Frommer's Hong Kong
Chapter One
The Best of Hong Kong
Every time I come to Hong Kong, I feel as though I've wandered onto 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 anew 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; old Chinese people pushing wheelbarrows as Rolls-Royces
glide by; market vendors selling chicken feet and dried squid while talking on
cellular phones.
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 scaffolding. Historic trams rumble
through Central, while below ground is one of the most efficient subw ... read full excerpt from Frommer's Hong Kong ebook
