Tuesday, July 16th to Sunday, July 21st, 2019 - Hong Kong

It was with a small amount of trepidation that I approached my time in Hong Kong. After hearing of the very large pro-democracy demonstrations before my trip to Mongolia, I was uncertain about conditions there. As my hotel was a few miles away from the site of the events, and as the news suggested they were on the decline, I decided that I would proceed with my plans, even if it meant that I did nothing other than hole up in my hotel.

Victoria Peak and Hong Kong skyline from Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park

Happily, I was able to venture out with no disruption to my sense of safety, other than the intense heat and humidity which resulted in a great deal of tiredness at the end of each day. 

There was no denying I was in Asia.

There were still sights that are not customary in our cities.

But sadly old neighborhoods have been swallowed up by the pressures of the most expensive real estate in the world. It doesn't rank in charts of highest population density countries, because since the British handover in 1997, it is actually a semi-autonomous region in China. If it stood on it's own, it would rank as 2nd or 3rd in the world according to the World Population Review http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/hong-kong-population/.

The handover has created enormous grief and uncertainty. I saw this lone British Union Jack 'flag waver' walking through a park near the area where the current phase of demonstrations had been focused - an area called Central.

I was told that the demonstrators generally come out only on Sundays, limiting themselves to one day a week, but as I traveled around, most stations and other public areas had 'Lennon Walls' - a dense collection of post-it notes that relayed people's sentiments about the situation, mostly written in Chinese. They were first started here in 2014 during the round of protests now known as the Umbrella Movement. The one nearest my hotel was cleared off each morning and by the end of the day was full again.

I also saw some hunger strikers at Central.

As I was returning back to my hotel late Sunday night, I was surprised to see that the demonstrators were still out. As I put my phone over the railing to take this photo, people yelled at me - 'No photo'. Perhaps it was the police who called out, perhaps the protesters not wanting face recognition technology to identify them (many were wearing masks) or perhaps they want tourists to not be put off in their plans to come here. Mind you, I heeded the request, quickly moved through the area and so this is my only image.

In order to understand the situation better, I took a walking tour through the Central area with Hong Kong Free Walking Tours. We learned of the premise by which Hong Kong is operating - 'one country, two systems', which the Chinese government agreed to until it sunsets in 2047. We walked through the central Government Complex of HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region). We were told the open structure is a feng shui design which is supposed to represent an invitation to have the people involved in government. The current protests suggest the people are not 'feeling' it. The low building to the left is the Legislative Council Complex.

Hong Kong does not have a mayor or president, but instead has a Chief Executive - very corporate title. Currently the position is held by Carrie Lam, who is very unpopular. This is her office. See how well it is  cordoned off! The current round of protests was sparked by the government handling of a situation after a young man from Hong Kong killed his girlfriend in Taiwan in April this year. The problem for the government arose because there were no existing extradition treaties with Taiwan to have him sent back there for justice to be served. Instead of handling this isolated case, they set about establishing extradition treaties with all nearby countries, including China. As our tour guide pointed out, this would allow China to come in and arrest people like him who speak openly about the current issues.

Although Carrie Lam has set the plans for the extradition treaty with China aside, no commitment has been made that takes it off the table for the future. Other reasons for concern were explained in relation to the Court of Final Appeal, pictured above. It  is the Hong Kong equivalent of our Supreme Court, but now they have to send the rulings to China for legal 'interpretation'. Five times to date, China has overruled  decisions made by this court. https://qz.com/828713/a-brief-history-beijings-interpretations-of-hong-kongs-basic-law-from-1999-to-the-present-day/

I felt great compassion for these people who have lived under British justice for generations. Knowing that the commitment of 'one country, two systems' ends in 2047 (if it even lasts that long) must be terrifying. Our guide told us of Chinese plans to use facial recognition to develop 'social credit' scores, a technological extension of the Mao years when neighbor tattled on neighbor, as a way to control citizens. For example, if cameras see you jaywalking, your social credit score goes down. If it gets low enough, permission to travel, get apartments, loans etc are denied - not unlike our financial credit scores. https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4

As a last word on the subject, I had several people randomly talk to me about their concerns. One woman, of British heritage is concerned that her grandson cannot go to Britain to live. The most the British offers these citizens is a visa to visit Great Britain for six months. Another woman complained to me that the demonstrators are spoiled students who don't want to do their school work.

