running up that hill.

Hong Kong Island is dominated by steep, hilly terrain, which makes it the home of some rather unusual methods of transport up and down the slopes.
I'm amazed that outdoor escalators even exist! 

•  In the Central and Western district, there is a huge system of free escalators and moving pavements. 
• The Mid-levels Escalator is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world
• it operates downhill until 10 am for commuters going to work, and then operates uphill until midnight.
• The Mid-levels Escalator consists of 20 escalators and 3 moving pavements.
•  It is 800 metres long, and climbs 135 vertical metres.
•  travel time is approximately 25 minutes, but most people walk while the escalator moves to shorten the travel time. 
• Due to its vertical climb, the same distance is equivalent to several miles of zigzagging roads if travelled by car. 
• 35,000 people use it everyday! thats equivalent to half the population.

the man who sold the world.

there is a light that never goes out

I really love Hong Kong at night! 

It's so vibrant, busy and exciting, i just love all the colours and shapes

I think a city that has so much going for it after dark and is even more beautiful would be a lovely place to be.

mexican seafood.

Having just eaten a lovely chinese noodle stir fry i thought it would be relevant to make my next post about the food in Hong Kong!

Hong Kong actually has quite a diverse selection of food available, sourcing inspiration from traditional Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese and Western world cuisine.

With Chinese ethnicity making up 98% of the resident population, Chinese cuisine is naturally served at home. Home ingredients are picked up from local grocery stores and independent produce shops, although supermarkets have become progressively more popular.

Hong Kong homes and kitchens tend to be small due to a high population density, and traditional Chinese cuisine often requires the freshest possible ingredients, so food shopping is undertaken frequently and in smaller quantities than is now usual in the West. Take-out and dining out is also very common, since people are often too busy to cook with an average 47-hour work week.

• Rice is predominantly the main staple for home meals certainly in southern areas of China like Hong Kong.
• Noodles are symbolic of long life and good health according to Chinese tradition and they come dry or fresh in many varieties often served in soups and fried as toppings.
• Tofu is another popular product often used as a meat or cheese substitute.
• Dim Sum is a Cantonese term for small snacks and is designed so that one person may taste a variety of different dishes.
• Some of these may include rice rolls, lotus leaf rice, turnip cakes, buns, shui jiao style dumplings, stir-fried green vegetables, congee porridge, soups, etc.
• Yum cha literally means ‘drink tea’ and many chinese drink their tea with snacks such as nuts, plums, dried fruit, small sweets, melon seeds, and waxberry.
• China was the earliest country to cultivate and drink tea.
• Traditional Chinese cuisine is also based on opposites, whereby hot balances cold, pickled balances fresh and spicy balances mild.
• In most dishes in Chinese cuisine, food is prepared in bite-sized pieces, ready for direct picking up and eating. In traditional Chinese cultures, chopsticks are used at the table.

After our noodles tonight we had some fortune cookies too!

this was my fortune for today.....

'follow your aim, self conciousness will show you how'

year of the rabbit

Chinese New Year is the most important traditional chinese holiday.

The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day.

I guess in a way it is similar to our Christmas and New Year celebrations as chinese people will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing all for the festival.

It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune, hoping to make way for good incoming luck.

Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity".

On the Eve of Chinese New Year, families eat together.

Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies.

The family will end the night with firecrackers. (interesting fact- it is illegal in hong kong to host your own firework display!)

Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes.

The Chinese New Year tradition is all about forgetting all grudges, and sincerely wishing peace and happiness for everyone.

the sky is fallin'

The very first thing that got me excited and influenced my decision to base this project on Hong Kong was the architecture.

Hong Kong is home to over seven thousand skyscrapers, and is the most vertical city in the world!

The skyline reminded me a lot of New York, which is a place i love, and i was hoping that Hong Kong would be just like New York but with even more vibrant culture packed into its city streets.

you could be my lucky star

I have found this photograph really inspirational and it also reminded me of this 'interesting fact' ....

'Goldfish are a favourite of the Chinese and many exotic fish are kept such as the dragon-eye fish with big bulbous eyes.

Goldfish originate from China and are believed to bring good luck.

The word for fish, Yu, means prosperity and good fortune.'

It seems that the culture of Hong Kong is based strongly around what symbolises good fortune.

I think this is a really interesting part of their culture, and already it is making my view on Hong Kong very optimistic!

Feng Sui is also a major part of the city's culture.

They won't even start constructing a building until a consultant has checked that everything corresponds with the rules of Feng Sui.

A lot of people have 'Ba Gau' mirrors on the outside of their homes.

These Ba Gau mirrors have been used to ward off danger and protect homes and places of business for many years in China.

They are considered to be very powerful and never to be used indoors.

A Bagau mirror

who are you?

• Hong Kong is located on chinas south east coast.
• 7 million people live in Hong Kong
• A lot of its terrain is hilly and mountainous, hence the outdoor escalators!
• Although the majority of the city is made up of urbanised areas the reamaining land is reserved for country parks and nature reserves.
• Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate
• This means their summer is hot and humid with occasional showers.
• They are also prone to typhoons sometimes resulting in floods and landslides.
• The winter is typically a mixture of sunny and cloudy with an occasional cold front

2,3,6,8,9

To begin my exploration into the city of Hong Kong i found some interesting facts about the city and the lifestyle/culture of the people who live there.

• People eat long noodles on their birthday, so they might be blessed with a long life.
• It is the world’s most vertical city – with more people living or working above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth.
• To many Hong Kong people, their dreams are to own a home.
• Hong Kong means 'Fragrant Harbour'
• There are 7,650 skyscrapers in Hong Kong.
• Hong Kong is very hilly and there are outdoor escalators(!) in the Central district of the Island.
• Chinese lucky numbers are 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9.
• Unlucky numbers are 1, 4 and 7 (4 and 7 sound like the Chinese word for death)