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Wednesday, 4/22/09 Hong Kong

Hong Kong is part of China, but is treated very differently. All people in China are given ID cards where their parents are born. They can only go to school at their ID card area (specific to city or town or farming area) and can only get work or health care or any other government service in their ID card area. Everyone wants a Beijinger's ID card, because they are greatly favored and get far better services than do other areas. 85% of Chinese have farmers' ID cards, which means they can only live in their farm area, where schools only to go 9 grades and even those are pretty poor. It's a mistake and has already led to a form of racism where city dwellers look down on farmers and Beijingers look down on everybody else.

Anyway, Hong Kong is different. Most Chinese from the mainland cannot visit Hong Kong easily. Chinese from Shanghai or Beijing can travel to Hong Kong fairly easily, but even they need a permission, a kind of visa, to go to Hong Kong - and it is only good for a maximum of 7 days, after which they must return. People from Hong Kong though, are allowed to travel pretty freely to other parts of China. I guess all these rules are to keep the Chinese from flooding the preferred areas like Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai, but it has created a racist class society.

Hong Kong, like Shanghai, is an incredibly modern city. We started with a city tour. We went from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island the way locals have for over 100 years: aboard the Star Ferry.

We went by bus to the Central District and the Western District, the oldest part of Hong Kong. There are lots of hi-rise buildings. The IFC (International Financial Center) is 88 stories high, and is the highest in Honk Kong. Apartments here go for 5,000 yuan per square foot (~$750 per sq ft).

We drove up Victoria Peak, which offers a spectacular view of the harbor, islands, and imposing skyscrapers of Hong Kong. This famous hill, more than 1,800 feet high, is called Tai Ping Shan in Chinese, which means “Mountain of Great Peace.”

That night we went out to the waterfront to watch an incredible light show. It was amazing. Not only were all the buildings gorgeously lit, but their lights were coordinated and choreographed with music coming from speakers everywhere along the waterfront.