Randy and Vicki's Friday in Hong Kong

We left for the Kunming airport early this morning and arrived in Hong Kong around mid-day. Hong Kong is a beautiful city to fly into. Many tall and aesthetically beautiful skyscrapers adorn the coastline and are framed from behind by mountains which are crowned by cottony cumulus clouds. The new airport—opened around 1998—is located on one of 260 small islands located near the main island of Hong Kong . We are staying in a nice hotel located in Kowloon . Fortunately, the folks in Hong Kong have outfitted their buildings with good air conditioning systems (something that was lacking in Kunming and mainland China in general). This is fortunate because today was the hottest, most humid day of the trip.

Today was a free day for the group so a number of us took a bus down to the Victoria Harbor pier (where the buildings are especially impressive along the bay) and enjoyed a mid-afternoon feast at the Hard Rock Café. It felt like we were at home in the USA . In fact, Hong Kong as a whole feels more like home. Due to its 100 year stint as a British colony (which ended in the late 1990’s) it has a much more western feel. Most citizens speak English and the native Chinese language of Cantonese. Mainland Chinese primarily speak Mandarin. Signs and products and chain stores in Hong Kong are familiar names in America . Even the hotel toilets bear the familiar “American Standard” branding (the toilets in mainland China are another story altogether—let it suffice to say we are glad to be in Hong Kong ). After eating we walked the piers and took the ferry across the harbor and back before enjoying an award-winning light show featuring many of the buildings along the harbor displaying colorful lights in sequences keyed to a musical accompaniment. After the show—hot and tired from the day—we walked back to the hotel to shower, relax and rest up for our tour of Hong Kong on Saturday.

More later, Love in Christ—Pastor Randy and Vicki