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Amazing Hong Kong Facts and Things to Know

December 2, 2014

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Amazing Hong Kong Facts and Things to Know

I’m so sorry, or maybe not? But I just needed to write about more interesting facts of Hong Kong, because I love Hong Kong. It was and still is my home of over 7 years. For such a small landmass, there is just so many interesting facts! At the center of East and Western culture, there is an incredible, and unique, lifestyle.

Hong Kong is filled with many interesting stories, landmarks, events, cultures, traditions, and facts. Before you pack your bags and decide to go to the best destination for a long vacation, have a look at these really amazing hong kong facts.

Peak Tram- Oldest cable Funicular

Peak tram is the first cable funicular in all of Asia and was established in the late 1880s. This is also one of the steepest, and also the oldest railroad which operates through cables, in the world. This funicular gives transport services to over 11,000 people, and nearly 4 million on an annual basis.

This easily makes it to the top of the list of Amazing Hong Kong Facts!

¾ Hong Kong is rural

That is correct, about ¾ percent of Hong Kong is actually rural. It even compromises of 24 country parks and also woodlands, reservoirs, and scenic hills too. Amazing Hong Kong facts, right?

Hong Kong is actually divided into 3 primary regions and then dozens of island. The 3 primary regions are: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and The New Territories.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner

The Noble Peace Prize winner, Professor Charles Kao is from Hong Kong, and is also known as the ‘Father of Fiber Optics Communications.’ This is pretty amazing Hong Kong facts. All our modern technologies of communication, from here!

Chinese New Year’s Dish

The dish, Poon Choi, which is made on every New Years, consists of 10 different ingredients which are cooked separately, and brought together at the end in one big pot. This Hakka origin dish is very famous and popular in Cantonese cuisines.

Poon Choi Cantonese Big Feast Bowl Closeup

Wine Auction

The world’s most expensive bottles of wine were auctioned in Hong Kong worth USD$ 232,692 each.

Wow! Now that helps make it to the list of amazing Hong Kong facts!

Disneyland

Hong Kong has the first Disneyland which opened in China, and the 3^rd outside of the United States.

Mongkok Population

Mongkok has the highest population density in all of Hong Kong with as estimated 130,000 residents per square kilometers, unbelievable right?

Canton-Pop

The music genre, Canton-Pop started from Hong Kong which eventually went viral in all of Asia.

Bi-Cable Aerial Ride

Hong Kong has the longest bi-cable ride in all of Asia which extends over Ngong Ping Village, Po Lin Monastery, Giant Buddha, and Wisdom Path. This ride is hardly 25 minutes long. It also offers an breathtaking away view of the entire Hong Kong airport seen from above. Spectacular! What truly amazing Hong Kong Facts!

And if you feel more of the risk taker, try the glass bottom gondola!

Famous Gondola on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

World’s Highest Capita

Hong Kong café and restaurants boast one of the highest per-capita concentrations. This happens for every 600 people they feed.

Guinness World Record

The Guinness World Record for the largest magic lesson is held by a citizen of Hong Kong who taught a class of 314 children.

Most Skyscrapers

Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers in the entire world. It has over 8,000 buildings each consisting of more than 14 floors. Totally true! Amazing Hong Kong facts for sure, and I can even see my apartment building from that picture!

Home to the World’s most expensive

Iron Buddha, the most expensive tea is sold in HK for HKD$ 20,000 per kilogram. Hong Kong also consumes triple of the average of the world when it comes to tea, which is almost 9.8 kilograms on an annual base. Too costly to be an amazing Hong Kong facts?

Street Food

Street food is one of the most popular and most favorite kinds of cuisine in Hong Kong. It is not just popular amongst the locals, but it has made its mark amongst the tourists as well.

Metropolis

Hong Kong is known is the go to destination for luxurious goods and is the largest metropolis in all of Asia as well.

Amazing Hong Kong facts have so many interesting histories, places to visit, shop, eat, dine, enjoy, movie theaters, double decker buses, old trams, red taxi’s, and more. Every moment is lots of fun.

Enjoy!

Hong Kong Festivals – The Basic Lists of Festivities

December 2, 2014

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Hong Kong Festivals – The Basic Lists of Festivities

Hong Kong is a very vibrant city, especially when it comes to festivals. It holds amazing festivals every year that give you a great chance to mingle with your loved ones, friends, coworkers. I always loved the festivals, in additional to some really cool facts, in Hong Kong for many reasons. Perhaps the main reason is Hong Kong stands at the crossing of Eastern and Western cultures so you have this amazing blends of life styles.

The city becomes vibrant, people are off from work, and there is always some place to go to enjoy the festivals. While this list is comprehensive, it is in no way complete, just too many festivals to enjoy!

Hong Kong Festivals – Tuen Ng Dragon Boat festival

This is a very colorful festival in which boat races are held, and my personal favorite! Remind me to tell you my story of reaching one of the yachts that was sponsoring a group of racers.

Boats are in the shapes of attractive and beautifully decorated dragons. It is normally held in June, but the dates and months can vary depending on the dates of the lunar calendar. The races are organized at ten different sites and attract the locals as well as tourists from different countries.

I normally enjoyed going to the back side of Hong Kong island to Stanley Beach.

Hong Kong Festivals – Mid-Autumn Festival

It is one of the biggest festivals in Hong Kong and is considered to be the second most important festival in China, after the Chinese New Year Festival. Fire breathing dragons, lantern displays and gorgeous lion dances are some of the biggest highlights of this festival. They also have some of the best snacks!

I’ll be writing more on this festival in another article. While The Dragon boat races were the most exciting, this for me was the most meaningful.

Hong Kong Festivals – Chinese New Year Festival

The Chinese New Year is celebrated with a lot of zeal and fervor each year. Different events are held in Hong Kong to celebrate it. Three days of amazing events are planned almost every year to enjoy this occasion. A fantastic parade and entertainment extravaganza is held close to the Victoria Harbor on 31^st January.

Another important event of this festival is the stunning display of fireworks. I love fireworks, so I eagerly wait for the Chinese New Year to arrive every year.

Hong Kong Festivals – Hong Kong Winter Festival

This festival is mainly held for attracting tourists to Hong Kong. The streets are decorated with beautiful lights, sales are held in almost all the stores and snacks are distributed amongst the locals. It is organized before the New Year every year.

Hong Kong Festivals – Hong Kong Shopping Festival

This is heaven for all the ladies. It is an amazing festival that is mostly held in August and offers something for everyone.

Hong Kong Festivals – Christmas

Christmas is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm in Hong Kong. The entire city is decorated with lights and Christmas trees. You can see Santa Claus distributing gifts amongst the children in shopping malls, and you get to enjoy discounted prices on goods and services as well.

One of the best places to visit in Hong Kong during this time of the year is Disney Land. Lots of entertaining events are organized there for kids.

Hong Kong Festivals – The Arts Festival

If you are an arts aficionado, then you’ll love this festival a lot. It was held for the first time during 1973, and has been organized annually since then. Ballets, operas, dramas and symphonies are the major attractions of this event. I attended a few performances last year and they were absolutely stunning!

Hong Kong Festivals – Horse Racing Festival

This is the most awaited festival by the enthusiasts of horses and gambling. It is celebrated mostly from January till July each year, but the timings can change.

This was really just a brief list but it contains some of the best and most interesting of the festivals and holidays in Hong Kong. I will be writing about more of them and also more in-depth, taking one festival and writing about it at length. So much of the festivals are tied to the culture and are very old in customs and traditions.

Enjoy!

New Year in Japan – Experiencing Oshogatsu in Style

November 13, 2014

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New Year in Japan – Experiencing Oshogatsu in Style

New Year is that time of the year when you want to indulge in excitement and thrill to begin your year with a blast. Until this year, my New Year celebrations usually revolve around getting to some cool place to watch the countdown and celebrate the New Year with fireworks and friends.

However, this year was very different. Indeed, Japan is the place to be if you want to celebrate your New Year’s Day in the most unusual and exciting way. It was one of the most memorable experiences I had in Japan.

I would never forget the exquisite style of celebrating the New Year (oshogatsu) the Japanese way. I got to witness the Japanese New Year traditions at my warmhearted Japanese friend’s home – meaningful, relaxing and surrounded with an air of kindness and love.

I learnt that oshogatsu is a very important holiday in all of Japan, in honor of new year celebrations, most business shut down for around two days, and families typically get together to celebrate it in union. My friend Mizuki told me that, in Japan, ‘bonenkai’ parties are held before the oshogatsu to bid farewell to last year’s troubles, which really fascinated me.

Celebrated with the same jubilance and fervor as Christmas, the New Year celebrations start a few days before the year ends and continue for almost a week. On the peaceful New Year Eve, me and my friend’s family ate ‘toshikoshi’ soba noodles, that symbolize long life and health, to welcome the New Year and cheered with Japanese sake.

As I witnessed the celebrations throughout the week, I realized that Japanese culture is full of rich traditions. Delicious and mouthwatering Oshogatsu meals are perhaps the most outstanding aspect of New Year festivities, as I got to eat various tantalizing dishes that were especially prepared for the occasion, and instilled with special and overwhelming meanings to bring fortune in the year ahead.

I learned that eating the ‘O-sechi ryori’ which is considered to bring good luck and was made of shrimp, chestnut, seaweed, pork, and eggs. The ‘O-zoni’ was another fantastic dish, made of sticky rice cake served in a yummy fish broth. I will definitely remember these meals forever.

Oshogatsu is also characterized by the extravagant decorations that enliven the localities with a mix of sparkling colors and meaningful undertones of prosperity. The Oshogatsu motif was an important part of the decorations that enlivened homes and storefronts.

I saw the ‘kadomatsu’, another New Year decoration, which was an arrangement of flowers, pine, and bamboo, placed outside many houses and Mizuki told me this was a sign of welcoming the gods for the New Year.

Mizuki also gifted me a calligraphy scroll wishing good fortune, which overwhelmed me, and in return I bought the Oshogatsu motif to gift to her.

Mizuki’s parents gave otoshidama to all their children and I was excited to get one as well; these were envelopes printed with Japanese characters containing money, I was greatly warmed by Mizuki’s family’s generosity.

Mizuki, also took me to the year’s first shrine visit to pray for good fortune for the year. The shrine was full of hundreds of people, and a sacred white horse was being given a lot of attention by them. After praying, we visited the myriad food stalls and ate broiled fish cakes, and salad picked in sweet vinegar, which were the more traditional Japanese New Year foods, and also saw a fireworks display nearby the shrine.

Every New Year brings back profound memories of the Japanese New Year Celebrations. The delectable dishes, the generosity, and the meaning imbued traditions, render so much charm to the Japanese celebrations that I miss them a lot.

One should definitely celebrate Oshogatsu with the Japanese once in their life – it’s a memorable and delightful experience.