October 10, 2005

October 10, 2005

In the morning we start at Elephant Hill Park in Guilin and climb another one of the rocks jutting from the city. Back at the bottom we see that this monolith looks like an elephant drinking out of the river.

Later in the morning we head to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou (or more familiarly Canton). At the Guangzhou airport there is a huge crowd chanting when some young girl walks by. Our guide tells us it is the Chinese equivalent of the American Idol winner. I guess every country has their pop stars.

From the airport we are taken to the port where we board a hydrofoil ferry that takes us down the coast to Hong Kong. Except for a city tour tomorrow most of our time in Hong Kong is going to be free. Hong Kong is an old British colony that consists of several islands, most famous of which is Hong Kong Island, and a peninsula of land containing Kowloon and the New Territories. In 1998, at the end of their 100-year lease, the British transferred Hong Kong back to Chinese rule. The Peoples Republic of China allows Hong Kong limited autonomy, under the principle of “one country, two systems”.

We check into Panda Hotel just north of Kowloon in the New Territories. Our male guide changes some of our US dollars into Hong Kong dollars for us. That night we dine on monstrous dumplings at a dive restaurant around the corner from the hotel. Delicious!