Hong Kong Classics: Shopping & Hiking!

Back home in Mid-Missouri, we had only one mall in my town. Here in Hong Kong, I enter a mall at least twice a day: on my way to school and back, in order to get to the university, I must pass through a mall. In fact, in order to get anywhere, one generally must pass through a mall. And it is not uncommon for one mall to connect to another mall that connects to another that leads one home, or to the way home--a train station. So in Hong Kong, following malls seems to be the thing to do if you're lost or unsure of how to get back. Shops are also open day and night and on every corner there is a type for everyone: the ladies market, the night market, the jade market, the fish market, the wet market, etc. The endless shops are unavoidable, and even natural. While this strong presence of commercialization has shaped my experience here, mostly favorably (as you can see a group of us having a good time at the Ladies Market), I am troubled by the fact that sometimes shops seem more natural than nature itself.



However, the other day as Samantha casually noted, mountains form the background. Towering above all the shops, markets, and malls, stand massive mountains. Over the weekend, we ventured out away from the buildings, to explore this beautiful backdrop: mountains. On Friday, Anna, Tim, Cici (a friend from my school), and I left the NTT House at 6:30am to hike up Victoria's Peak. The scenic route began at Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road and encircled the mountain, taking us through waterfalls, forests, and breathtaking views of more mountains. The next day, hungry for more, we (Tim plus ALL the ladies--Anna, Kirstin, Claire, Samantha, and I) again left at 6:30am to hike Lion Rock, the mountain that we can see from our windows at the NTT House. This hike included getting a bit lost, trusting local Chinese hikers, climbing endless stairs, ducking through trees, watching out for monkeys, and ultimately landing on a peak!

I have never before in my life been in such a place with the most intense and beautiful combination of both cityscape and landscape; a place where one may sometimes confuse one for the other. Nevertheless, after experiencing both, it is certainly clear, that there is nothing with more grandeur or nature than nature itself.