One can definitely tell that Hong Kong has some lingering influence from the British. An obvious one is that cars drive on the left side of the road and have the steering wheels on the right side of the car. We had a number of close calls as pedestrians when we looked left (rather than right) before stepping off the curb.
Additionally, there are anti-smoking, anti-littering, and anti-spitting signs posted everywhere to encourage cleanliness and hygiene. This is not common at all in mainland China. Spitting is an unfortunate norm in places like Suzhou. Apparently Hong Kong got very serious with anti-spitting legislation when there were hit hard by the SARs virus in 2004.
Another interesting part of the cityscape are the many pedestrian walkways that take you over or under the busiest roads and intersections. It is not quite the continuous network of walkways that Minneapolis has, but nonetheless we found ourselves climbing more steps that you normally would on a walk in New York City. You can see Juliana posing above on one of these pedways.
The Hong Kong mass transit system is something of a marvel. It includes subways, light rail, trams, double decker buses, taxis, and ferries. It is very well organized and extremely clean. We did most of our traveling around the city by subway and it was very easy and comfortable. You can see Joseph leaning against one of the glass doors that separates the waiting passengers from the tracks and moving trains. Electronic signs behind him display the time until the next train arrives. The next pictures shows the Cazzatos walking through one of the clean, well lit subway corridors.
The final picture shows our hotel, the Cosmopolitan. We found this place a week ahead of time on Asia-Hotels.com and were quite content with it. They ran shuttle buses from the lobby to the nearby shopping mall and main train station. The rooms were clean and the breakfast was reasonably good. Cost was about $130 US per room per night. Not bad for a major city.
Additionally, there are anti-smoking, anti-littering, and anti-spitting signs posted everywhere to encourage cleanliness and hygiene. This is not common at all in mainland China. Spitting is an unfortunate norm in places like Suzhou. Apparently Hong Kong got very serious with anti-spitting legislation when there were hit hard by the SARs virus in 2004.
Another interesting part of the cityscape are the many pedestrian walkways that take you over or under the busiest roads and intersections. It is not quite the continuous network of walkways that Minneapolis has, but nonetheless we found ourselves climbing more steps that you normally would on a walk in New York City. You can see Juliana posing above on one of these pedways.
The Hong Kong mass transit system is something of a marvel. It includes subways, light rail, trams, double decker buses, taxis, and ferries. It is very well organized and extremely clean. We did most of our traveling around the city by subway and it was very easy and comfortable. You can see Joseph leaning against one of the glass doors that separates the waiting passengers from the tracks and moving trains. Electronic signs behind him display the time until the next train arrives. The next pictures shows the Cazzatos walking through one of the clean, well lit subway corridors.
The final picture shows our hotel, the Cosmopolitan. We found this place a week ahead of time on Asia-Hotels.com and were quite content with it. They ran shuttle buses from the lobby to the nearby shopping mall and main train station. The rooms were clean and the breakfast was reasonably good. Cost was about $130 US per room per night. Not bad for a major city.
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