If you love skyscrapers and city skylines, Hong Kong is the place for you.  

The morning after arriving in Hong Kong was spent acclimating to our surroundings (i.e. figuring out breakfast (fried monk fish) and exchange rates).  Fortunately, we did not have to figure out lunch, which was served and sponsored by Pet-Link Co. Ltd.  Pet-Link Co. is a distributor of small animal pet products produced by Oxbow Animal Health in Murdock, Nebraska.  Space is a premium in Hong Kong and rabbits and hamsters are popular pets.  Oxbow is an international leader in nutrition  of such animals.  The Pet-Link presentation provided a microcosm of the difference between doing business in a Special Administrative Region like Hong Kong from mainland China.  Essentially, Hong Kong is economically and politically autonomous from the mainland, which allow businesses to invest and thrive freely in the Hong Kong regions.  The same cannot be said for most of mainland China, where outside investors run a gauntlet of bureaucracy while being under the thumb of the government. 

After lunch we toured the Aberdeen Fishing Village and Repulse Bay.  English sailors made first contact with the local population at Aberdeen Harbor, which is now is populated by

Aberdeen Fishing Village

an interesting combination of million dollar yachts and fishing junks.  Several thousand people live and work on the boats; fishing everyday which they sell to the local distributors and nearby markets.  Repulse Bay on the other hand is all about recreation and one of the more popular beaches in Hong Kong.  Being in business attire, the group enjoyed the views mainly from the sidewalk while exploring the large Kwun Yam Taoist Shrine located next to the beach. 

Repulse Bay

The group was dropped off at the famous Ladies Market after dinner to fend for ourselves.  Why they call it the Ladies Market, I do not know.  The Ladies Market is a massive, nine block area of wall to wall stores and street vendors who sell everything from clothes, to electronics, to you-name-it.  All prices are negotiable a the Ladies Market.  Members of the group lightened their pockets but heavied their backpacks before filtering back to the hotel; some…ahem…later than others.    

Ladies Market

The following morning, we were bussed to Hong Kong Disneyland to tour the facilities before catching our afternoon plane to Hanoi, Vietnam.  We didn’t get on any rides. However, we did get a great tour demonstrating how U.S. agricultural products are being served worldwide; specifically Nebraska beef which Hong Kong Disney serves in the high end dining operations.      

After lunch we were off to the airport.  One and half days in Hong Kong is not enough, but by mid-afternoon, the group was already preparing for Vietnam.