Hong Kong
(a.k.a. Eric's search for Jackie Chan)

We decided to extend a business trip so we could both spend a weekend in Hong Kong. Of course, I was sick as a dog. But we didn't let it get in the way of my quest.

Hong Kong hasn't changed much since it went back to the "Motherland". I was surprised to find that some of China's strict religious policies were not in force. While we were there, there was a big controversy about a Mainland Chinese paging company rumored to be censoring messages for Falun Gong members. Most of Hong Kong was in a uproar about the censorship. Very strange, since only 50 km north in the mainland, the Falun Gong religion is highly illegal. As I'm sure many of you have seen on the news, the religion is a combination of Tai Chi and spirituality. Hardly seems like dangerous stuff to us westerners and, apparently, to the citizens of Hong Kong.

In addition to the media freedoms, Hong Kong has a spectacular skyline. The main downtown hub sits on Victoria Harbor (the English influence is hard not to notice) and the skyscrapers have fantastic green peaks as a backdrop. Sadly, the weather looked a lot like how I was feeling.

In addition to the scenery, Hong Kong also has a certain celebrity whose presence you can't escape in Asia--Jackie Chan. Hong Kong is Jackie's home turf, so I figured I stood a good chance of finding him and showing him a move or two. I thought I spotted him when I stepped off the plane. But after a mad dash through the crowd and explaining to the guards I thought I saw Jackie, they dismissed my excitement over the cardboard poster and asked me to leave. Never the less, I'll find him.

Not too long ago, the airport was located in downtown Hong Kong. But recently they've moved it to a much safer location and built a high speed commuter train to connect to the city. So thirty minutes later we were stepping into a cab, which the driver opened the passenger doors without moving with a special "lazy driver" lever and headed for the hotel. The hotel was not far from the downtown city and Sherrell was eager to do some exploring. I however was thinking of a nap to starve off my sickness. So we compromised, I took a nap.

I felt a little better when I woke up and we went to check out the city. Wow, is this city compressed! I thought Seattle had planning problems because of the water, try adding a steep mountain range to the mix and you get dense Hong Kong.

One good thing was the public transportation. There were cable cars & buses everywhere and plenty of cabs.

We hopped a ride in a taxi down to the Soho district, which turned out to be a great place for finding a restaurant. You can take a series of outdoor escalators from the harbor, to about half way up the hill, with restaurants, pubs & shops off either side. We had a hard time deciding where to eat, but finally picked a Nepalese restaurant the first night, and a Mexican place a few nights later - the chefs did not disappoint us!

Many television advertisements highlight taking the tram to the top of the peak. In fact, there's a shot of Jackie running up to the top of the peak as the tram arrives. Since I'm sure it was part of his daily workout, I was eager to go. Sherrell wanted to hike to the top, but for some reason I had to keep reminding her I was sick as a dog. So we took the tram up this 40 to 50 degree slope. It was quite a ride as people who were trying to stand in the tram could reach out and touch the floor. We searched for Jackie C with out much luck. I'm sure he had already finished jogging. The view from the top, however made up for my dissapointment.

The south side of Hong Kong island is amazingly lush and green. It's also sparsely populated, but that is slowly changing as the urban area has nowhere else to grow.

After the downtown urban experience, we went aquatic. Actually, we found a ferry and traveled to one of the outer islands in Hong Kong. The islands surrounding Hong Kong are very dramatic and rise up out of the water like sharp knifes. We talked about how fun it would be to sail around this area and explore some of the hidden spots. After typhoon season was over, that is. While we were talking about it, a fleet of race boats were tacking up the channel and I was envious. It was a blustry day and I wanted to jump on board one of the boats and abandon the noisy, air-conditioned ferry.

Upon landing on the island we sorted out which bus to take and were quickly wisked away on a hair-raising ride up the mountain slope. This bus had two speeds, 1 mph uphill and 60 mph downhill. Our destination was yet another Buddah. And of course he was a big one.

We climbed around the statue and had a good look at the outer islands. Then we went to the temple where we purchased several items to bring back to family for Christmas. All blessed by the monks, of course. The temple was ornately decorated and well looked after. Many people were burning incense and praying. Unlike most temples we went to, we were among only a handful of western tourists. So the experience was quite authentic. Many of the displays were not even translated into English. They did think it was strange when we were excited they had a vegetarian restauraunt. The girl tried to explain to us that we could find meat at a different location. She seemed confused that we weren't interested.

We headed back into the city on another icy cold air-conditioned ferry. Dissapointed, I had to fly out by myself as Sherrell prepared for a press conference the following week. No Jackie Chan. I'm suspicious he doesn't live here anymore. It's probably a good thing, because he would have met his match-- having to search all over Hong Kong to find him in my sick state....