Sunday, October 30, 2016

Our impressions of Hong Kong


Interesting facts about Hong Kong
It is a very clean city – you cannot eat or drink on any public transpiration.
In the three days that we were here, we saw only one motorcycle policeman and no other police and no military of any kind. 
Crime is very small because the people have grown up in a very strict set of rules that does not allow for crime in their mind.  That comes from the former English rule and they still have the English system of law and order.
The real estate is among the most expensive in the world as this is a very small island.
Housing cost 3 to 4 times what housing would cost in San Francisco.  $4,000 a square foot is typical for a flat in the city.  Our guide on the food tour last night has lived in both places.
The Tesla automobile (all electric and high end) is very popular here as they do not have to pay a new vehicle surcharge to own it here. 
What we would think of as a medium sized car cost an extra $38,000 to purchase plus the cost of the car.
Like on the mainline of China, if you want a vanity license plate, you tell the government what you want and they first put it up for auction.  The most expensive license plate was 2 million dollars.   This was a plate with 8’s in it, their lucky number.
The number 4 is an unlucky number as it sounds like the word die and so there are no 4th floors in building.   They are a very superstitious people.

While housing is very expensive, food, clothing and transportation is very cheap.  You can buy a very good meal out on the street for $2.  They also eat every part of an animal as just part of everyday life. 
We took a taxi ride that lasted 30 minutes and the cost was $5.
There is a trolley that runs the length of the island and it cost 41 cents to ride the entire distance which would take an hour.  In addition, the trolleys run ever minute or so and yes they get very crowed.
The subway system is huge, very clean and runs exactly on time.  We never had to wait more than a minute or so for one to come along.
To keeps a relatives ashes in a temple, it is $13,000 payable every 10 years.
Fortune telling is very real here and they are very many of them in the Temples.  Buddhism or forms of it is the main religion.  There are a lot of similarities between Buddhism and Christianity and we learned a lot from our Temple Tour yesterday, including their 18 steps of Hell.
Prostitution is legal as long as you are not working for someone and you are independent.  If a massage sign has a happy face on the sign, it means for a male, it will have a happy ending!!
While it is very crowed here, people are very, very orderly.
If you have left over food from a restaurant, you take it out and give it to the homeless.
They work so very hard to get ahead and their work ethic is unbelievable.
It was neat city of visit.

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