We woke up yesterday morning, and it was raining in Hong Kong. I knew right away that it would not be a good day for photography.

We went on a tour with one of the tour companies, but we were not happy with the tour. If you go to Hong Kong and notice that a tour mentions stopping at a jewelry factory to learn how they make jewelry, don’t go on this tour. You basically pay someone to take you to a jewelry store where they try to shake you down.

Likewise if the tour offers an optional sampan cruise, run the other way. We were dropped off at a small harbor with no place else to go. The sampan tour was basically a tour of a marina and nearby area. It was just another shake down, especially for people from Florida or the Gulf shores in Alabama who have been touring marinas all their lives.

We did learn a little about Hong Kong, though. Hong Kong means Fragrant Harbor. I can see why. There were lots of green vegetation and flowers. They even had banyan trees.

A coastal island located off the southern coast of China, China ceded Hong Kong to Great Britain at the end of the First Opium War through the Treaty of Nanking.  By the way there is still a lot of undeveloped land on these islands.

Britain needed tea, but China needed silver which Britain didn’t have. This caused an imbalance in trade. What the UK did have was opium, which they traded with the Chinese. The war broke out when the Qing Dynasty tried to stop the opium from coming into their country. The British used Hong Kong as a military staging area.

So China lost, and Hong Kong became a crown colony of Great Britain. A 99 year lease was negotiated later and began in 1898, ending in 1997. Britain under Margaret Thatcher turned the colony back over to China, and now the island operates under a new 50 year agreement that the island remain under capitalism.

The bus tour took us around Hong Kong Island; and we climbed up to Victoria Peak, its highest point. The views were beautiful.

 

We took pictures and then used the tram to return back down. Unfortunately, the tram descends backwards, and you get a crick in your neck trying to see the view over your shoulder. The views were awesome, though.

After lunch and some rest, we took the metro down to the waterfront in Kowloon to have dinner at an Italian Restaurant

and to watch the light show.

 

More than 40 buildings around the Victoria Harbor participated.

It was dazzling.

There were five of us, and it was almost a perfect evening. It has rained almost all day and is still raining.
We rushed back through the city to take the metro back to our hotel.

We only got lost once.