china
° Hong Kong (and Chinese New Year) ° Macau° Cities Without Ground
° UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Friends just returned from a three week cruise, which included ports and rivers in China on a Southeast Asia Cruise, which was phenomenal. Asia is the largest continent, with the tallest mountains and longest coastline, the most wildly varied plants and animals, and three-fifths of the world's population. The riches of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei still defy description. And the cultural bounty of the Orient is limitless. They wandered through jungle temples in Thailand, took part in a graceful Japanese tea ceremony and attended an Indian shadow theater. Each country in Asia is quite varied in its food, clothing, art, etc.
Hong Kong
Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, is of course, huge . . .in part because fireworks started in the East. Shops and small restaurants close for three days and some for the week. Visiting Hong Kong around this time is well worth it as you many waterfront hotels offer a direct view of one of the largest fireworks displays in the world.
As part of the team organizing 4th of July in San Francisco for The San Francisco Chronicle, I was flown to Hong Kong to see PyroSpectacular's Chinese New Year celebration in Hong Kong. A competitive bid from a new pyrotechnic company had been submitted and PyroSpectacular wanted to keep The Chronicle's business. This was the year that Hong Kong would be turned back to China, so everything was impressive. At a cost of nearly $1 million, the display was amazing; the explosions were so massive that the steel door on one of the barges was bent. Standing next to me on a balcony watching the fireworks was a member of a noted Philippine family in the munitions business. He explained that since his family wasn't involved in wars at the moment, they were thinking of going into the fireworks business. He also said his father wanted him to have an American education, that America accepts everybody, so he went to Stanford. He was not treated well and couldn't wait to get home.PyroSpectacular is one of the finest pyro companies in the world. They stage many of the largest exhibitions around the country, including San Francisco's Fourth of July (which used to be sponsored by The San Francisco Chronicle when the paper was owned by the deYoung-Thieriot family and shot from three different barges located on San Francisco Bay).
Hong Kong is safe, it's exciting, it's a shopper's paradise -- I still have several Ralph Lauren knock-off Cashmere sweaters bought in Kowloon for about $15 each when they were selling in the United States for $100++. Given China's ongoing and ever-growing prominence it could be worthwhile to Learn Chinese.
We arrived quite late and after dinner with our hosts, I wanted to get out and about. It was about 11 p.m. and I thought I would be advised against wandering alone as no one else wanted to go. Not so. Our host put a few coins in my right pocket and a few more in my left pocket. He then gave directions to the Star Ferry which crosses Victoria Harbor between Hong Kong island and Kowloon. Many of the stunning views we see in photos are from the Ferry. It provides views of one of the world’s most dramatic cityscapes. I was able to ride it a few times, but night was most beautiful. The Harbor features a nightly laser light show, which is the largest permanent light show in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. The year I visited, because it was the year before Hong Kong went back to China, we also saw one of the largest pyrotechnic displays over the Harbor.
What's new? Well there's the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong's International Commerce Centre, which is now the world's tallest hotel (as of April 4, 2011 -- which we are sure will change shortly). Designers Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates describe the hotel as:
"With interiors by Singapore’s LTW, the hotel will offer 312 guest rooms, all providing spectacular city and harbour views. Other hotel amenities include six unique dining venues, an 860-square-meter spa by ESPA, a glass-enclosed infinity pool with LED screen ceiling and an outdoor terrace with a glass-enclosed bar, both on the 118th floor. ICC is the essence of Hong Kong in one destination: world-class hospitality, high-powered finance, global tourism, and luxury shopping, all in a single tower built over a sophisticated transportation network spanning the Pearl River Delta."
If you plan well ahead and find out when the next pyrotechnic display will be shot over Kowloon Bay, this might be the ideal place to be . . . if your budget can handle $575 a night for a room. Worth checking to see if your Visa Black Card will work here. Members enjoy 24-Hour Concierge Services, VIP Airport Lounge Access (which can be a BIG DEAL on long flights with stopovers), Rewards Program, room upgrades . . .
We just read about a 45-minute, free tour of Victoria Bay, the world’s third-largest harbor, on a beautifully-restored junk. You can sign up for this great freebie at the Hong Kong Airport main terminal. Keep your eyes open for a booth advertising the cruise. If you don’t spot it, ask at Information. However, if you miss this, we took a ride on a restored junk on the back side of the Island for a few dollars.
The Hong Kong Museum of Art is centrally-located at 10 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, and worth at least a few hours. In the last several years, museum gift shops have excelled in selection and prices; the Hong Kong Museum is no exception; these shops are great places for gifts and art post cards; my daughter generally purchases presents for family and friends as we travel and we both have taken a liking to museum art stores.
A tip from an International Living writer: For a distinctively Chinese experience, visit the “Bird Park”—the Yuen Pu Street Bird Garden near the Flower Market. Chinese men of all ages gather to show off their beloved song birds and buy and sell everything from birds to cages to feed.
