Post-SARS, Hong Kong Trip Priced as Steal

H O N G  K O N G, Feb. 18, 2004 -- "Your hands are like clouds," said tai chimaster William Ng. "You are a bird showing its wings. … You areholding the cosmos."

As I waved my limbs with the other tourists, that last imagedidn't seem too far off. In front of us was breezy VictoriaHarbour, the skyline of the Kowloon peninsula a backdrop toblue-green waters dotted with ferries, cruise-liners and containerships. Beyond Kowloon was vast mainland China. Behind us, sunlightgleamed off ultramodern lines of glass and steel.

Hong Kong is pure energy, an epicenter of East meets West.Incredibly orderly, amazingly litter-free and impossibly packed,its skyscrapers stretch tall and thin from terraced slopes. Itswaterfront bustles and flows out to numerous beaches, islandrestaurants, and across the bay to Kowloon and the suburban "NewTerritories" that are growing up with clusters of skyscrapers amidthe traditional villages.

A Post-SARS Bargain

Not long ago, a trip here from the United States would haverequired a cash sacrifice along the lines of half a small car. Butafter SARS, and with new concerns about avian flu, that's changed,with drastically discounted airfare and hotel rates. When Itraveled to Hong Kong in December, fear of SARS hadn't disappeared— the lobby of the Newton Hotel where I stayed still had ahand-sanitizing machine, and some people still covered their faceswith handkerchiefs and surgical masks. But travelers were fillingthe city from around the world, reveling in the cheap deals.

"To get a ticket to Asia for under $1,000 usually is just afeat," said Lucas Bittick, a 27-year-old fellow traveler from St.Louis, Mo. "All my friends were worried about SARS. Whatever. Isay, hey, you only live once."

I found my deal after the mounting tally of a Midwestern skivacation sent me clicking around the Internet for Plan B. On my first click, gotoday.com, I saw it — a $699 package,including round-trip airfare from New York, five nights in a hotelwith a rooftop pool, and a half-day city tour — and booked it. Iadded about $200 to the cost by signing up for activities from thetour group's Web site, but some — like the tai chi class — werefree, offered by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

A Star-Studded Mountain Peak

My first day there, I joined a friendly group of Americans andEuropeans for the daily parade of tour buses to the top of1,800-foot-high Victoria Peak, its name a lasting tribute to HongKong's 156 years of British rule. That ended when Hong Kong washanded back to China on July 1, 1997.

The mountainside is sprinkled with homes of movie stars andbankers investing millions in the feng shui of geography — backs tothe power-giving mountains, fronts to the wealth-promising water. Aposh residential building has a square cutout in the middle toallow the mountain's mythical dragon to come out for a drink ofRepulse Bay.

With 6.8 million people sharing 683 square miles, space is at apremium. An average family's 600 square-foot apartment sells forover a million Hong Kong dollars (about $130,000), even after thebusting of Asia's 1990s finance bubble. Victoria Harbour isshrinking as the city "reclaims" land around its edges, so farsponging a third of the harbor with land for more skyscrapers.Clothes drying on poles over the streets are testament not to theinability to afford dryers, but to the lack of space for them. Hong Kong's reputation as a shopper's paradise may be overrated.I was warned beforehand about the low quality of made-to-orderclothes, so I didn't cash in on the coupon that arrived with myairline tickets. The knickknacks for sale at Stanley Market, a stopon the tour, seemed chintzy for the price. But I did come home withthe names and zodiac years of my niece and nephews painted inmulticolored Chinese calligraphy.

As a tax-free port, Hong Kong does offer good jewelry buys, andat one jewelry shop I got what I hope were good deals on Burmesejade as gifts for female relatives. Jade is said to bring good luckand improve with age depending on the "good blood" of the wearer.

Learning to Eat Prawns

That evening I took an evening cruise to dinner at Lamma Island,known for open-air shops and seafood restaurants. Hong Kong'snative cuisine is Cantonese — abundant in seafood, crisp vegetablesand steamed buns filled with sweet pork. The South Africans at mytable described it as bland, which it is when compared with spicierSichuan.