I was a little disappointed that all the old sampans were gone, other than tourist boats. I did like the look of  this working boat - the colors and shape seemed very Asian to me.

As slight compensation over the boats, I really enjoyed seeing these skinny trams making their way around. They reminded me of the night bus in Harry Potter that could make itself skinny. The transportation was superb - I got an Octopus card for about $6 which was easy to re-load and could be turned in at the end of my stay for a refund. It worked on all the transportation - trains, ferries, buses, trams. One could even use it to pay for things - it's like a debit card.

I had an image of Hong Kong as a mecca for duty free shopping. Sadly, most shopping choices were modern malls, very much like the shopping malls in the USA and probably not much difference price-wise.

So I was thrilled to find an old-style fabric market at the Western Market, where I found a couple of pieces of linen that I had made into pants.

I also visited the traditional jade market which was abundant with beautiful jade artifacts and jewelry. I regretted my lack of luggage space and belief that my abundant life does not need any more 'stuff' in it! I did manage to acquire a little jade bottle that is sitting in my china cabinet as a memento of this visit.

I took a second Hong Kong Free Walking Tour in Kowloon, which took us through the fish market. As you can see here, kittens are now in the area that used to be the fish market - with the cost of real estate being higher near the station, cats and dogs fetch a better return. 

After a few blocks, we found the fish, conveniently set out in plastic bags. The Chinese regard fish as conferring luck on a person, especially wealth. The gold fish are associated with the metal and are a popular pet.

There were also turtles for sale, but our guide told us they are not for pets. He said there is a prevalent belief that the turtle shell, especially the bottom shell, cures cancer and many other illnesses, so they are used to make a medicinal soup. I hate to think this little guy was going to be boiled down for days in someones kitchen!

So, it was a pleasure instead to find ourselves in the flower market........

........and bird market. We learned that the demand for song-birds is declining. It was a hobby that older men enjoyed. Now it seems real estate costs, environmental pressures, time limitations and possibly the avian flu (which closed the market for 21 days in 2018) are eroding the customer base. We met the only artisan who is still making these traditional cages.

My wanderings took me to a few temples.  I found this Tin Hau Temple near the Jade market, in Kowloon. The large incense coils hanging from the ceiling told me I was a long way from the 'yellow hat' Buddhism I had seen in Mongolia. In fact it is a Tao (or Dao) temple - a Chinese religious philosophy.

It is a relatively small place. Tin Hau is a Tao sea goddess and although the temple is now 3 km from the water, when it was built in 1864, it was a waterfront temple for sailors to pray for a safe voyage.

 The altar was rather grand! I presume this is the sea goddess herself!

There were lots of lanterns lighting up the dark space. It was quite lovely.

 I also visited Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong, another Taoist temple, hence lots of incense again.

Built in 1847, it was a meeting place for the Chinese merchants to discuss community affairs. The gods worshiped here are 'Man', who is the god of civility or literature and the other is 'Mo', who is the god of war. The face above has a friendly look, so I'm going to hope he is 'Man'.

The two gods were popularly patronized by scholars and students seeking progress in their study or ranking in the civil examinations in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

People interact with the space by lighting candles and incense sticks and then praying at the altar.

The little temple seems a long way from the Ming and Qing dynasties nested in among these tall buildings!

From Man Mo, I headed over to a wonderful gift that Hong Kong offers, the Central Mid- Level Escalators, which is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The escalators total about 3/4 of a mile in distance and takes one 443 ft from bottom to top. It is much more enjoyable than walking lots of stairs!

It went by a small masque, The Jamia Mosque. I used it to get as high as I could toward Victoria Peak, so I could take a taxi to the mountain top from the top of the escalators.

There is usually a tram - a funicular railway - operating, which tourists often use to get to the Peak, but it was being refurbished while I was here. The taxi dropped me off at this shopping mall near the top, where many tourists go to this viewing platform.

