Dan's Adventure

After spending almost three months away from anything Western, arriving in Hong Kong was a bit of a shock to the system. Skyscrapers, shops, traffic, and so many people all in a rush.

I dumped my bag at the hotel, one of the many budget guesthouses in Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road, and set out to explore Kowloon. I made my way to the Avenue of the Stars, a pedestrian walkway looking onto Hong Kong harbour which has a series of stars on the ground with the hand prints of famous Chinese film stars cast into them.

Central Hong Kong can only be described as a giant shopping centre. Almost every building contains shops of some description and the majority of walkways on Hong Kong island actually pass through malls. From designer clothes to dodgy camera shops to halloween masks, Hong Kong has it covered.

I found walking around Central and Kowloon to be very tiresome. I’m not one for shopping and the constant offers of tailored suits, watches and drugs just wore me down. After the second day I wanted to leave. The only reason I was actually in Hong Kong was to get a visa for China, a process which usually takes 3 days, but arriving on a Friday and the Monday being a public holiday I wouldn’t get it until Thursday if I didn’t opt for the express service. I didn’t fancy spending an entire week in Hong Kong so I forked out way more than I expected in order to get a next day visa meaning that I could leave Hong Kong on Sunday.

Fortunately Victoria Peak provides an escape from the madness. A funicular tram climbs from Central to the top in around ten minutes. I had planned to walk up but I was pretty exhausted from the flight so I settled for walking around the top. From the viewing platform you would be able to see for miles if it wasn’t cloudy, but on the day I visited, only the closest of buildings were in view. As night fell, the buildings sprang to life as lights were turned on and the entire city became illuminated.