For a fascinating Chinese shopping experience, visit the Herbal Medicine
Street (Ko Shing Street) to see shop lined up selling herbal medicines, dried amphibians, lizards, etc. We have seen these herbal shops in San Francisco (above), New York, Los Angeles and even in Narita, Japan. The array is exotic and curious and there is a quite funny incident about these shops in "The Glimmer Man, one of Steven Seagal's movies with Keenan Ivory Wayans.
One of the most noted hotels in the world is the opulent Peninsula Hotel (19-21 Salisbury Road), which opened in 1928 and which was on every deluxe travel itinerary for decades. Take time to visit the hotel, have tea, and if you are on a budget, ask the concierge any questions; they are reputed to have the answer to "everything" you need to know.
Hong Kong: Cities Without Ground
Cities Without Ground: A Hong Kong Guidebook, Jonathan Solomon, Clara Wong, Adam Frampton
This is true both physically (built on steep slopes, the city has no ground plane) and culturally (there is no concept of ground). Perception of distance and time is distorted through compact networks of pedestrian infrastructure, public transport and natural topography in the urban landscape. Without a ground, there can be no figure either. In fact, Hong Kong lacks any of the traditional figure-ground relationships that shape urban space: axis, edge, center, even fabric. Cities Without Ground
explores this condition by mapping three-dimensional circulation networks that join shopping malls, train stations and public transport interchanges, public parks and private lobbies as a series of spatial models and drawings. These networks, though built piecemeal, owned by different stakeholders, and adjacent to different uses, form a continuous space of variegated environments that serves as a fundamental public resource. The emergence of the shopping malls as spaces of civil society rather than of global capital comes as a surprise.
This continuous network and the microclimates of temperature, humidity, noise and smell which differentiate it constitute an entirely new form of urban spatial hierarchy. People stop and linger or smokers gather. 
Air particle concentration is both logical and counterintuitive: outdoor air is more polluted, while the air in the higher-end malls is cleaner than air adjacent to lower-value retail programs. Train stations, while significantly cooler than bus terminals, have only moderately cleaner air. Boundaries determined by sound or smell (a street of flower vendors or bird keepers, or an artificially perfumed mall) can ultimately provide more substantive spatial boundaries than a ground.
Macau
Chinese records of Macau date back to the establishment in 1152 of Xiangshan County under which Macau was administered, By 1277, members of the South Sung (Song) Dynasty and some 50,000 followers were the first recorded inhabitants of the area, seeking refuge in Macau from invading Mongols in 1277 where they established themselves. The Hoklo Boat people from Hong Kong initiated commercial interest in Macau as a trading center for the southern provinces. Macau did not develop as a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century when traders used Macau as a staging port as early as 1516, making it the oldest European settlement in the Far East.
In 1557, the Chinese agreed to a Portuguese settlement in Macau but did not recognize Portuguese sovereignty. Although a Portuguese municipal government was established, the sovereignty question remained unresolved.
Initially, the Portuguese developed Macau's port as a trading post for China-Japan trade and as a staging port on the long voyage from Lisbon to Nagasaki. When Chinese officials banned direct trade with Japan in 1547, Macau's Portuguese traders carried goods between the two countries.
When the Chinese communists came to power in 1949, they declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an "unequal treaty" imposed by foreigners on China. However, Beijing was not ready to settle the treaty question, requesting maintenance of "the status quo" until a more appropriate time. Beijing took a similar position on treaties relating to the Hong Kong territories.
Riots broke out in 1966 when pro-communist Chinese elements and the Macau police clashed. The Portuguese Government reached an agreement with China to end the flow of refugees from China and to prohibit all communist demonstrations. This move ended the conflict, and relations between the government and the leftist organizations have remained peaceful.
China's World Heritage Sites
- Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang (1987, 2004)
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (1987) Mogao Caves (1987)
- Mount Taishan (1987)
- Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian (1987)
The Great Wall (1987) - Mount Huangshan (1990)
- Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area (1992)
- Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area (1992)
- Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area (1992)
- Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains (1994)
- Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa (1994, 2000, 2001)
- Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde (1994)
- Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu (1994)
- Lushan National Park (1996)
- Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area (1996)
- Ancient City of Ping Yao (1997)
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou (1997, 2000)
- Old Town of Lijiang (1997)
- Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing (1998)
- Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing (1998)
- Dazu Rock Carvings (1999)
- Mount Wuyi (1999)
- Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun (2000)
- Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (2000, 2003, 2004)
- Longmen Grottoes (2000)
- Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System (2000)
- Yungang Grottoes (2001)
- Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas (2003)
- Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom (2004)
- Historic Centre of Macao (2005
- Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries - Wolong, Mt Siguniang and Jiajin Mountains (2006)
- Yin Xu (2006)
- Kaiping Diaolou and Villages (2007)
- South China Karst (2007)
- Fujian Tulou (2008)
- Mount Sanqingshan National Park (2008)
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selections of books about
World Heritage Sites
Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude