Cheung Chau Island

By Joyce, on February 10th, 2014
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As we had some extra time in  Hong Kong, we decided to take a short, one-half hour ferry ride to this surprisingly (at least to us) populous island that is 10 km southwest of Hong Kong.  It was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot and not too cold. Perfect for island-tripping. Although [Read more …]

Macau: China's Portuguese Corner

By Joyce, on February 8th, 2014
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While Hong Kong is a very young city, Macau is relatively old. It was already an established town when the Portuguese first discovered the Pearl River Delta in 1515 and established their first settlement between 1553 and 1557. The Portuguese brought Jesuit missionaries as well as trade to the island and established a productive relationship [Read more …]

Kowloon

By Joyce, on February 2nd, 2014
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After staying on Hong Kong island for a few days, we moved over to the Kowloon side to explore new territory. If you’re looking to shop for jewelry or watches, Kowloon is the place to be: You can spend an entire day within just a few blocks of Nathan Road. Since we are not [Read more …]

Re-exploring Hong Kong

By Joyce, on January 28th, 2014
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Hong Kong has always been about the future. Although the island had been used for farming and fishing for millennia, its real history didn’t even begin until 1841, when the British secured rights to the island from China in return for lifting a shipping blockade Britain imposed after China initiated the Opium Wars (in an [Read more …]

Belated Happy New Year 2014

By Joyce, on January 3rd, 2014
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Seeing in the New Year One thing about traveling for 4 months is that time has little meaning. OK, so it is January 3 and New Years’ was 3 days ago…at least in Asia, only 2 days ago in the US. We spent New Year’s Eve in Hong Kong primarily because we always heard about [Read more …]