Hong Kong!

I had a chance to visit one of the most unique places in the world a few weeks ago… Hong Kong! If I had three words to describe my Hong Kong experience, I would use: skyline, shopping, and efficiency.

Hong Kong is considered the “Manhattan” of Asia because of its numerous high rise buildings and skillful hard-working group of citizens. The skyline is spectacular, especially at night when the buildings light up the sky with neon lights. In-fact, 4 of the 15 tallest skyscrapers exist in Hong Kong. The population of Hong Kong is just under seven million in an area of 1092 square KM, close to the size of New York city (786 sq km). The limited land capacity and large population has caused the government to build on mountains and ocean water.

Hong Kong is a free port with goods from across the world that are not subject to export taxes. This makes it an ideal place for shopping, especially with a strong Canadian dollar. The moment that you exit out of the airport, you are greeted with flyers about shopping in Hong Kong. I spent an entire day shopping, moving from shop to shop in one of the most efficient subways in the world. The people in Hong Kong do not like to wait for anything – 2 minute wait for a subway is 2 minutes too long. Even the escalators move extremely fast compared to the usual speed in North America. Paying for items with cash will get you an annoyed look from the merchant because with a swipe of the Octopus card (prepaid cash card supported by almost all vendors) you will be quickly on your way.

Hong Kong is a unique place in the world and wish I had spent more time, however, in this short time period I still took my share of pictures.