However, I was determined to 'get to the top' and ventured on up to Victoria Gardens, a further climb of about a half mile. The mountain was shrouded in cloud and I was disappointed to discover that the summit itself was closed, as it is covered with microwave communication towers and water reservoirs.

I had lunch at a restaurant opposite the Galleria and was entertained to see this container ship headed out to sea. I imagined it might be carrying my ebay orders across the Pacific!

I finished my visit to Hong Kong with a walk from The Peak to my hotel, near the University of Hong Kong. I was grateful it was downhill all the way! I was quite amazed, really, that on this cramped island, there were still many walking trails. The encounter with this spider, above, reminded me that it is soil, rocks, water and vegetation which are the basis of all environments and that nature sill rules the roost.

And so ended my journey. I was pleased to have seen this fine city with its beautiful harbor, mountain peaks, modern skyscrapers and great transportation. But I was saddened by the situation it finds itself in, facing losses of freedom in the future. It was a remarkable contrast to Mongolia - from wide open spaces to a crammed island. Whereas Mongolia was a county in which the land is held in ownership for its citizens, in Hong Kong money dictates everything - 20% live in poverty amid great wealth and there is no housing support for the needy. Mongolia is endeavoring to embrace and merge with the traditional, Hong Kong appears to be OK with seeing tradition disappear with it's old neighborhoods.

I was glad to see it now and relieved that my time here was not disrupted by civil unrest. I wish the demonstrators well and would love to believe that they will be heard.

Saturday, July 15th through Monday, July 17th, 2019 - Ulaanbaatar

Before we leave this journey in Mongolia, I want to share a few things about Ulaanbaatar, the capital city. Nadine and I arrived there a day before the tour started and then had three days after to look around a bit.

First off, it may impress you to know that I became an overnight millionaire when I first arrived. The money was quite difficult for us to get used to as one US dollar equals 2,267 Mongolian tugriks. All those decimal places really messed me up. I was very nervous about the exchange rate when I first withdrew money from an ATM, as I was scared of the possibility of taking out too much. (That was before I had downloaded my handy dandy currency converter.) So I dithered at the machine before finally requesting 30,000 tugriks, which seemed like an enormous amount. When I realized that I had only nervously withdrawn a bit more than $11, I had to laugh! So the next day, we headed off to a bank where I turned over a little less than $400 and got back 1,012,809 tugriks! I didn't care that the currency was worth so little - it was fun to have a million of them - although the wad of notes was almost 1/2" thick. The biggest note, as you see, was 20,000. We kept on mixing up the decimal points as we made change, so I'm sure the Mongolians thought we must be very stupid!  The only place we even contemplated using an ATM and changing currency was in Ulaanbaatar - once you leave the city, you need cash.

This view from my hotel window gives you an idea of the architectural mix we found here. The garages nearby were not maintained, the roads developed big puddles when it rained and it did not strike me as an attractive city.

The traffic was surprisingly snarled most of the time. Ironically during Naadam this was not the case as it was a public holiday and many people left the city to visit family - the other possibility is that all the cars were at the horse racing! The style  of architecture here is typical Russian according to Nadine, who had spent time living in Russia in the 80's and 90's. Our guide joked that the Mongolians don't know how to build attractive cities as they are much better at destroying them (a reference to Genghis Khan in case you missed it).

  

There were wide walking paths with vegetation on one or both sides. The greenery was nice, but it felt as if the designers were really 'pushing' to create a cohesive, landscaped look. It was unusual for the grass to be mowed - which I liked as a more 'natural' look and makes sense for people who value grass for the nutrition it provides for animals outside the city. I had to keep in mind that landscaping efforts must be influenced by a very short growing season due to the long cold winters. There were also many modern skyscrapers going up.

The skyscraper on the left, The Blue Sky, is one of the most notable high landmarks of the city. The structure in front is Choijin Lama Temple Museum. More on it later.

Mongolia has a total population of about 3 million, and almost half live in Ulaanbaatar. As the result the housing pressure is intense and the resulting apartments being put up are more in the Chinese style.

