We arrived in Hong Kong today around 2 am EST. The flight was fine (except for the guy sitting behind us who sounded like he had the Bubonic Plague!).
We are staying in a lovely hotel called the Kowloon Shangrila. It is across Hong Kong harbour from the financial district. We spent most of the afternoon and evening walking along the harbour and sight seeing. Hong Kong is immaculately clean. The people are very friendly. It is a busy, cosmopolitan place. We saw lots and lots of fancy shops and tons of American eateries (Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Morton's Steakhouse, tons of Starbucks).
There are lovely mountains all around Hong Kong, but they are very hard to see during the day because of the smog. The weather was very comfortable, about 73 degrees and very breezy. Most of the natives were bundled up in winter clothes! Steve and I stood out a bit in our short sleeves.
One funny thing near our hotel is the Avenue of the Stars. Just like in Hollywood, famous Chinese movie stars have their own stars and handprints along the boulevard. The only ones we recognized were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. We also saw a photo of Yo Yo Ma, but I don't think he had a star. There were lots of street musicians and tons of people singing karaoke outdoors. Steve and I agreed that the street musicians in Harvard Square are MUCH better. Steve wants to quit his job and become a street musician here. He thinks he would be so much better than the people performing here that he would earn a fortune. I am dubious... Attached are some photos that I took today. I wish I had taken a photo of a woman who was selling roasted purple and orange potatoes and quail eggs from a street card. Lots of the natives were eating the food and seemed to be enjoying it.
We are off to Guangzhou by train tomorrow afternoon. We learned just before we left that Gotcha Day won't be until Monday afternoon. By the time all of you wake up on Monday we should have Emily in our arms!
P.S. See http:// picasaweb.google.com/sjmckay1 for more pictures
