Walking along the Hong Kong Promenade in the evening is a sensory experience. The air is thick with humidity and haze (aka smog); boats of all sizes and shapes ply the waters and thousands of young Asian kids take selfies of themselves standing on the boardwalk.
The "old Hong Kong" has almost disappeared in the ~25 years since I last visited. Now it's mostly modern highrise buildings and high-end shops. Tourism is the number one industry, and ~70% of the tourists are mainland Chinese looking to spend their money in a burgeoning economy...
Tags: Hong Kong China Promenade Harbor Island Asia boardwalk 4B4A7030 junk boat red sails night time highrise buildings hazy smoggy sky hot humid Explore Explored
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The endless parade of boats through the Hong Kong harbor is colorful and interesting. My images from that night are all noisy because I didn't bring the tripod along, but they really show the charm and energy of this very busy, crowded metropolis.
Tags: 4B4A7036 Hong Kong China harbor boats highrise buildings junk boat traffic evening night lights neon Promenade party ship clear haze hazy
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The long winding drive up to the peak of Hong Kong Island is worth it for this breathtaking vista of the entire harbor. Unfortunately, it's so smoggy that you can't see all the way to the New Territories.... At 17,000 people per square mile, Hong Kong is probably one of the most densely populated cities on the planet. Most families live in 300-400 sf flats in multi-storey apartment buildings,
10 images handheld, and I used CS6 "content aware" to fill in the missing bits around the edges.
Tags: Victoria Peak Hong Kong Island China pano panoramic high rise building heat haze hazy smog smoggy clear day blue sky Explore Explored
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I'm so glad we got to see this during our visit nearly 8 years ago; the Floating Restaurant was being floated out recently to a harbor for restoration and capsized! A big chunk of Hong Kong history is gone. Even when we were there in 2014, a lot of the historic buildings and culture had been erased by the relentless onslaught of development. The city is like a giant, high-end shopping mall now. When I first visited in the 1980's it was quaint and distinctive and foreign. Now if you were dropped down into one of the shopping districts, you wouldn't know if you were in Singapore, Shanghai or NYC - except for the signs!
From 2014: During our Hong Kong Island Tour, we took a short tour of Aberdeen Bay on a vintage Sampan boat (formerly a fishing boat). We had an intimate view of the famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant with incredibly ornate decoration.
Tags: Hong Kong China Sampan boat Aberdeen Jumbo Floating Restaurant tour 2014-10-10-4B4A7199
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The best meal we had in Hong Kong was our excursion to Lamma Island, a large fishing village about 45 minutes away from Hong Kong Island. Follow the series of images in the top comment boxes below for the full experience !
www.rainbowrest.com.hk/eng/v_about.asp
Tags: Lamma Island Hong Kong China Rainbow Seafood Restaurant excursion local food fine dining family 4B4A7306 fresh crab plate ferry ride Chinese
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