A tale of two cities
It was the best of times it was the worst of times, although for the life of me I can't think why.
Hong Kong hasn't ceased to amaze. Exploring the areas of this petite province reveal astoundingly varied lifestyles and scenery and even in the heart of the city different worlds exist but a short walk away. My first big trip away was to Lantau island where I visited a monastery but more interestingly a fishing village comprising wooden houses built on sticks and alleyways lined with shops and stalls selling dried fish. Considering this is a half hour ferry journey and a 40 minute bus trip from Hong Kong's most modern business district I could have just as well have landed on another world. Even exploring the streets in and around most central Hong Kong island reveal anarchic clusters of stalls many laden down with a bedlam of goods. There are also specific antiques streets, one lined with Chinese herbal medicine shops and even more specificially a small alley with stalls that engrave rubber stamps. On Tuesday I took a tour of the New Territories; not something I normally do but it's time consuming to cover the sights by public transport otherwise. It's remarkable just how much green space and countryside there is when you consider there are 7 million people squeezed into such a small area. Farming has apparently been on a sharp decline which has led to some areas reverting back to nature and the administration sensibly set aside considerable swathes of countryside as national parks. As a result a great bulk of Hong Kong is a lot greener than you'd ever expect.
As I write this I'm enjoying my second day in another former European enclave, only this time it used to be Portugese. Macau is distinctly different from Hong Kong in a great many ways. It held a monopoly on trading access with China for a couple of hundred years but its position waned following the British acquisition of Hong Kong in the 19th century and it's been something of a backwater for some time now. Nevertheless following its 1999 handback to China Macau seems to have found its niche catering for the gambling desires of the mainland Chinese population. There are over a dozen casinos that apparently now rake in more than Las Vegas, which is a staggering thought. The skyline of central Macau reflects this new influx of capital with a sea of rising over a panorama which for the time being feels a good deal more old fashioned than that of Hong Kong. Certainly a good many more historic buildings survive here, and the Mediterranean influences abound with catholic churches and paved plazas. However as with Hong Kong is it still primarily populated by Chinese leading to its own distinct east-west fusion. Rather than Hong Kong's multinational feel here there are more distinct influences. In additional to the Portugese and Chinese cuisines, there are also African dishes which have come over the years through Macau's established trading routes.
Typically the BBC online weather forecast for Macau proved to be entirely ficticious and instead of daily sunshine I find occasional torrential showers and a typhoon heading this way. It's annoying in that I decided to leave the 2 quid umbrella I bought back in Hong Kong. Now I've had to go out and buy an entirely new umbrella costing me over a quid! As for the typhoon, I noticed in a couple of places a sign stating "Typhoon warning 1" and a map showing the typhoon off the south coast of China, but not looking terribly distant. Now I visited the Macau maritime museum earlier today which explained these alerts, however I can't remember if warning 1 is when the typhoon has first come without the outer perimeter of a few hundred km or if it's the one where we should be expecting imminent widespread devastation. Given the generally calm if somewhat inclement weather I'll assume it's the former and that we'll be ok for a bit, at least time enough for me to get back to HK tomorrow as planned.
Hong Kong hasn't ceased to amaze. Exploring the areas of this petite province reveal astoundingly varied lifestyles and scenery and even in the heart of the city different worlds exist but a short walk away. My first big trip away was to Lantau island where I visited a monastery but more interestingly a fishing village comprising wooden houses built on sticks and alleyways lined with shops and stalls selling dried fish. Considering this is a half hour ferry journey and a 40 minute bus trip from Hong Kong's most modern business district I could have just as well have landed on another world. Even exploring the streets in and around most central Hong Kong island reveal anarchic clusters of stalls many laden down with a bedlam of goods. There are also specific antiques streets, one lined with Chinese herbal medicine shops and even more specificially a small alley with stalls that engrave rubber stamps. On Tuesday I took a tour of the New Territories; not something I normally do but it's time consuming to cover the sights by public transport otherwise. It's remarkable just how much green space and countryside there is when you consider there are 7 million people squeezed into such a small area. Farming has apparently been on a sharp decline which has led to some areas reverting back to nature and the administration sensibly set aside considerable swathes of countryside as national parks. As a result a great bulk of Hong Kong is a lot greener than you'd ever expect.
As I write this I'm enjoying my second day in another former European enclave, only this time it used to be Portugese. Macau is distinctly different from Hong Kong in a great many ways. It held a monopoly on trading access with China for a couple of hundred years but its position waned following the British acquisition of Hong Kong in the 19th century and it's been something of a backwater for some time now. Nevertheless following its 1999 handback to China Macau seems to have found its niche catering for the gambling desires of the mainland Chinese population. There are over a dozen casinos that apparently now rake in more than Las Vegas, which is a staggering thought. The skyline of central Macau reflects this new influx of capital with a sea of rising over a panorama which for the time being feels a good deal more old fashioned than that of Hong Kong. Certainly a good many more historic buildings survive here, and the Mediterranean influences abound with catholic churches and paved plazas. However as with Hong Kong is it still primarily populated by Chinese leading to its own distinct east-west fusion. Rather than Hong Kong's multinational feel here there are more distinct influences. In additional to the Portugese and Chinese cuisines, there are also African dishes which have come over the years through Macau's established trading routes.
Typically the BBC online weather forecast for Macau proved to be entirely ficticious and instead of daily sunshine I find occasional torrential showers and a typhoon heading this way. It's annoying in that I decided to leave the 2 quid umbrella I bought back in Hong Kong. Now I've had to go out and buy an entirely new umbrella costing me over a quid! As for the typhoon, I noticed in a couple of places a sign stating "Typhoon warning 1" and a map showing the typhoon off the south coast of China, but not looking terribly distant. Now I visited the Macau maritime museum earlier today which explained these alerts, however I can't remember if warning 1 is when the typhoon has first come without the outer perimeter of a few hundred km or if it's the one where we should be expecting imminent widespread devastation. Given the generally calm if somewhat inclement weather I'll assume it's the former and that we'll be ok for a bit, at least time enough for me to get back to HK tomorrow as planned.
posted by Daniel at 11:07 am
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