China Day 5 - Hong Kong Tour

We were in the hotel lobby by 8am today for a Hong Kong tour with the rest of the parents from various groups - there were 34 of us in all!  First we went to the top of Victoria peak in a bus and looked around but it was so smoggy the view wasn't great (see smoggy view below).  Apparently the northerly winds bring in pollution from Guangzhou where there is a lot of manufacturing.

Next, we went to the harbor and took a sanpan tour.  We were told not to pay the driver to the end.  We saw a lot of boats that people use as housing, they live for generations on these!  The buildings above are actually government housing that costs round $150 per month to rent for about 200 sq. feet of space.  Each building houses over 1000 families - some of which have 8 or 9 members!

Here are some pics from Victoria Peak - you can see how smoggy from the second photo.  The first is of a private residence that is valued at over $100 million due to its location, size and view.  The last one is a pic of Sue with Joe, an adoptive father that came by himself -- his wife stayed home with their daughter:

Here is a sanpan similar to the one we took.  10 of us fit onto a boat and we were driven around the harbor to see the sights.  It's amazing to see these people living on these little broken down boats, with the huge richness of the skyscrapers behind them.  Here are some harbor pics:

     

After the boat tour we went to a local market where they had everything in a million different little stores.  There was a lot of hustle and bustle, and it was warm, over 80 degrees.  What a contrast to Beijing where it was in the 40's!

     

Sue took this picture of a urinal for kids.  Don't ask me how she got it!