Hong Kong's Central Business District by day:
The ship was docked right next to one of the biggest shopping malls in the area; in fact, everyone had to walk through the mall to get to and from the ship. Good planning! Rather than shop or walk around among the tall buildings, we opted to see some of Hong Kong's historical monuments.
First we visited the Tai Fu Tai Mansion. It was probably built by Man Chung Luen around 1865. The Man clan dates back to the 800's at least, having migrated to the area between 960 and 1279. Man Chung Luen was a successful merchant and a renowned philanthropist. His mansion is regarded as one of the most elegant buildings in Hong Kong. It's a richly adorned residence situated on a large plot with open areas all around. Here's the mansion's "front door", which enters into the courtyard:
Detail of the decoration:
And here's the courtyard, inside:
Next, we moved on to the Man Lun Fung Ancestral Hall. According to the village elders, the hall was built in the late 17th century in honor of Man Fat Po, a member of the 8th generation of the clan. It's inscribed as the hall of speaking with scholarship. Fully renovated thanks to local donations, the hall is used today in the traditional manner as a place where the clan's ancestors are worshipped and ceremonies are celebrated. Here, the hall is still decked out for lunar new year, the Year of the Horse:
The door guard. He's painted on the outside of the door to keep bad guys and bad spirits out:
Finally, a visit to one final ancient temple in the middle of the local market. This one was loaded with offerings of fruit and the incense was so thick that you couldn't stay inside for long!
Night fell and the view across the bay to the CBD was amazing:
Look closely...can you see Gordon?
The next morning, we disembarked the ship. We walked around Hong Kong and spent the night in a really nice hotel. Had dinner in a real Chinese restaurant...we were the only people speaking English and eating with forks! Long flight home, 14 hours, but at least we were able to get a non-stop flight to Chicago. After 33 days aboard the Seven Seas Voyager, we were ready to get off. After two weeks at home, we were ready to get back on. We do miss our many friends aboard, especially Joel, the Spontaneous Duo and J. P. Nadeau, the piano man. We'll probably see them again...we're all like bad pennies.
