Author Archives: pmichael

Day 16 – Farewell to Hong Kong and the Return Home

I got up at 6 AM (my usual weekday wake-up time) and had a quick breakfast before heading to the airport. There was enough time for a final stop for souvenirs before boarding my flight to Newark. After just one additional connection, I arrived back home at 6:45 PM on the same day (regaining the day I lost on my departure from home).

In spite of the crazy traffic and the frequent security checks, with its ancient history and architecture, modern sophisticated urban areas, beautiful scenery and fantastic food, China is definitely a country that was worth seeing and experiencing first-hand.

Day 15 – Hong Kong and Victoria Peak

My room at the Ritz-Carlton was on the 108th floor and had great views of Hong Kong.

We had beautiful weather for the final day of our China tour. Today we drove to Hong Kong Island and had an open-air double decker bus tour of the city. Hong Kong has the highest population density in the world, and there’s nowhere to build but up.
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Hong Kong City Tour


International Commerce Center


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After the bus tour, we took the funicular to the top of Victoria Peak, where we had great views of the Kowloon District and Victoria Harbor.
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Victoria Peak


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We drove back down the Peak to the Central Star Ferry Terminal and took a ferry back to Kowloon.
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Victoria Harbor and Ferry Transit


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After a brief stop at the Hong Kong Cultural Center, we enjoyed a dim sum lunch at the adjacent Symphony by Jade restaurant.


Hong Kong Cultural Center

Symphony by Jade Restaurant

I visited the Hong Kong Museum of History with its natural history, cultural, archeological and local history galleries. Again, this is a place where I would have liked to have spent more time.
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Hong Kong Museum of History


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The day ended with our farewell reception and dinner in the Ozone Bar on the 118th floor. There were lots of hugs and best wishes for a safe trip home.

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Day 14 – On to Hong Kong

Today was a long day in transit which started with a ride on the maglev to the Shanghai airport. The Shanghai maglev travels at a top speed of around 268 miles per hour.

We flew to Hong Kong and drove to the Ritz-Carlton, located off Victoria Harbor. The highest hotel in the world, it occupies floors 103-118 in the International Commerce Center (ICC). After getting settled in our rooms, our local guide gave us a quick tour of the Elements Mall, located in the lower levels of the ICC, and the adjacent Civic Square with its shops and restaurants. I opted for dinner in the hotel’s Lounge and Bar, which has great views of the city.

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Views of Victoria Harbor from my hotel room

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Views of the International Commerce Center and adjacent high-rises from Civic Square

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Elements Mall


Sunset in Victoria Harbor


Lower Lobby Entrance to the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

Day 13 – Shanghai Urban Planning Center and Shanghai Museum

It was another nice day in Shanghai. We visited the Urban Planning Museum with its 3D scale model of downtown Shanghai and a 360 degree movie simulating a flyover of the city.

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Shanghai Urban Planning Museum

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We then toured the Shanghai Museum. I walked through seven beautiful galleries featuring sculpture, painting, coins, furniture, and clothing and made purchases at the museum shop. I definitely wished I had more time to spend there.

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Shanghai Museum

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Then we moved on to the French Concession. Lunch was on our own. Several of us decided on a pizza lunch at the Glasshouse Restaurant in Xintiandi, an upscale European-style retail/restaurant/bar area.

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Xintiandi in the Shanghai French Concession


Herb Garden Tea – non-alcoholic, but very exotic-looking

Glasshouse Restaurant

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Our day ended with dinner at Jean-Georges, a French restaurant on the Bund. Unfortunately, I will remember almost getting swept away by the never-ending holiday stampede of people while attempting to get to and from the restaurant more than the meal.

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Day 12 – Touring Shanghai

We had nice warm weather for our tour of Shanghai, the largest city in China and a global financial hub. As it happened, this day (October 1st) was China’s National Holiday. Everyone was off work and the factories closed, so the air was relatively clean. We visited Old Shanghai Town, which actually has a mix of old and new buildings, and had a guided tour of Yu Garden, a classic Chinese garden where architecture plays as much of a role as the flowers, trees and shrubs.

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Old Shanghai Town and the Yu Garden

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The market was overloaded with people due to the holiday, so I did not attempt any shopping. Police started barricading the streets, so our tour director said it was time to move on so we wouldn’t get stuck there.

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Old Shanghai Town Market

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Our next stop was the TianHou Silk Factory and Store where we saw a demonstration of how silk was made. And, of course, there was ample time for shopping afterwards.
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TianHou Silk Factory and Store

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The Bund is the waterfront area along the Huangpu River which is noted for its neo-classical buildings. We had lunch (I actually considered it a dinner – and an excellent one) at “M on the Bund”, a European style restaurant overlooking the Huangpu River, that has great views of the modern Shanghai skyline. It is one of the top-rated restaurants in Shanghai. Our day ended with the Shanghai Acrobatic Show – great performances, but unfortunately no photography was allowed.

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View of the Shanghai Skyline from “M on the Bund”

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The Fairmont Peace Hotel, where we stayed, is a Shanghai landmark located in the Bund promenade and built in the Art Deco style. These photos were taken in the lobby.


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