Here's a panoramic view from the Zaisan Monument on the outskirts of the city. They use coal power plants here, which creates pollution.We were told that as the nomads move to the city in their gers, they continue to use fire for traditional heating and cooking, which adds greatly to the pollution in the winter. Their arrival on the city outskirts also puts a lot of pressure on the infrastructure - schools, transportation, health services etc. It breaks my heart to know that people are leaving the traditional life, but I understand how hard it must be to not step into the comforts of the modern world.

The core of the city revolves around Sukhbaatar Square, where the Government Palace is situated. It has a similar vastness in size as Tienanmen Square - according to Google, it is the 47th largest city square by size. The palace is dominated by a large statue of Genghis Khan man-spreading in the center, with Ögedei Khan, and Kublai Khan on either side.

In our free time, one of our first tasks was to find cashmere. All those goats in the country contribute their hair to factories which make beautiful garments that are sold at prices well below those we pay in the west. Nadine and I trekked to a few places in this quest and had success at a commercial business called 'Gobi' and the State Department store pictured above. After I got home I learned that the desire for cashmere in the west is leading to environmental problems here, as the herders are trying to graze too many goats and they are destroying the vegetation. I was sorry to hear that I had contributed to this problem with my purchases.

Once our acquisitive urges had been saisfied, Nadine and I did some sight seeing. One of the most unique sights was a monastery near our hotel, the Daschoilin Monastery. It was the only functioning monastery we saw - most of the others had declared themselves to be museums to protect their assets. One thing we really liked was that the structures were shaped like gers, as you see above, so it felt very rooted here.

There were plenty of nice shiny prayer wheels and some of the little buildings did show Chinese influence in their architecture.

The main temple was not elaborate and there were people over to the side conferring with a monk, while others waited nearby for their turn for a consultation. I appreciated seeing the temple being used for purposes other than ritual.

We also enjoyed the National History Museum. This beautiful letter opener and ink well there had belonged to a former leader whose name I failed to register. Some of the most notable displays for me in the museum relayed the story of the peaceful Pro-Democracy Revolution that took place here in the 1990's, following the fall of the Soviet state. Seeing the ripples from the collapse of the USSR here, led me to have more compassion for the grief that Putin must carry. This country, although never part of the USSR in a legal sense, definitely abandoned the political model set by its long-term allies after 70 years. The revolution occurred after a number of young Mongolians returned with the knowledge of glasnost and perestroika when studying in the USSR. Ultimately, after they returned with these new ideas, there were large demonstrations in the winter of 1990 in Sukhbaatar Square, (when temperatures were down down to -22F) and hunger strikes. My favorite quote from the description of this event on Wikipedia was from the leader in power at the time, Batmönkh. He'd been presented with a document to authorize force against the youth in the square. People who were present there later recalled that he said "I will never sign this. We few Mongols have not yet come to the point that we will make each other's noses bleed," smacked the table, and left the room. If he had seen the demonstrators as 'others', rather than feeling that connection to them, perhaps the outcome would have been very different. I found this a heartening story and although the 90's were tough years for the Mongolians, their opening to commerce from the outside world appears to be leading to  prosperity among many.

We also visited the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, which showed a number of architectural styles and had very beautiful displays. This part of the temple is distinctly Chinese in style. We had met up with a Mongolian woman Enkhee - an acquaintance of a friend of Nadine's - who knew this temple well and told us of many little known facts about it.

Some of the painted details were exquisite. The complex was begun in 1904 and completed in 1908, in honor of the State Oracle and brother of the eighth Bogd Khan, the Mongolian leader at the time. The temple was associated with 'yellow hat' Buddhism.

There were a number of branch temples in the complex. This was my favorite, as it is octagonal, reminding me of a ger. The blue brick you see is presenting challenges to the reconstruction efforts, as the knowledge about their production has been lost.

Choijin Lama functioned as a temple until 1937, when it closed in response to the Communist repression of religion. In 1938, it was re-opened as a museum, a clever strategy to save its beauty and treasures. Perhaps this was due to the foresight of the State Oracle or was it the close connection to the Bogd Khan?

