Day 58 Hong Kong

This morning we docked in Hong Kong a city that visited almost 25 years ago. Since that time it has changed from a British protectorate to a part of China. From my vantage point I cannot tell the difference. The city is busier than ever, there is more development going on, the buildings that have been built are all magnificent and this was only a Saturday. There seems to be a rivalry with Singapore as to who is the biggest or most productive port. One of the things that I had forgotten about, but was quickly reminded is that the people who construct these big sky scrapers still use bamboo for scaffolding. It is so odd to see bamboo scaffolding surrounding a modern galss and steel building. This scaffolding reaches all the way up the structure, 80 to 90 floors. It is held together with a black fibre which is hand tied at each the various joints. See the picture I have posted.
We left the ship and hopped aboard a bus that circles the downtown area and points out the highlights. After a round trip we walked around the downtown area. All of the high end shops are here and doing a great business from the look of the foot traffic we saw. There are so many shops, restaurants and businesses that are all elbowing each other for space to advertise. This creates an environment where every available open space has a sign of some kind. During the day it is difficult to find what you are looking for because of all the other clutter. At night it turns into a neon lit city. It is surely a city of lights, once called the "Pearl of the Orient". It is easy to see why. This evening we went to a Chinese dinner which had about 8 courses then we rode to the harbor to watch the "Symphony of Lights". This laser light show spans the harbor with its lights which are timed with a musical theme and even the large buildings participate with their special lighting effects that are coordinated as well.
Finally, we finished the day by visiting a night market where small tent vendors sell all kinds of items many of which are knock offs of well known brand names. I certainly felt that I got a good taste of Hong Kong.
So far the Chinese have not screwed it up as it continues to offer a unique experience.
Tomorrow another day in Hong Kong
Chris - Where as I agree with Paul that generally Hong Kong hasn't changed enormously, I did notice one big change. It appeared to me that now the Chinese culture certainly took precedence over English. The taxi cab drivers we were told don't speak a lot of English (course that happens in NYC as well!) and nobody took American dollars, only HK dollars. We were told that HK recognizes three languages, Cantonese, Mandarin and English, but English certainly was the least spoken. Hong Kong is still a very beautiful city, with sculptured gardens and gorgeous flowers. There still are century old banyan trees that shade a number of their main streets with what looks like Spanish moss hanging from them. We visited the Kowloon Gardens, which reminds me a lot of Central Park, as it's located in the middle of the city and quite large.
The waterfront is gorgeous with the Star Ferry still one of it's main attractions. In 2004 they did open a promenade, Avenue of the Stars, along the waterfront on the Kowloon side that is about a mile long. Along the way there are stars and hand prints in the pavement, much like in LA, as well as figures and statues that pay tribute to the Asian film industry.
After the light show tonight, while we were still on shore, the Diamond Princess sailed through the Hong Kong Harbor and achored just outside the harbor, it really was a sight to behold. All in all it was a beautiful day.