My Hongkong Tour (April 28-May 2, 2008)

train ticket machine


train station


Kowloon
Kowloon refers to an urban area in Hong Kong made up of Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon, bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of 2,019,533 and its population density was 43,033/km² in 2006. The peninsula's area is approximately 47 km² or 18.1 mi². Together with Hong Kong Island, it contains 48% of Hong Kong's total population.

The more accurate transcription Kau Lung or Kau-lung was often used in derived place names before World War II, for example Kau-lung Bay instead of Kowloon Bay.

an ugly building at Kowloon


Wanchai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District in northern Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong, China. Its boundaries are Canal Road in the east, Arsenal Street in the west and Bowen Road in the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called Wan Chai North. Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with many small to medium-sized companies. Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference centre. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is highly-populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay. Arousing much public concern, the government has put an effort in district regeneration in recent years. There are many unique buildings and skyscrapers, the most notable ones being the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Central Plaza and Hopewell Centre.

the Friendlies, mascots of Beijing Olympics 2008

Peak Tram
The Peak Tramway (traditional Chinese: 山頂纜車) is a funicular railway in Hong Kong, which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island. Running from Central district to Victoria Peak via the Mid-Levels, it provides the most direct route and offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

The Peak Tram is owned and operated by the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels group (HSH), the owner of Hong Kong's famous Peninsula Hotel along with many other properties. The line, along with HSH's Peak Tower leisure complex at the line's summit, is promoted using the brand The Peak.


The Peak Tram's route from Central district to Victoria Peak covers a distance of about 1.4 kilometres and a height difference of just under 400 metres. The line has two pronounced curves, one to the left immediately after leaving the lower terminus, and the other to the right in the upper half of the ascent. The gradient also varies considerably throughout the ascent. It is a single track route and a passing loop, with two trams.

The lower terminus station is located on Garden Road near St. John's Cathedral. The original station was incorporated into St. John's Building, an office tower, with the tram terminus at the ground level. The station comprises a single track, with platforms on both sides. One platform is used for boarding, the other for exiting the tram.


The upper terminus is located below the Peak Tower shopping and leisure complex at Victoria Gap, some 150 metres below the summit of Victoria Peak. The station has the same arrangement of boarding and alighting platforms as the lower terminus. The haulage and control equipment for the funicular is located in a basement below the station.

There are also four intermediate stations, each of which consists of a single stepped platform and a shelter:

Kennedy Road. Located on Kennedy Road, named after Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy, a former Governor of Hong Kong.
Macdonnell Road. Located on Macdonnell Road, named after Sir Richard MacDonnell, a former Governor of Hong Kong; depot located here and storage of historic car
May Road. Located on May Road, named after Sir Francis Henry May, a former Governor of Hong Kong.
Barker Road. Located on Barker Road, named after General George Digby Barker, a former military commander and acting administrator of Hong Kong.


In 1881, Alexander Findlay Smith, who owned a hotel on the Peak, petitioned for the right to introduce a funicular railway to Hong Kong[3]. It took three years to build, as much of the heavy equipment and rails had to be hauled uphill by the workers, who had no mechanical support. The Peak Tram was a revolutionary new form of transport to Asia at the time, and when the tramway was finally completed it was considered a marvel in engineering. A wooden structure was built for the terminal[3]. According to photographs, the Garden Road terminus was originally an unadorned building, a large clock face was added to the edifice probably between the 1910s and 1920s.

The Peak Tram was opened for public service on May 28, 1888 by the then Governor Sir George William des Voeux[3]. As built, the line used a static steam engine to power the haulage cable. It was at first used only for residents of Victoria Peak, although despite this it carried 800 passengers on its first day of operation, and about 150,000 in its first year. These passengers were carried in the line's wooden bodied cars.[4] Its existence accelerated the residential development of Victoria Peak and the Mid Levels. In the course of its history, the tram has been victim of two natural disasters, caused by floods caused by heavy rainfall which washed away steep sections of the track between Bowen Road and Kennedy Road. The first was in 1899, and the second occurred on 12 June 1966[3].


Peak Tram stop, c.1890In 1926, the steam engine was replaced by an electric motor. On December 11, 1941, during the Battle of Hong Kong, the engine room was damaged in an attack. Service was not resumed until December 25, 1945, after the end of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.[4]

In 1956, the Peak Tram was equipped with a new generation of lightweight metal bodied cars, each of which seated 62-seat passengers. Unusually for a funicular line, three such cars were provided, only two of which were in use at any one time. The third spare car was kept in a car shed near Kennedy Road station.[4]

The system was comprehensively rebuilt in 1989 by the Swiss company, Von Roll, with new track, a computerized control system and two new two-car trams with a capacity of 120 passengers per tram. By the time of the handover in 1997, it carried some 2 million passengers annually[3]. Today, more than 4 million people ride the Peak Tram annually, or an average of over 11,000 every day.[







the view form the peak

Peak Tram
The Peak Tramway (traditional Chinese: 山頂纜車) is a funicular railway in Hong Kong, which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island. Running from Central district to Victoria Peak via the Mid-Levels, it provides the most direct route and offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

The Peak Tram is owned and operated by the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels group (HSH), the owner of Hong Kong's famous Peninsula Hotel along with many other properties. The line, along with HSH's Peak Tower leisure complex at the line's summit, is promoted using the brand The Peak.


The Peak Tram's route from Central district to Victoria Peak covers a distance of about 1.4 kilometres and a height difference of just under 400 metres. The line has two pronounced curves, one to the left immediately after leaving the lower terminus, and the other to the right in the upper half of the ascent. The gradient also varies considerably throughout the ascent. It is a single track route and a passing loop, with two trams.

The lower terminus station is located on Garden Road near St. John's Cathedral. The original station was incorporated into St. John's Building, an office tower, with the tram terminus at the ground level. The station comprises a single track, with platforms on both sides. One platform is used for boarding, the other for exiting the tram.


The upper terminus is located below the Peak Tower shopping and leisure complex at Victoria Gap, some 150 metres below the summit of Victoria Peak. The station has the same arrangement of boarding and alighting platforms as the lower terminus. The haulage and control equipment for the funicular is located in a basement below the station.

There are also four intermediate stations, each of which consists of a single stepped platform and a shelter:

Kennedy Road. Located on Kennedy Road, named after Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy, a former Governor of Hong Kong.
Macdonnell Road. Located on Macdonnell Road, named after Sir Richard MacDonnell, a former Governor of Hong Kong; depot located here and storage of historic car
May Road. Located on May Road, named after Sir Francis Henry May, a former Governor of Hong Kong.
Barker Road. Located on Barker Road, named after General George Digby Barker, a former military commander and acting administrator of Hong Kong.


In 1881, Alexander Findlay Smith, who owned a hotel on the Peak, petitioned for the right to introduce a funicular railway to Hong Kong[3]. It took three years to build, as much of the heavy equipment and rails had to be hauled uphill by the workers, who had no mechanical support. The Peak Tram was a revolutionary new form of transport to Asia at the time, and when the tramway was finally completed it was considered a marvel in engineering. A wooden structure was built for the terminal[3]. According to photographs, the Garden Road terminus was originally an unadorned building, a large clock face was added to the edifice probably between the 1910s and 1920s.

The Peak Tram was opened for public service on May 28, 1888 by the then Governor Sir George William des Voeux[3]. As built, the line used a static steam engine to power the haulage cable. It was at first used only for residents of Victoria Peak, although despite this it carried 800 passengers on its first day of operation, and about 150,000 in its first year. These passengers were carried in the line's wooden bodied cars.[4] Its existence accelerated the residential development of Victoria Peak and the Mid Levels. In the course of its history, the tram has been victim of two natural disasters, caused by floods caused by heavy rainfall which washed away steep sections of the track between Bowen Road and Kennedy Road. The first was in 1899, and the second occurred on 12 June 1966[3].


Peak Tram stop, c.1890In 1926, the steam engine was replaced by an electric motor. On December 11, 1941, during the Battle of Hong Kong, the engine room was damaged in an attack. Service was not resumed until December 25, 1945, after the end of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.[4]

In 1956, the Peak Tram was equipped with a new generation of lightweight metal bodied cars, each of which seated 62-seat passengers. Unusually for a funicular line, three such cars were provided, only two of which were in use at any one time. The third spare car was kept in a car shed near Kennedy Road station.[4]

The system was comprehensively rebuilt in 1989 by the Swiss company, Von Roll, with new track, a computerized control system and two new two-car trams with a capacity of 120 passengers per tram. By the time of the handover in 1997, it carried some 2 million passengers annually[3]. Today, more than 4 million people ride the Peak Tram annually, or an average of over 11,000 every day.[





the view form the peak

Second day: The Land Between Tour (The New Territories Tour) April 30, 2008

New Territories, abbreviated to NT or N.T., is a region in Hong Kong excluding Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Stonecutters Island. Historically, it is the region described in The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory. According to that the territories comprise the mainland area north of the Boundary Street of Kowloon Peninsula and south of the Sham Chun River which is the border between Hong Kong and Mainland China, as well as over 200 Outlying Islands including Lantau Island, Lamma Island, Cheung Chau, and Peng Chau in the territory of Hong Kong.

Later, after the establishment of New Kowloon, the extension of urban Kowloon between the Boundary Street and the Kowloon Ranges spanned from Lai Chi Kok to Lei Yue Mun, the New Kowloon was gradually urbanised and absorbed into Kowloon and finally excluded from New Territories. Hence, the New Territories now is only the mainland north of the Kowloon Ranges and south of the Sham Chun River, as well as the Outlying Islands. It comprises an area of 952km² (368 sq mi). [1]

The New Territories were leased from Qing China to the United Kingdom in 1898 for 99 years in the Second Convention of Peking (The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory). Upon the expiration of the lease, it was transferred to People's Republic of China in 1997, together with the Qing ceded territories of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula.

In 2006, New Territories had a population of 3,573,635 and its population density was 3,748 per km².

Lease of New Territories
Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1841 and Kowloon south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island in 1860. The colony of Hong Kong attracted a large number of Chinese and Westerners to seek their fortune in the city. Its population increased rapidly and the city became over crowded. The outbreak of bubonic plague in 1894 became a concern to the Hong Kong Government. There was a need to expand the colony to accommodate its growing population. The Qing Dynasty's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War has shown that it was incapable of defending itself. Victoria City and Victoria Harbour were vulnerable to any hostile forces launching attacks from the hills of Kowloon.

In January 1898, Germany was given a lease of Jiaozhouwan (Kiaochow) following the murder of two German missionaries by bandits in Shandong (Shantung) province. Seeking to expand its own influence in northeastern China, Russia demanded Port Arthur (Lüshunkou) in the nearby Liaodong (Liaotung) peninsula in March 1898. One month later, France was granted a lease for Guangzhouwan (Kwang-Chou-Wan) in Guangdong (Kwangtung), close to its existing colonies in Southeast Asia.

Alarmed by European encroachment in China, Britain also feared for the security of Hong Kong. Using the most favoured nation clause that it had negotiated with Peking, the United Kingdom demanded the extension of Kowloon to counter the influence of France in southern China in June 1898. In July, it secured Weihaiwei in Shandong in the north as a base for operations against the Germans in Qingdao (Tsingtao) and the Russians in Port Arthur. Chinese officials stayed in the wall cities of Kowloon City and Weihaiwei.

The extension of Kowloon was called the New Territories. The additional land was estimated to be 365 square miles or 12 times the size of the existing Colonial Hong Kong at the time[1].


British assumption of sovereignty
Although the Convention was signed on the 9 June 1898 and became effective on 1 July, the British did not take over the New Territories immediately. During this period, there was no Hong Kong Governor and Wilsone Black acted as administrator. Steward Lockhart, the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, was sent back from England to make a survey of New Territories before formal transfer. The survey found that the new frontier at Sham Chun River (Shenzhen river) suggested by Wilsone Black was far from ideal. It excluded the town of Shenzhen (Sham Chun), and the boundary would divide the town. There was no mountain range as a natural border. Lockhard suggested moving the frontier to the line of hills north of Shenzhen. This suggestion was not received favorably and the Chinese official suggested the frontier be moved to the hill much further south of the Sham Chun River. It was settled in March 1899 that the boundary remain at the Sham Chun River.

The new Hong Kong Governor Henry Blake arrived in November 1898. A takeover date was chosen as 17 April 1899 and Tai Po was chosen as the administrative centre. However the transfer was not smooth and peaceful. Before the handover in early April, Captain Superintendent of Police, Francis Henry May and some policemen erected a flagstaff and temporary headquarters at Tai Po and posted the Governor's proclamation of the takeover date.

Lord Lugard was Governor from 1907 to 1912, and he proposed the return of Weihaiwei to the Chinese government, in return for the ceding of the leased New Territories in perpetuity. The proposal was not received favourably, although if it had been acted on, Hong Kong might have remained forever in British hands.


New town development
Much of the New Territories were, and to a limited extent still are, rural areas. Attempts at modernising the area were not extensive until the late 1970s, in which many new towns were built to accommodate the overspill from the urbanized areas of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Despite rapid development of the new towns which has resulted in a population of over 3 million, the Hong Kong Government confines built-up areas to a few areas and reserves large parts of the region as parkland.


