Frommer's Hong Kong
Chapter One
The Best of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is such a feast for the senses, it reminds me of a movie
set. Maybe I'm an incurable romantic, but when I stand at the railing of the famous Star
Ferry as it glides across the harbor, ride a rickety old tram as it winds its way across Hong
Kong Island, or marvel at the stunning views afforded from atop Victoria Peak, I can't
help but think I must have somehow landed in the middle of an epic drama where the
past has melted into the present. So many images float by-wooden boats bobbing up
and down in the harbor beside huge ocean liners; crumbling tenements next to ultramodern
high-rises; squalid alleys behind luxury hotels; elderly people pushing wheelbarrows
as Rolls-Royces glide by; market vendors selling chicken feet and dried squid while
talking on cellphones.
In fact, one of the most striking characteristics of Hong Kong is this interweaving of
seeming contradictions and the interplay of the exotic and the technically advanced.
There are as many skyscrapers here as you're likely to see anywhere, but they're built with
bamboo sc ... read full excerpt from Frommer's Hong Kong (Frommer's Complete #629) ebook