Our British companion offered a tutorial on the prawns thatstarted the meal: tear the head, snap the tail, peel the skin.Egg-battered tofu, garlicky scallops baked in the shell, lemonchicken, and sweet corn soup with crabmeat followed.

My second morning started with a metro ride to the Hong KongCultural Centre and the tai chi class, followed by a day ofsightseeing with Anat Givon, an Associated Press staff photographerwho lives in the city.

Our many stops included the fish market along the docks ofAberdeen Harbour, which is a natural mooring shelter duringtyphoons with a market that buzzes with the old ways. The marketmay be a dying tradition, as the younger generation scorns thelow-paying fisherman's life; fewer than 10,000 remain. The bulk ofHong Kong's seafood is now imported. Old women now spend their days selling tourists rides on thefamily sampan, the trademark wooden fishing boat bedecked withtires as bumpers against the piers.

But the ride was a highlight of the trip, a storybook chug pasta floating village of fishermen chattering on cell phones as theyrepaired buoys and detangled fishing lines, family dogs standingwatch over the rickety housekeeping inside.

Boats unload into the market, a pungent scene of bubbling tankskeeping the wares alive until they reach the kitchen. Workers movedfrom tank to tank in wading boots, while women in traditionalflat-brimmed straw hats worked the scales.

Chanting Monks, Dim Sum

On day three, I headed through the rolling hills of LantauIsland to one of the world's largest Buddhas, an 85-foot-highbronze statue atop a mountain. According to legend, the shrinehouses a bone fragment, encased in crystal, of the actual crematedBuddha. The chanting of monks inside echoes in the outsidemarketplace, which is scented with burning incense. Lunch at avegetarian restaurant there included tofu shaped and flavored toresemble chicken and shrimp.

Hong Kong is famous for dim sum, a meal consisting of a varietyof savory tidbits ordered a plate at a time and eaten in latemorning and afternoon. We tried ours at Maxim's, a frenetic scenewhere the maitre d' guided traffic with her walkie-talkie aswaitresses summoned by diners lifted the lids of bamboo warmers sothe food inside could be inspected. We enjoyed a few unfamiliardishes as well as old standbys — sweet barbecued pork buns, springrolls, and dumplings stuffed with shrimp and sausage. My last day took me out to the New Territories, a respite fromthe bustle that is now home to half the city's population. Wetoured the Bamboo Forest Monastery, where grieving families leavegifts and food for departed loved ones. We then walked the tinystreets of the 16th-century Kam Tin Walled Village — a remnant ofthe days when bandits wandered from village to village to pillageand plunder rival clans. The day ended at a lookout over the barbedwire separating the Shenzhen River and mainland China from HongKong.

As I departed, my mind filled with the city's futuristic images:throngs of people, the clicking traffic signals, sleek metro trainsand skyscrapers filling the night with flashing lights. Wars andrevolution in mainland China drove hundreds of thousands ofrefugees into Hong Kong and transformed it into the metropolis oftoday. Yet there are still remnants of the backwater fishingoutpost that existed here 150 years ago. And then there are thesmells of Hong Kong: soups, tea, dumplings and skewered meat soldat curbside counters, while incense smoke curls in the air fromsidewalk temples.

Amid this mix of ancient Buddhism and modern capitalism aremainland Chinese visitors, lining up at larger temples to rubstatues for good luck. I was happy to join the line.

If You Go…: Hong Kong Packages: Find Hong Kong discount packages, including airfare and hotel, at www.gotoday.com/HK-FGAH.asp. The Hong Kong Tourism Board also offers vacation packages atwww.discoverhongkong.com/usa.. Using the tourism board's Web site, you can sign up for classes (some are free, like tai chi) and other cultural activities, and plan excursions specializing in various themes (shopping, heritage, nature), including walking tours, bus tours and cruises. Note that weather in Hong Kong can be muggy and rainy.