"Hong Kong" Hong Kong by Ramonq

click: Hong Kong music

View from The Peak

Hong Kong means "fragrant harbour" in English. Yes, while there's no offensive smell when you're breathing the air from Causeway Bay facing Victoria Harbour , the harbour is not fragrant at all either. Maybe the British colonists exaggerated a bit, but Hong Kong, now under China's Special Administrative Region (SAR), definitely has an exotic aroma about it. Outwardly it's very modern and fast-paced, but walk amongst the wet markets and the small side streets of Kowloon and you'll be able to smell the great variety of Chinese herbs and the strange Cantonese cooking wafting from myriads of restaurants and shops crammed in its narrow lanes. The unfamiliar smells of Hong Kong is unforgetable.

View from Kowloon

Hong Kong is one of the most impressively located cities in the world on par with Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro . There's something about cities flanked by mountains and seas. These two natural backdrops make a dramatic contrast when juxtaposed against a large city. With Hong Kong, The first thing you'll notice about are thousands of cloned tall slender skyscrapers that hug the mountain slopes some defying the laws of physics. Like stalagmites, these highrise apartments are cramped homes to millions of Hong Kongers. There are of course, lavish spacious penthouses offering magnificent views for the affluent Hong Kongers but they still reside in one of these non-descript skyscrapers. I'm tempted to call Hong Kong as "the Oriental New York City".

Stanley

Hong Kong lifestyle is thoroughly modern and highly stressed. The unending quest for the dollar is paramount in people's mind. This is one global city that's pricing itself out of the market. Consumerism rules in Hong Kong and the hundreds of shops, malls, stores, markets,and vendors attest to that. In Hong Kong, shopping is not just a household chore, it's a favourite past time. Many travellers come to Hong Kong merely to shop because the incredible array fo goods are sold here. Some stuff that's not available in my hometown are already being sold in the stores of Hong Kong.

Double Decked buses

This shop-'til-you drop reputation came about because Hong Kong was once a duty free entrepot. Before Hong Kong became one of the world's most expensive cities, the city was known as the place to shop cheap electronic goods, toys, Chinese silk, and tailored made suits. Plane loads of duty-free shoppers arrived in Hong Kong mainly to shop and then try to sample the exotic dishes served in the floating restaurants on Victoria Harbour. The huge malls are still there but Hong Kong is not the cheap bargain place anymore. Other Chinese cities, especially Shenzen, which is across the border provide cheaper goods.

Lantau Island

It's difficult to imagine that only around a little more than 100 years ago, Hong Kong was once an uninhabited mountainous island on the southeast Chinese coast. A quirky twist of fate in Chinese history led to the formation of Hong Kong . During the mid-1800's China was being carved up by European imperialists and the British wanted to get its fair share of the action too. Many Europeans moved in and set up enclaves. Xenophobic Chinese resented these white people and started the Boxer Rebellion by killing foreigners and Christianised Chinese. The Europeans brought in armies and quelled the Boxer Rebellion. They also humiliated the Chinese by forcing them to sign treaties which would allow them to set up colonies in China. One of these treaties is the formation of Hong Kong which gave the British full control of the area until 1997.

Statue Square

The British colonisers administered Hong Kong quite efficiently. They transformed this special enclave from a colonial outpost into an affluent thriving global city with well-developed financial institutions based on the British commercial models. Hong Kong is one of the world's leader in banking and finance. At Connaught Road Central and other similar roads on the island of Hong Kong, there are rows and rows of Asian headquarters of multinational companies and organisations. The atmosphere is sterile, corporate and businesslike.

Across Victoria Harbour in Mong Kok north of the shopping district, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong shows a different face, this time more Chinese. It's main street, Nathan Road is chaotic, noisy, cramped, yet vibrant and exciting. Hong Kong has explanded to the surrounding mountains and the living standards vary from suburb to suburb. Overcrowded Kowloon Bay filled with headache-inducing cacophanous Chinese signboard and clotheslines is worlds away from affluent, "oh-so-civilised" Repulse Bay which offers fantastic views of the South China Sea.

Aboard the Star Ferry

Surprisingly, Hong Kong has forests and beaches but these are mostly found in the outlying islands. Hong Kongers go to the national parks to escape from daily stresses of life in the high-powered city. A great place for the traveller to wind down is to take a cable car up the island of Hong Kong and enjoy one of the most unforgetable views in the world.

From up here, you'll see Hong Kong on a birds-eye view of the Star Ferry crossing the harbour, the traffic down below and the huge container shipsdocking at its port . Hong Kong appears so calm and serene belying the fast-paced, highly-strung reality

• Pros:Great shopping
• Cons:Rudeness
• In a nutshell:East meets west