20 Clilheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, March 22nd, 2007
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Clilheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 21
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WHEN it comes to backpacking, people tend to miss Hong Kong out of their round-the-world itin erary. Having spent two fantastic weeks
there, I can safely say that this is a terrible shame. The unique blend of eastern and western traditions that make up this vast metropolis have arisen through its disturbed, but colourful past. Hong Kong is made up of four main
islands; Hong Kong, Lantau, Kowloon and the New Territories, encompassing 2G2 islands in total, throughout the South China Sea. It is connected to Mainland China
at the top of the New Territories and in the distant past served as mainly farmland and fishing villages for its Chinese inhabitants. European trade began in the 1500s, when Portuguese e.xplorer Jorge Alvares discovered the island. As the trade in tea and silk took off
in Britain, Hong Kong began to gain status. In a panic to recover its export dominance, Britain forced China to buy its Indian Opium, against the wishes of the Qing Emperor, who could see its devastating effects on his people. It was over this issue that the Opium Wars broke out and in 1842 Britain took over the country until the Handover back to the People’s Republic of China in 1997. Since this time British influence has
been prominent in the Chinese coun try giving it that tasty fusion of west-
FORMER CliUicroc Ro}’aI Gramnier School student
SARAH HARDY continues on her round-the-world gap year journey which began back in .lanuarj’.
This month, the intrepid trekker tells us of her
all-too-brief slay in Hong Kong
ern chic and eastern spice that really isn’t hard to miss. Hong Kong is vibrant and user friendly, while being busy, bustling, over-crowded and over loaded with fun, at the same time. However, it retains its distinct Chi
nese feel, with gourmet meals served night and day, goldfish and animal markets, plus being all decked up for the lunar New Year celebrations, which coincided with our visit. The e.xcitement began for Ella and
myself even before we landed, as for a few heart-stopping moments I felt as though our plane was heading straight for the sea! Thankfully, this was simply due to
the runway starting right a t the water’s edge. Navigating our way to our accommodation, the Dragon Hos tel on Kowloon Peninsular, was incredibly easy, due to Hong Kong’s fantastic public transport system. My first purchase was a well renowned octopus card to help mo out with it. These are like swipe cards that can bo
loaded with credit, then redeemed on all buses and subways, as well as in 7- 11 corner shops, McDonald’s and cin emas across the city. It’s a very effec tive scheme. After settling into our hostel and
finding our feet in this bustling city, we headed down to Victoria Harbour to watch the Symphony of Lights show, 'riiis well-structured, interactive display involves all the buildings on both Kowloon and Hong Kong islands, either side of Victoria Har bour River, lighting up and shining lasers in time to classical music played out at the waterfront. At 8 p.m. prompt the orchestra struck up and the whole city came alive with dancing lights and lasers; it was magic. Shopping is a must-do activity in
Hong Kong. You can’t walk from one street to the next without passing rows of designer boutiques, markets, tiny custom-made clothes shops or tower ing 12-storey shopping malls. The cul ture was definitely shop-til-you-drop as some of these places, in the vibrant town, didn’t close until 3 a.m! Being short of cash and storage space, I just about managed to refrain from spend ing all my time and money shopping and found plenty of other activities to keep me busy. It seemed as though there was always something to occupy us in Hong Kong. I particularly enjoyed the day Ella
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and I visited the Giant Buddha and Po Lin monastery, on Lantau Island. Offering 360deg. views over the Lan tau countryside, the Journey of Enlightenment cable car ride from Tung Chung, up the deliciously green Lantau peak, kicked off our day. A thick, dull mist clogged the air on the morning of our assent and I w'as disap pointed as I thought our views would be disrupted. However, watching the 250 tonne bronze Buddha, seated a- top a lotus throne on the mountain’s summit, emerge from the fog w'as out of this world. A short walk through Ngong Ping, a small shopping village, is required to reach this awesome idol. It was here we decided to sample the local sweets. They deceivingly looked like giant bon-bons, but tasted slightly weird. I struggled trying to place the flavour while we walked through the village. Sadly, I worked out w'hy it was a taste I didn’t recognise when we reached Swallow's, a deli specialising in birds’ nests. This strange, sticky sub stance is made by boiling old or aban doned birds’ nests to separate twigs and feathers from the saliva that holds them together. This saliva is then col lected and purified and added to deli cacies, such as sweets, with distinctive tastes sold at Ngong Ping village, rather like the one I had just finished! Delightful! Following a 10-storey hike to view
