16: Just One Day in Hong Kong...

View through the Lunar New Year decorations to Hong Kong Island, with our ship to the right.

After spending several days in the countryside of Guilin and Yangshuo, our arrival to Hong Kong, just an hour and a half away, felt a bit surreal. While we had been away, the ship had traveled for two days from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and was docked adjacent to a multi-level, up-market shopping mall with gleaming marble floors, designer products and restaurants to suite the most discerning of palates (with prices to match...).

We only had one day in Hong Kong, and because Gary had a Field Lab for one of his classes scheduled, I was going to be on my own. I had found a one-day itinerary in one of the guidebooks on the ship, and set out to follow it, as time would allow. This was my day:

Walk along the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade

Dim Sum at the Serenade Chinese Restaurant next to the Star Ferry

Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island

2 hours at the Apple Store (not on the guidebook itinerary, but when I realized I could get fast free internet there, I stayed for a while...)

Open Air Shuttle Bus #15c to Peak Tram Station

Tram ride up to Victoria Peak

Victoria Peak Observation Platform (up and up and up...but just as I started taking some photos, I realized my camera battery was going to die, and I had forgotten to bring a spare...)

Regular Shuttle Bus #15c back to Star Ferry

Star Ferry back, with plenty of time to spare before "on ship time" of 6pm.

Not nearly enough time that Hong Kong deserves...but it was what I had, and no doubt we will pass this way again...

Semester At Sea students get a Tai Chi lesson on the Museum of Art's terrace with a view of Hong Kong Island beyond.

Still a great deal of construction in progress, right at the water's edge.

View of Apple Store (that straddles the roadway) from the #15c Shuttle Bus to the Peak Tram Station.

Apple Store - I sat on the base of spiral stair, dead center of the facade, as I worked for two hours.

Another city view from the #15c Shuttle Bus, with Norman Foster's Hong Kong Shanghai Bank at center.

View from Victoria Peak Observatory Platform. The day was overcast (and extremely cold), but the view can still take your breath away.

The laser show was just finishing as we sailed off...