This week was the beginning of my fourth trip to China (see Asia travel section of photo gallery for pictures from the prior trips). The first three were alone and 90+% business. Eventually the day would come when I would be lucky enough to go back with friends and family and not do any business activity. The prior trips were to just a few of the big cities but this time it was many cities and villages — there was an incredible amount to see and learn.
We were fortunate to be able to get a non-stop flight with Continental from Newark to Hong Kong where we spent the first two and a half days of the trip. The twin-engine Boeing 777 was able to make the journey in roughly fifteen hours. The GPS indicated that our hotel was 8,900 miles from home. There is much to be said about Hong Kong but the most memorable parts were Victoria Peak and the Buddha.
Hong Kong is 425 square miles in size and is located on the southeastern coast of China. The main areas are Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. Hong Kong Island lies just south of Kowloon and the two are separated by Victoria Harbor. The New Territories lie north of Kowloon and include more than 260 outlying islands. Lantau Island is the largest of them.
To get to the peak we walked along the waterfront to the ferry boat which took us to downtown near the convention center (where I had given a speech ten years earlier). We then walked through the city part way up the hill to the tram. The ride up the side of the mountain to Victoria Peak was very steep and the view from the top was spectacular. After a nice lunch we walked the 3,000 meter trail along the edge of the peak and could look down at Victoria Harbor and the beautiful skyscrapers below.
During the trip in 1999 it was a great pleasure to meet Karen and Alfonso. Karen worked for IBM at the time. They were kind enough to take me on a day trip to see the largest Buddha in the world, located at Ngong Ping on Lantau Island. We got there by subway and then a boat. Then in 2007, eight years later, we met up with Karen and Alfonso to see the Buddha once again but this time it was by subway and gondola. The area has been developed into quite a tourist attraction, complete with many shops and restaurants. We enjoyed a traditional Chinese lunch before heading to the airport to fly to Guilin.