A VISIT lo die Giani Buddha and Po Lin monastery, on Lanlau Island, is a must
the Buddha in more detail, we walked to the wisdom path; a figure of eight trail, carved into the mountainside, with huge logs erected around its perimeter, inscribed with the Buddhist heart sutra prayer. This too, was
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meeting the rich and
famous, Sarah
en joj .s a day OIK al Hong Kong’s
Madame 'russauds
Young and not-so-young have a ball of a day! 1
breathtaking and concluded our fan tastic day in Lantau. At only the cost of our cable car ticket, it was a real bargain too. Another great day out W'e both
enjoyed during our time in Hong Kong was our visit to Victoria Peak, the apex of Hong Kong Island. A Victori an style, 450-tram ride took us to the peak, which prowded stunning views over Victoria Harbour and Kowloon, via Madame Tussauds. I had heard a lot about the Hong Kongese counter part to our British institution, but all my expectations were exceeded, as the \yaxworks were good (with the excep tion of Hugh Grant!) and it made for an enjoyable day out. The total cost of the tram and entry to Madame Tus sauds was a snip at $148 (£9.80). 'Tea is associated worldw’ide w-ith the
Chinese and their exotic customs. Because of this, we decided to visit a traditional teahouse in Hong Kong Central Park. Jasmine tea was the big hit of our trip, as this rather ugly look ing, dried jasmine bud bloomed into a gorgeous flower in front of our eyes as it brew'ed in the boiling water - PG
Tips will never be the same for me now! Hong Kong is full of mesmerizing
little Chinese treats, like the teahouse, nestled within the vast and highly pol ished urban city setting. Stanley was another prime example. This small, ancient market town is filled with tra ditional wonders, such as the Tin Hau Temple, built in 1767 in honour of the sea goddess. Apparently during the Second World War, the Japanese dropped two bombs on the site which did not explode. It has been considered a sacred place ever since, as more than 200 people were hidden within the temple’s walls. Tucked away from the markets, just along the coast, lay a tiny, secluded beach, which w'e had to ourselves for the rest of the day; another of this c ity ’s spectacular delights. I felt that our time in Hong Kong
came to an end all too quickly, way back in February. Since then we have visited Singapore and finally arrived in the land down-under - Perth, Aus tralia. It meant that in one week I crossed
two time zones, used three currencies and listened to three different Ian guages being spoken, it was all very surreal! However, it was all a lot of fun, which I’ll be letting you in on in my travel article next month!
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FUND-RAISING activities in aid of Comic Relief Forty children and 40 senior citizens enjoyed a got off to a flying start in Chatburn.
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Helping others
THE causes sup ported by Comic Relief were dis cussed at Edisford Primary School, C iitheroe, throughout the w'eek leading up to Red Nose Day. Fairtrade, and
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the homeless were among the topics. A c t i v i t i e s dressing up parade
game of bear bingo, pass the parcel and, as can be "’h'^h was . Residents and staff at the Manor House Nurs- seen in the picture, had great fun with the chil- Thursday.
included baking (teachers and cakes and biscuits pupils), for a cake sale During the week held on the school raised a massive £535 for
Teddy bears’ picnic for j'oungsters at Chatburn A silent auction was also held to boost funds tor took part in the Our pictures pre-school and primary school.
ing and Residential Home hosted a successful dren’sgame “pin the tail on the donkey” (pinata). The pupils also Comic Relief. charity, (s)
"Big Sing" and show some of the
"The Big Joke-In" youngsters enjoy and finally, on Fri- ing their fund-rais- day, a Red Nose ing activities, (s)
Y E A R S C H L D . - • r r . ■ C A R E S E R V I C E
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