China Photos 2

It is a bit overcast early in the morning. Also there is a large cloud over the mountain on the right. That would affect my day. This is a view of Hong Kong Island across the harbour.
The Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower dates back to circa 1915. The clocks began ticking on March 22, 1921 has haven't stopped since, except during the Japanese occupation during World War II.
The 34th Hong Kong Film Awards were going to be held during my stay. I don't know how many films they make in Hong Kong but I guess enough to have awards.
A giant tea set at the 1881 Heritage. An interesting bit of information. 1881 Heritage is a complex of high-end stores but used to be Victorian era government buildings built in 1884. So why is it called 1881 Heritage? Because the number 4 has a similar pronunciation to 'death' in Chinese so they changed the date for superstitious reasons.
This is the Time Ball Tower. Time balls used to be very important in the olden days. From 1885 to 1907 the ball atop the tower would drop at 1:00 p.m. each day so that ships in the harbour could calibrate their chronometers. It wouldn't work now because there is a big building in the way.
The Golden Bauhinia. It is here at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre where they do a daily flag-raising ceremony. This is also the first time seeing one of those ridiculous contraptions, the selfie stick.
I think this is my first trip to a communist country, even though Hong Kong is a little slice of capitalism.
Hup, two, three, four. Or whatever that is in Chinese. Click here for a video of the flag raising ceremony. A word of warning, it's not the most thrilling 4:07 ever recorded. A bit of marching about, a bit of flag hoisting and that's about it.
This is a view from Hong Kong Island back toward Kowloon.
The Star Ferry runs a route between the island and Kowloon. I planned to ride it but it never happened.
Hong Kong used to be a British colony until 1997. Marks and Spencer is pretty darn British.
Back across the harbour in the Tsim Sha Tsui district. Among the shops and restaurants is the Charlie Brown Cafe. I wonder if Charles Schultz okayed this.
Another obligatory photo of a sex shop.

TO HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY