About 30 different dishes, all served family-style. They had shrimp, crab, fish, and chicken, all vegetarian! Usually, I hate fake meat, but this was so delicious. And Buddhist bread with condensed milk to dip it in...so good. After that, we did some shopping at the monastery. It's going to be so hard to not hand over presents the minute we get back, but we really do need to save them for birthdays/Christmas. And then, feeling guilty about not experiencing the "suffering" that is supposed to be a part of the Buddhist life, we sucked it up and climbed the 268 steps back up to the giant Buddha. Billy, unfortunately, didn't suffer quite as much as I did. I watched all the old ladies and little kids skip by me while I tried to keep my legs going. I'm a sad example of physical unfitness. Then back to the ferry, and back to Hong Kong Island. We couldn't understand our bus driver, so we accidentally got off the bus about 2 miles from our hotel. Fortunately, Hong Kong is extremely safe and pretty easy to navigate. Also fortunately, we found this cafe on the way so I could get some messages out! Now it's time to get some dinner and get to bed. 8pm to 6am seems like a good sleep schedule to us... 
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