theXtraSuitcase

Hong Kong - a beautiful, modern city

Hong Kong

August 2014

This was our second trip to Hong Kong, the first was in 2003 and it was our very first visit to an Asian country. Never in a million years would we have thought we were going to live in Asia! We forgot how beautiful Hong Kong is with its modern buildings juxtaposed with natural beauty.

It has a wonderful blend of old and new...

and a little unusual...

Technically Hong Kong is not a country - it is considered a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. Although under Chinese control, Hong Kong retains its own independent nature. It has its own money, passports, and legal system.

Below is the view from our hotel. I just love the reflections in the building windows.

The Markets

A half-naked man smoking a cigarette - looks like he is posing for the sexiest fisherman's calendar : )

The markets were very orderly, clean, and neat. Hong Kong in general is a pretty clean city. Not quite Singapore clean, but still clean.

Food and tea...

We visited a very unique cafe - the Cat Cafe. Where cats were free to roam all over, even in the kitchen! Pretty sure you will not see this in the United States. Click here to read more about it on my art blog, ma vie trouvee.

Cat7

A very unusual tea spout.

My lunch one day - and I was very happy that it came out looking exactly like the photo as there was no English signs.

Temples and parks

The Chi Lin Nunnery was founded in 1934 but was rebuilt in the 1990s following the style of Tang Dynasty traditional Chinese architecture.

Nan Lian Garden, created in 2006, is a Tang-style landscaped Chinese garden of classical elegance based on the blueprint of the famous Jiangshouju Garden in Shanxi Province.