This young art student at the temple was writing people's name in traditional Mongolian script, so  I now have my name written in Mongolian.

After leaving the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, we joined Enkhee in her walk home, toward a memorial we wanted to see on the outskirts of the city. This building, which we passed, was the Wedding Palace, styled after similar buildings in Russia. With the destruction of the churches, buildings like these replaced them as venues for civil wedding ceremonies. It was close to Sukhbaatar Square, so it was not unusual to see wedding parties gathering there for their photos.

Our route also took us past the Continental Hotel, which had an old world grandeur. However, I think it is a fairly new structure and does not seem to have a glorious history. It is rated 3-star, so can't even claim luxury status. However, it was the nearest to a European 'colonial' building I saw here.

Our walk took us through the maze of streets at the base of the multi-story accommodations - navigation was quite confusing through here. Good thing we were with a local.

The Saizan Memorial, was a Soviet style monument that honored fallen Mongolian and Russian soldiers killed in World War II. Mongolia was formally neutral through much of that war, but supplied Russia with economical support, such as livestock, raw materials, money, food, and military clothing. They fought the Japanese Kwantung Army in 1939 with the Russians, in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, which resulted in stalemate and cease-fire. The combatants remained at peace until August 1945, when the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchukuo (formerly Manchuria) and other territory after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The Mongolian People's Army fought on the Soviet side in this event.

The circular mural which hangs suspended beside the statue of the soldier depicts a variety of scenes showing Mongolian-Soviet co-operation.

In addition to the seriousness of the monument, there was a lot of commerce taking place here, too.

One such commercial venture was the opportunity to hold this beautiful eagle with a protective glove. These birds are traditionally used in western Mongolia for hunting - captured as young and released in the wild as they age. A marvelous movie, The Eagle Huntress, tells of this practice, but I hated to see them used commercially like this. When he spread his wings so magnificently, I couldn't resist a photo, though.

Our final outing was to the Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan - the leader who had been in power when the Choijin Lama Temple had been built. Bogd Khan was the last king,  Jebtzun Damba Hutagt VIII and regarded as Mongolia’s eighth Living Buddha. This somewhat modest palace was built between 1893 and 1903, and the king lived here for 20 years. This wall (above) is a shield wall, built to keep out evil spirits and danger. It is considered bad luck to go behind it and even to step into its shadow.

The campus consists of six temples, richly decorated and displaying many superb Buddhist artifacts.

These two larger-than-life figures looked as if they had been put together with legos. They were unlike anything I've seen before.

There were beautiful thangka's.

We were caught in one of the temples by heavy rain. I enjoyed watching these children ahead of us playing in the rain.

As a result of being held in place by the torrential rain, I spent a great deal of time photographing the inside of the temple we were caught in, waiting for the rain to ease off.

There was also a collection of bronze and gold statuettes of Tara, who is known in Tibetan Buddhism as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. The pieces in this museum were created by Zanabazar in the 17th Century. He was a religious leader and artist who is highly regarded as the Asian Michelangelo.

The actual winter residence was a two story white building, which you can see on the right.

It contained a great variety of different displays. This is part of the Bogd Khan's 'Elephant Regalia', which was apparently worn by his pet elephant!

These painted panels are the backs of a bench seat described as the chair of the first Bogd Undur Gugeen (The Great Enlightened) Zanabazar - the artist who had created the statuettes pictured earlier.

This remarkable collection of nooks and crannies mounted on the wall, was described as the Queen's cosmetic box. It was made of paper and silk.

The King and Queen each had their own bed. Both structures sat in the same room, but as you see here, they were really like a little room all by themselves.

And so I leave you with a photo of this lovely light fixture. A lamp from a Lamp!
The modest size of this palace was really fitting for a country that probably had a population of less then a million at the time it was built. It was a fair representation of art work and style of the time, but I didn't find myself wondering how 'robbed' the citizens must have felt about the taxes it may have involved to provide opulence for their leaders. It was a suitable way to end this journey in a country that exuded beauty in its land and people.

 The following day, Nadine and I head off in different directions. She to her home in Australia, me to spend six days in Hong Kong.