Hong Kong comprises 200 islands in an area not quite six times the size of Washington DC, with 7 million people and topography that is 70% mountainous.  The cityscape is intensively layered and articulated for vertical travel on foot with everything from ordinary stairs and pedestrian overpasses to outdoor escalators and steep tramways to get around.  Hong Kong Island Central North, in particular, is a walker’s dream city where pedestrians can be aware of the heavy vehicular traffic but stay above and away from it all, buffered in many cases by verdant trees and shrubs.  I take an enormous number of photos that try to show how new skyscrapers, older residential high rises, lower school buildings, and small parks coexist.  I find an old building being demolished by bulldozers that hardly seem to be able to move they’re so tightly encircled by existing structures.  The romantic old building coming down has nice features in old doors and windows and those appear to be in process of removal.  There’s a story there, I’m sure.

There is hope for changing attitudes in China toward littering and pollution, not least because Hong Kong has very strict fines for smoking, noise control, litter and dog waste in such tight quarters.  Massive numbers of Chinese tourists are now visiting the city as tourists from mainland China.  Just think how recently many of these were tolerated in the USA.

One of the other things an American notices is how many people there are employed in every venue.  There are many more unobtrusive and unarmed guards at every doorway, every traffic junction, and every corner of the parks than there ever would be in the US; there are many more gardeners and shop attendants and restaurant waiters.  Obviously, Southeast Asian societies are supporting the employment of many more people rather than squeezing productivity out of much smaller numbers of workers.

While the students do their utmost to find every hot spot on several islands, I am on a quest to find its most serene.  And I do.  One of the best is sitting in St John’s Cathedral with its wide-open, screen-less windows and warm subtropical breezes encouraged by slow-moving paddle fans high above the pews while a flock of parakeets chirps and sings in the garden close just outside.  Other oases of calm are the Botanical/Zoological Gardens and the main Park featuring a walk-through Aviary and many other community gathering spots.  The sound of birds is everywhere as Hong Kong attracts over 450 types, over one-third of the total found in China.

Warner and Nancy have committed to a day tour so we try out some walkie-talkies to stay in touch and make plans for hiking Victoria’s Peak when they’re finished with their motorcoach tour.   When we connect, I take the tram up to the Peak, which is exactly what it says.  The view from Victoria’s is typically fabulous but not today because the skies are so overcast and the clouds are low enough to obscure the tops of mountains and skyscrapers.  But we resolve to take the long trek around the Peak on the old Lundgard Road which means we get to see views of several islands and from vantage points with better visibility.  Even though getting dark quickly, there is enough clearing in the weather that I get a few photos of the backsides of buildings in Hong Kong and on over to Kowloon.  Warner and Nancy have a bit more adventure because they choose to go off the beaten track over the mountain instead of around it.  Nevertheless, we get to our original starting point at the same time, just as dusk is settling.  I highly recommend the Lundgard Road walk.  Safe, very few vehicles, lots of dog walkers along with the few people who live on the Peak, and wonderful views at every turn.

We’re late getting down from Victoria’s Peak and push on too far before we finally need to find a restaurant.  Luckily (because we’ve walked too far away from the better known restaurant venues), we find a very good, tiny Vietnamese restaurant that has excellent beer and dinner.