We’re anxious to get to Hong Kong. According to weather forecasts, the temps will be between 70 and 78 the entire trip. There are also supposed to be intermittent showers, which will definitely be a change from Beijing. We’re getting better at dealing with airports. Taxi and check-in goes smoothly. Security is never easy, but we’re packing better than we used to. Immigration is easy but requires standing in line for a little while. The flight departs about 9:45am, 15 minutes later than scheduled.
Landing is more interesting than usual. It’s overcast, but it becomes obvious we’re circling. Finally, an hour after our scheduled arrival, we start down, and break through the clouds. It’s a really bumpy landing. They had warned about high winds on approach. On the ground finally, we begin to figure out how to get into the city.
Just outside immigration and the luggage area, I find a place to exchange our money for Hong Kong dollars. HKD is 7-1 to US dollars. Chinese RMB is 6-1. This should be easier than the Thai Baht, and Korean money. This exchange spot also sells round-trip tickets for the Airport Express to downtown Hong Kong Station. It’s a smooth high-speed trip that takes 24 minutes. At the station, there are free shuttles to the downtown hotels. 30 minutes later, we’re moving into our room.
It’s a nice room with a gorgeous view of Victoria Harbor. We’re right above the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. If you ever look at a map of Hong Kong, the HKCEC juts out into the harbor very near the center of downtown. The view is so dramatic, I’m not sure I’m going to want to leave the room. It was worth the extra we paid for the “Harbor View”, as opposed to the City View.
After unpacking and resting, we decide to venture out for the “Symphony of Lights”. It’s a light show with music encompassing the Hong Kong skyline. We figure out how to catch a nearby Star Ferry (less than 50 cents), and cross the Harbor to Kowloon to the viewing area. Our hotel is right in the middle of the presentation. Hong Kong touts itself as having more skyscrapers than anywhere else in the world (twice as many as New York City). It’s hard to argue. It’s breathtaking. There’s no way photos can do this justice. Before the scheduled start, there is an announcement that in honor of the World Wildlife Foundation “Hour of Darkness”, there will be no light show tonight. In fact, the skyscrapers are going to turn off all their lights. We’ll get to catch it another night. We board the ferry for our return trip, and it’s not too long before we’re looking at the lights on the Kowloon side of the harbor from our bed.