Sovereignty transfer to PRC
As the expiration date of the lease neared in the 1980s, talks between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China led to the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984), in which the whole of Hong Kong would be returned, instead of only the New Territories. This is because Hong Kong's new airport, shipping ports, reservoirs and other vital installations were (and are) all in the New Territories. Had only the New Territories been returned to China, it would also have been difficult to accommodate those New Territories residents moving to the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island.


Districts
The New Territories comprise the following districts:

Islands
Kwai Tsing (Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island)
North
Sai Kung
Sha Tin
Tai Po
Tsuen Wan
Tuen Mun
Yuen Long
New Kowloon covers the entirety of the Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong districts, as well as the mainland portion of the Sham Shui Po District (i.e. excluding the Stonecutters Island) and the northern portion of the Kowloon City District (portion to the north of the Boundary Street/Prince Edward Road West, as well as reclaimed land including the Kai Tak Airport).

Hongkong Exhibition Centre






Hotel Intercontinental






First stop: Yuen Yuen Institute
a temple complex dedicated to the three major religions, Conficianism, Taoism and Buddhisim in Hongkong.

the 1985 god (the red one)




Second stop:Tai Mo Shan lookout point, from the highest mountain in Hongkong, view of the harbour and the industrial/residential town of Tsuen Wan to the south.







Third stop: Fan Ling village: the old vilage wall with gun holes in it and a family ancestral hall.

our tour bus




Fourth stop: Luk Keng road lookout point, to see the bird sanctuary of A Chau and the boundary town of Sha tau Kok and mainland China.











Fifth stop: Bride's Pool Falls, constantly falling waterfall year round.

barbeque grill






Last stop: Sam Mun Tsai Fishing Village

Lantau Island May 1, 2008
Lantau Island, also Lantao, based on the old local name of Lantau Peak (traditional Chinese: 爛頭; lit. Ragged Head), is the largest island in Hong Kong, located at the mouth of the Pearl River. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District, but a small part in the northeast of the island belongs to Tsuen Wan District. It has an area of 146.38 km². Originally the site of sleepy fishing villages, the island has in recent years been transformed with the development of several major infrastructure projects, including Hong Kong's new international airport, Ngong Ping 360 and Hong Kong Disneyland.







Ngong Ping 360
Ngong Ping 360 is a tourism project in Lantau Island, Hong Kong, consisting of Ngong Ping Cable Car and Ngong Ping Village. It is owned by the MTR Corporation, built and originally operated by Skyrail-ITM until it was sacked after an investigation following an incident where a cable car plunged 50m to the ground.[1] The project was previously known as Tung Chung Cable Car Project before branded as such in April 2005.

Ngong Ping Cable Car is a 5.7 km long bi-cable gondola lift system (referred to by its operators as a "cable car") linking between Tung Chung (where it connects the MTR Tung Chung station) and Ngong Ping (where the Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha are located). Between the two terminals at Tung Chung and Ngong Ping, the lift system runs across the southern shore of the Hong Kong International Airport island and Nei Lak Shan, with eight towers including the stations.

The system was originally scheduled to open on 24 June 2006. However, due to the incident on 17 June 2006, (see the Incident section for details), Skyrail-ITM postponed the opening day to fix the technical problems. After two months of improvement works and repair for the damages made by Typhoon Prapiroon in August 2006, Ngong Ping 360 resumed a trial-run of 7 days from 30 August 2006. It was opened on 18 September 2006. However, there have already been several reports of technical problems, some of them caused by strong winds.

the airport




hiking trail


the Tian Tian Buddha at Ngong Ping village

Ngong Ping Village
The Ngong Ping Village is built next to the Cable Car Ngong Ping Terminal, occupies a 15,000 square metre site and has been designed to mirror and uphold the cultural and spiritual veracity of the Ngong Ping area. Traditional Chinese architectural designs are a feature of the Ngong Ping Village, which contains an assortment of shopping and dining experiences, on top of a number of key attractions including Walking with Buddha, the Monkey's Tale Theatre and the Ngong Ping Tea House.

Olympics at Hongkong May 2, 2008






Olympic store at Bank of China Tower


Yingying


the Bird's Nest stadium






the torch for HKD 3, 490.00

The Torch part is made from the actual steel left over from the construction of the National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest” and is also certified by the Beijing Notary Office. Worldwide production limited to 200,000 sets

Souvenirs from Hongkong