Travel Log for Melvin: World Cruise 2017 Day 56 Hong Kong, China

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Today the ship arrived at Hong Kong, China at 8 AM. The ship was docked at the Kai Tak Terminal rather than the Hong Kong Ocean Terminal. The Kai Tak Terminal is the new terminal but it is not as handy as the Hong Kong Ocean Terminal. This is the forth time that I have been in Hong Kong so I took a tour on the Hong Kong Hop-On Hop-Off Bus. A bus picked us up the transferred us to the Central Star Ferry Terminal to catch the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. I had a choice of 3 routes. I took the red route and got off at the Peak Tram. It took a good hour to get on the tram. I spent some time at the top and left on the red line and when we got back to the terminal I got on the Green Line Bus. When we got back to the terminal it was 4 PM and the bus left back to the ship at 5 PM so I did not have time for the Blue line. We got back to the ship at 5:45 PM and I went to dinner. There was no show tonight. At 10 PM the ship left the Kai Tak Terminal and at 11:30 PM the ship docked at the Hong Kong Ocean Terminal.

Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of China. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total land area of 1,106 square kilometres (427 sq mi) and a population of over 7.3 million of various nationalities, it ranks as the world's fourth most densely populated sovereign state or territory.

After the First Opium War (1839–42), Hong Kong became a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island, followed by the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945. In the early 1980s, negotiations between the United Kingdom and China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which paved way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China with a high degree of autonomy.

Under the principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defense and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative and judiciary powers. In addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organizations in a broad range of "appropriate fields".^[21]

Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centers, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the world's most competitive and freest economic entity. As the world's 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency. It's also a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterized by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.

Hong Kong is renowned for its deep natural harbor, which enables ready access by international cargo ships, and its impressive skyline, with a very high density of skyscrapers; the territory boasts the second largest number of high rises of any city in the world. It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the world's longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population makes use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighboring industrial areas of Mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates.