Happy Easter from Hong Kong!

The Trip to Hong Kong

Parliament Buildings and the Ottawa Locks

The second leg of the trip went well, it was a rather empty plane to Toronto, I had the whole row to myself. It was clear enough that I got to see the Parliament buildings and the Ottawa locks from the air.

First view of HK from the plane

The third leg of the trip, the flight from Toronto to Hong Kong was

l   o   n   g. Luckily the seat beside me was empty and there was almost no turbulence. The other person sitting in my row was a really nice retired teacher from the Philippines who had been visiting her son in Toronto. Cathay Pacific has decent food, I was impressed when the dessert for lunch was a full sized Haagen Daaz icecream bar. We also got Tim Tams for snacks which are delicious chocolate wafer cookies. Overall a pretty good flight.

I'm now all settled in on my parent's boat, the Inkwazi. It is nice to be back in Hong Kong, my Asian home.

24 Hours to the Other Side of the World

Today I begin the 24 hour (ish) journey to Hong Kong. I made the first leg yesterday by driving into Ottawa. Right now I'm about to start the second leg by flying to Toronto. From there it is a direct 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. With any luck I won't be sitting near any screaming children or sick people.

My carry-on bag is packed with Timmies bagels, trail mix, a Kindle, and my MP3 player. Let the journey begin!

Hong Kong: British or Chinese?

There is often confusion about whether Hong Kong is a British colony, a Chinese city or a country of its own. The short answer is none of the above, it is a Special Administrative Region of China. To understand what that means, here is a brief history of Hong Kong:

Hong Kong would not be the place it is today if it wasn't for opium. Yes, that’s right, opium as in heroin and poppies. The British started importing opium grown in India in order to trade for high value luxury items (like tea) with the Chinese. Not surprisingly, this resulted in a lot of Chinese getting addicted to to the stuff. The Qing Government of China did not want widespread drug addition in their country so they tried to stop the Brits from importing opium. This did not please the Brits and war ensued. From 1839-1942 the First Opium War was fought between the British East India Company and the Qing Dynasty. The British won the war which resulted in them gaining control of Hong Kong Island.

Over the next 60-odd years, the territory of Hong Kong grew with the acquisition of more land. In 1860 the Chinese handed over the Kowloon peninsula to Britain. In 1898 the New Territories and 235 outlying islands were leased to to Britain for 99 years. This ended up posing a problem down the line because Britain had to hand back control of the New Territories in 1997, however, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were in Britain's control permanently. Lots of political stuff went on between the Chinese and British governments from the 1970's to the 1990's to try and decide the future of Hong Kong. It was eventually decided that China would regain sovereignty of all of Hong Kong on July 1^st, 1997.

Hong Kong was made into a 'Special Administrative Region' (SAR) of China, operating on the unique principle of 'One Country, Two Systems'. This means that even though Hong Kong is technically a Chinese city, it has its own capitalist economic and political system. Currency and laws in Hong Kong differ than those of China; they even drive on the opposite side of the road.

This unique history has made Hong Kong a place like no other. And a great place for an English speaking Canadian like me to visit because the British legacy means that there is a lot of English signage and English speaking locals . . . though that’s not to say that I haven't had to mime my fair share of things in an effort to communicate to cab drivers and shop keepers. But that's half the fun of travelling to a foreign country isn't it?

Living it up Rurally

Right now I am in my little cabin in the woods in rural Ontario. Population density about 2 people per square kilometre. My front-yard is a lake and this morning I was woken by a woodpecker. Life here is slow-paced and quiet. Rarely do I see another human-being in the winter months unless I leave the property. Here, walking is something done for recreation, not transportation since everything is so spaced out. I have to drive 15-20 minutes to get to the nearest grocery store, 45 minutes if I want something exotic like mangoes or mushrooms not shrouded in Styrofoam and plastic wrap. Soon this will all change though as I'm about to experience the antithesis of my current life by taking a trip to Hong Kong. This loud, busy, densely populated, and marvelous city, located on the South China Sea will be my home for the next five weeks. Daily adventures, mishaps and confusion are just about guaranteed. So stay tuned.