Sights> Hong Kong, 10 years with China

I landed in Hong Kong on the morning of July 1st, the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China by what's left of the British Empire. After the uber-friendly welcomes and customer service in South Africa, it took a few hours to re-adjust to the Chinese cold-shoulder treatment you get at shops and hotels and the public transport.

Unfazed, I was in Victoria Park by 3 pm (my hostel was next door), ready to join the hundreds of thousands marching for democracy and universal suffrage in Hong Kong. Later in the evening the occasion was celebrated by massive government-sponsored fireworks from Victoria Harbour and from all over the Hong Kong skyline with synchronized fireworks launched from the tallest buildings. There's some video and some photos, but they don't do justice to the panoramic experience, multiplied by the reflective walls of glass and steel of Hong Kong's skyscrapers.



My next ticket is to Tokyo, but I think I'll first go to Indonesia and the Philippines instead. I'll head off to the Cathay Pacific office after this post. Not that I couldn't see myself staying in Hong Kong for longer. It's quite beautiful. Right now, for example, I'm in Starbucks (yeah, don't start) and there's local models to the left (in a shoot, that's how I know) and western business guys and girls with immaculately cut suits and dresses that would make a Milanese trendsetter jealous. Hmm. Maybe I'll get a suit made. I'm easily influenced.