China 2013 Day 21

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Up at the blessedly civilized hour of 7 am. Breakfast buffet at the hotel, which is decent. There's a muted TV in one corner of the room, and I'm amused to see coverage of the Rob Ford affair. Canada makes the news in China!

Unfortunately, the cold bug has claimed victory over my immune system, and I am not in good shape at all today. It's a warm (29°), humid and overcast day.

Charles meets us in the lobby at 9 to start our city tour. The bus first takes us up Victoria Peak, the highest point in the city. This is the area where multi-millionaires and billionaires live. Magnificent homes are perched in the most improbable locations on the steep mountainside. The bus climbs and climbs, and eventually we reach the viewing area, if not the exact top of the mountain. Although the weather is overcast and a bit hazy, we are still rewarded with breathtaking views of the city, including the HSBC building (cost of over $1 billion). From here we can clearly see what a strange place this is for a major city, since much of the terrain is too steep to build on. The advantage is that the city has lots of greenery, even jungle, mixed in right amidst the skyscrapers.

We descend from Victoria Peak to an area called Aberdeen. There are a series of pretty public beaches: Deep Water Beach, Shallow Beach, Repulse Bay. People are indeed swimming. Each beach has a yellow shark barrier around the swimming area for protection. Aberdeen boasts a sheltered harbour known as the typhoon shelter, because, well you guessed it, it's the place all the boats go to in the event of a typhoon. We pay for a sampan ride around the harbour. Fantastic high-end yachts and cruisers are moored alongside patched-together pieces of junk (bad pun). It reinforces the contrast between rich and poor in this remarkable city.

Our last stop on the tour is Stanley Market, one of the city's famous shopping areas. This is a collection of small shops in maze of tiny streets that only allow two people abreast, spread out along the harbour shore. We enjoy poking around, but don't find anything of interest to buy. I strike out for the shore down a twisty little street. Suddenly I feel like I've stepped out on the Côte d'Azur. There's a lovely boardwalk lined with small cafés. The shore here is rocky (no beach) and youngsters are clambering over the potmarked rocky prominences.

We return to hotel at 2 pm. On a whim, we pick MacDonalds for lunch (probably the last in our group to succumb) and have filet of fish sandwiches. The fries are exactly the same as back home and I admit they taste good.

Free time for the rest of day. So many choices of where to go. Vi and I with one other companion decide to go to Kowloon, which is on the mainland. Kowloon is reputedly the place to go for high-end products at duty-free prices (Hong Kong is a duty-free port.) The truth is that Violet is still pining for the golden pearl solitaire necklace she saw when we visited the pearl manufacturing store in Beijing.

We are able to save a bit of money by taking the hotel shuttle to the main pier. There we board the famous Star Ferry, which is the fastest way to get across Victoria Harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui, the main shopping area of Kowloon. The ferry costs only $2HK, which is around 30¢.

In about 10 minutes, we are across the harbour. Unfortunately, it is now raining, first a light drizzle and then a steady rain. We have been given some names of recommended stores by Charles, and we trudge in the rain up Nathan Ave. looking for them. After visiting a couple of stores, we end up at Rio Pearl, a store off the beaten track and on the third floor of a nondescript building. Not a place we would have ever chosen to patronize without the recommendation. However, it turns out to be just the ticket. They are able to put together a golden pearl, setting and chain that pleases Vi. The price is actually better than back at the pearl factory.

It's now about 5 pm and the height of rush hour. We had thought to take a taxi back, but the traffic in Kowloon is at a complete standstill. So we elect to take the ferry back to Hong Kong Island and pick up a taxi at the pier on that side, which works out well. We arrive back thoroughly drenched.

We have supper at the hotel. Most of the people in our group are there tonight, as word of the great deal (bottomless glasses!) has spread.

We had thought about striking out on another adventure this evening, but the miserable weather has changed our minds. So I spend the rest of the evening working on the blog and we hit the hay early. Hopefully we will both feel better tomorrow.

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