Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong Museum of History, and Victoria Harbor

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Happy 4th of July! Celebrating in Hong Kong was slightly different than in the United States.

Today we began lectures and discussions at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Our first lecture was on social policies and welfare capitalism in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and South Korea. These are regions that I teach the geography of, but did not know much about the society and economic factors.

After our lecture we were able to have a discussion with students from the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea. It was interesting to discuss the differences between our countries in terms of unemployment, healthcare, welfare, etc. We also talked about whether we would be willing to pay more taxes to help improve the system. The general consensus was that neither of the representatives from the countries were willing to pay more, but for different reasons. Taiwan believes that it is doing a good job with the money, and the United States believes that the money that is spent is not delegated correctly.

We went on a field trip to the Hong Kong Museum of History. The museum is very nicely decorated and takes the visitor on a journey from the beginning and landscape of Hong Kong to the present. My favorite part of our tour was the discussion about the Opium War and the later Japanese occupation of the Island. There were also many fascinating aspects of Hong Kong culture that could be seen throughout the museum.

The best aspect of my day was our trip to Victoria Harbor. Seeing the skyline of Hong Kong up close was magnificent. I have never seen anything like it! Fittingly, we stayed to watch the light show, a good alternative to fireworks on the 4th of July.

A traditional Chinese breakfast, 2 lectures, a discussion, and a field trip to Stanley Marketplace tomorrow.

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Photos

Basin Food
To be tested at a later date!

Victoria Harbor
View from the Avenue of Stars