Travels with George, Part Five July 2, 2011

George narrated us around Hong Kong Island.  The following images show some of the other sites we saw, mostly out of the window of the mini-bus...

Yep, the next Harry Potter film is highly anticipated here, too!!!!

We were wondering about smoking in China.  When we were in Turkey, there was still smoking in all public places our first time in Istanbul.  However, after a month's journey and our return to Istanbul, a new law was enacted that forbid smoking inside public restaurants.  The expression "smoke like a Turk" is absolutely rooted in fact, so this new law simply compelled the smokers to move the dining tables and chairs out into the alleyways where they could smoke and dine at the same time!  Here in Hong Kong, the non-smoking law was enacted about a year ago.  Since then, George tells us, many people have tried to quit smoking.  Hence, our observation regarding seeing fewer smokers than we had anticipated on the streets. 

This is St Michael's Catholic Cemetary.  It is an amazing use of land space, with the graves on terraced land.  It really is very beautiful....  George tells us that most people in Hong Kong now cremate their dead loved ones.  In the past, burial was more of the norm; however, bodies were buried and then the caskets were reopened seven years later.  Families could choose to have the bones sent to them.  The land was then reused for another person who needed a burial place.

This is the hotel complex at which we are staying, viewed from the outside.  As I said earlier, we have a most beautiful view of the harbor.