In
my previous post, I talked about choosing which airline to travel to Hong Kong.
I know the differences between Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines very well because
I travel to Hong Kong almost every year. I go to Hong Kong because I have many
relatives there. I always stay at their houses in the summer and explore by
myself. I am fluent in Cantonese therefore navigating around isn’t difficult. Even
if you can’t speak or read Chinese, you have nothing to be afraid of. All of
the public signs are in both Chinese and English and most of the people are bilingual
in Chinese and English.
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| Victoria Harbor |
I
love everything about Hong Kong except for its hot and humid weather. The average
temperature in June is around 82° F. In July and August, the average
temperature can exceed 90° F. Hong Kong’s summer is also characterized by the thunderstorms
and tropical typhoons. In the September of 2013, a super typhoon named Usagi
hovered over Hong Kong. It reached the wind speed of 160 mph! I remember
stepping outside of my cousin’s house during a typhoon when I was little; I almost
got blown by the wind.
Excuse
the crazy summer weather and let’s talk about public transportation. EWWW! Public
transportation? Trust me, public transportation is the way to go. Getting
around Hong Kong is fairly cheap and easy comparing to many major metropolitan
cities in the U.S. such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. Hong Kong’s Mass
Transit Railway (MTR) system connects all the major districts. There are ten
rail lines (Island, Tsuen Wan, Kwun Tong, Tseung Kwan O, Tung Chung, West Rail,
East Rail, Ma On Shan, Disneyland Resort, and the Airport Express). The MTR
system is highly efficient because some of the lines have trains come every two
to three minutes. There are also buses and minibuses if the MTR doesn’t reach
your destination. I am not very fond of taking buses in San Francisco but I like
it in Hong Kong because most of the buses are double deckers. So you don’t like
public transportation still? It’s okay!
You can take the taxi. For the first 2 kilometer, it costs HK $22 (which is 1.2
miles for US $3). Then for every 200 meters (0.1 miles) or every 1 minute of
waiting time, it cost HK $1.6 (US $0.22) for fare meters below HK $78 (US $11)
and HK $1 (US $0.15) for fare meter over HK $78.
In
my next post I will tell you where to eat, shop, play, and more! Get Ready!
Hong
Kong, here we come.
