Hong Kong Style

The main reason I chose to go to Hong Kong at this time of year was to attend a counseling workshop. It was a two day conference led by an author of one of our texts in grad school and I didn't want to miss it! And since we had the American thanksgiving holiday at the end of the same week, I decided to stay a full week in the city.

Conference days made it seem like I was part of the daily bustle, finding my way through the subway and crowded streets during rush hour all in an effort to arrive at 'work' on time.

Hard to believe it's been almost 10 years since last visiting Hong Kong and it didn't take long to remember the unique flavors soon after I arrived -- from the crowded streets, tall thin skyscrapers stacked beside each other, cable cars, colorful festivals right down to the not-exactly-pleasant smell of dried seafood when walking the streets.

With the first two days taken with the conference, that left me with another 5 days to tour Hong Kong and the surrounding territory. So I booked a day trip to Macau (see post) and another tour to help me investigate what it was like to live in Hong Kong over the past centuries (see post).

Real Estate Deals

I'm sure many would agree with me that Hong Kong has one of the most interesting histories of a city. What we know as Hong Kong today was, in essence, 'spoils' presented to the Brits for winning the First Opium War in 1842. In other words, when China's Qing Dynasty lost the war, it gave Hong Kong Island over to Britain as payment.

About 50 years later, Britain wanted to increase its territory around Hong Kong Island (by approximately 12 times) because of population pressures and its importance as a sea and trading port. The Chinese agreed to lease added territory to Britain for $1 over a 99 year period in 1898. Why? Because after the 99 year term contract, Britain would then be required to give back all territory to China -- including Hong Kong Island!

The added territory takeover that was to happen in 1898 did not sit well with some of the established family clans near Hong Kong so some concessions were made (see post).

As the 99 year lease was about to end, an added agreement was made in 1984 between Britain and China specifying that China would not tamper with Hong Kong for an additional 50 years after 1997. As a result, life has seemed pretty-much "as usual" for the last 20 years (1997-2017) for those living in and visiting Hong Kong.

We will see the fate of this territory when the next 30 years draws to a close. Will the currency still be in Hong Kong dollars? Will we need a Chinese visa to visit Hong Kong in the future? Will the main language change from Cantonese to Mandarin? ...no one knows...

Behind the Scenes

In the meantime, one of my tour guides was candid about what it's like to live in current-day Hong Kong. Not many guides share at this personal level, so I felt especially fortunate to learn what it's like to live in the city from the perspective of a resident!

It is obvious those who live here are proud of where they live, stating emphatically they are not from China. The fact that a person needs a visa to enter China from Hong Kong, along with differences in government, currency and language are but a few examples of why Hong Kong is unique and unto its own.

It was not a surprise to learn that Hong Kong is an expensive place to live. But it was surprising to learn that nearly one half of the population lives in some form of government public housing so these lower income residents can survive.

Some visitors may flippantly refer to these towering apartment complexes as "pigeon holes" but, as our guide explained, these small living spaces enable so many people the opportunity to live in the city. Rule of thumb: when you look at government high-rises, you can estimate how many families live in each building because typically one window = one family unit.

Even with its crowded conditions, roughly 150 people come from China to Hong Kong per day to obtain residency. It's a long process that can take up to 7 years to finalize.

Tang Clan History

Hong Kong's lineage boils down to five family clans. The Tang clan is one of five since they immigrated in the 11th century and now have over 900 years and 30 generations of dominance in the Hong Kong region.

The walled village that continues to house Tang family members over all these generations is called Kat Hing Wai and was our first stop on our Heritage Tour of Hong Kong. The first indicator of family supremacy greeted us when we got off the bus: Mr Tang's old Le Seyde which is apparently 1 of 500 produced... not exactly your average car driving down the streets of Hong Kong!

Our visit to this village took us on a trail called the Ping Shan Heritage Trail. We walked from the King Tin Study Hall to the Ancestral Hall, with visits to the Temple and community water well before arriving at the Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda.

Study Hall

We learned that later generations of the Tang family went to school in the King Tin Study Hall, built in 1856, where members could obtain desired certification to work for the government. The Imperial Civil Service exams have a ranking between 1 and 9 with only 106 people in its history obtaining the first rank with certificates presented to the honor student by the king.

These were the days when smoking opium was prevalent in Chinese society so they had a corner room for students who needed a smoke. Our guide pointed out the sliding wooden slats at the back of the doors that closed the grated openings so the smoke would not affect the other students. Nothing like supporting a habit!

Ancestral Hall

The Tang Clan Ancestral Hall is one of the largest ancestral halls in the Hong Kong territory that was built over 700 years ago. There are three stage areas in this hall where current residents pay homage to their ancestors. In fact, the Tang family has kept close track of their lineage with visual representations prominently identifying deceased ancestors with pure gold wings.

We noticed the entry area had a red brick path that led us to the front doors. Apparently red bricks indicate wealth and the Chinese are not to use this color brick unless granted special permission.

The Ancestral Hall is still used regularly for worship and celebrations of traditional festivals and ceremonies, as well as a meeting place for the Tang clan.

Temple

Our guide, who was very open with us about his personal life and Taoist beliefs, gave me some valuable insight into the thinking and desperate hope behind the rituals believers perform at the temples around town.

In general, Taoism teaches that a person needs to flow with life. More specifically, Taoist belief is based on the idea that there is a central or organizing principle of the universe, a natural order or a way of heaven, Tao, that one can come to know by living in harmony with nature and hence with the cosmos. When researching the tenants of Taoism, it can get pretty complicated but the over-riding notion is that you follow your gut and trust your instincts.

Apparently when a person dies, they bounce back into their own life and have the opportunity to experience another variation of it. This is why family members will go to the Temple, burn incense as a symbol of the prayer of the faithful rising to heaven and then provide ancestors with gift offerings to accompany them in their new journey.

Such was the situation with our tour guide. While my heart goes out to this young man who lost a loved one, I was struck and saddened by how he continues to spend his time and money -- buying gifts then burning them in offering to his loved one. For example, he purchased a game table then burned a picture of it so his loved one can continue to enjoy playing in the afterlife. The same goes for whatever a person enjoyed while living on earth -- from offering McDonalds meal coupons to an iPhone.

My prayer is that all Taoists realize they can have an actual daily moment-by-moment relationship with God. No need anymore to hope prayers will drift up to some spirit somewhere while burning incense, but have the assurance that prayers would be heard by our living loving God! We are assured, when believing in Christ, that our prayers are not only heard by Him -- who listens, communicates and guides us according to His will -- but are assured of eternal existence with Him in the afterlife. It doesn't get any better than that!

Pagoda

Our last stop in the village was at the Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda (translation Pagoda of Gathering Stars). This building was built over 600 years ago as a seven story building but weather incidents removed the top four stories leaving this as a three story building. This is Hong Kong's only ancient pagoda with the ancestor of Fui Shing represented by a statue on the top floor so visitors can worship him. As is always a factor in construction, this building was to improve the feng shui of the village to prevent flooding disasters and to help clan members pass the Imperial Civil Service exams.

Dealing with Outside Influences

We visited a community water well along the way to the Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda which was once the main source of drinking water for the village but is not needed in this capacity anymore. Our guide mentioned some of the women in the clan committed suicide at this 200 year old well during the Japanese takeover between 1941-45 because of the atrocities they wanted to avoid when being captured. There is a grate covering the well now to avoid any more accidents.

I learned this walled community put up some resistance during the British takeover in 1898. "Fearing for their traditional land rights, a number of clans attempted to resist the British, mobilizing clan militias that had been organized and armed to protect against long-shore raids by pirates... Most prominent of the villages in the resistance was from the Tang clan, who symbolically had its main gates dismounted and removed. Concessions were made between the British and people of Hong Kong -- some regarding land use and inheritance remain in place in Hong Kong to this day and is a source of friction between indigenous inhabitants and other Hong Kong residents."

Visiting the village of the Tang family provided a wonderful understanding of what it must have been like to live there before it became the current modern-day concrete jungle called Hong Kong.

Historic Macau

Did you know that friendly relations existed between the Portuguese and Chinese centuries ago? Yup, those in the Ming Dynasty liked the Portuguese because they aided China in eliminating coastal pirates in the early 1500s. As a result, the Portuguese were allowed to settle permanently in Macau as evidenced by its influence on architecture and cuisine.

Fast forward to 1949, after the Second World War, when the Chinese communists came to power and wanted Macau back under its wing. Beijing was not ready at the time to settle the treaty question and therefore agreed to leave Macau in the hands of the Portuguese until a later time, as they did with Britain's Hong Kong territory.

It wasn't until May 1986 when four rounds of talks between Portugal and China led to the signing of an agreement that gave Macau back to China in 1999. In the agreement, the People's Republic of China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system would not be practiced in Macau and it would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs until at least 2049, fifty years after the handover.

European influence is detected when walking the streets of Macau. One example is the first home the governor built in 1846 together with many buildings in the downtown core.

The Santa Casa da Misericordia (or Macau Holy House of Mercy), while built some 400 years ago, still exists and operates today offering medical, social and financial assistance to the underprivileged as guided by Christian principle. There are other indicators of Portuguese influence, such as a statue of Jorge Alvarez, the first Portuguese explorer to reach China in the early 1500s.

As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a center of activity for Catholic missionaries. This influence has dwindled over the years as can be seen by the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral where the facade was left standing (unsupported) after the rest of the building burned down!

What a visual reminder of what was important in centuries past in contrast to where we stand today, for just the facade remains with no attempt to rebuild the cathedral behind. In fact, I appreciated when our tour guide made note that Jesus our Lord was replaced by the god of the modern economy and glitz. Cisco pointed to the flashy sky scrapers not far from the ruins, something I was thinking but didn't imagine I would hear from someone else.

I don't often write a review about a tour but I felt it was appropriate this time. Hopefully my thoughts will give others something to consider when visiting Macau in the future...?

There was an exceptionally large crowd in front of the St Paul's facade the day we were there, including street performers and celebrations in honor of the Macau Grand Prix that was to take place.

The crowded streets did not detract us from heading over to a local bakery to pick up some traditional Portuguese egg tarts that came straight from the oven. If you haven't tried one, I suggest you do!