Ships in Hong Kong Harbor

My hotel room looks out over Victoria Harbor from Central, facing Kowloon across the harbor, and I spend time watching the boat traffic in the harbor.  Victoria Harbor is about 1 km (.6 mile) wide and 9 km (5.6 miles) long, is sheltered from storms by the mountains on Hong Kong Island, and is deep enough for the largest ships.

This was once one of the British Empire's largest military and trading ports and is now one of the world's busiest commercial ports.

I just watch the huge variety of ships come and go.

Ships passing by

The harbor is incredibly busy and, sitting at one spot, there is always something interesting passing by.  I site mesmerized for long periods just watching it all.

Food and Dining in Hong Kong

As I stroll through the streets of Hong Kong, I stop often to admire the fresh food available in the neighborhood shops.

 Neighborhood shops

Many of the shops also cook and serve the food they sell, offering great meals for those without the time to take it home and prepare it themselves.

 Dining in

Alongside the food shops are small stores with the kitchen equipment needed to enjoy this great fresh food at home.

Equipment

My meals in Hong Kong are generally simple plates of noodles, fish, and dumplings.   One dinner is sui mai (shrimp dumplings), beef balls, cuttlefish balls, Shanghai noodles, and Thai-style fish cakes.

Noodles, dumplings, meat and fish balls, and fish cakes

Another assortment is sui mai, beef balls, Japanese fried dumplings, fried rice with vegetables, and a spring roll.

Shrimp, beef, fried ride, dumplings and spring roll

And, there are a few more variations on this theme.

More dinner assortments

As a treat for lunch one day, I head over to a famous roast goose restaurant, Yung Kee, where I dine on one-quarter roast goose and broccoli stalks (I ordered steamed vegetables, but ended up with broccoli stalks, which also worked well).  Yung Kee has been making roast goose the same way since 1942 and, in 1968, was named one of the top fifteen restaurants in the world by Fortune Magazine.  The goose is cooked on charcoal to give the skin a dark red color and intense aroma, accompanied by a secret marinade and a homemade plum dipping sauce.  It is delicious!

 Yung Kee, goose on display

 Goose with dipping sauce, asparagus

 I dine well in Hong Kong and enjoy both viewing the products in the market and eating the meals that are derived from them.  My only regret is that I couldn't shop in the market and prepare some of the great offerings myself!

Hong Kong Maritime Museum

The Hong Kong Maritime Museum is dedicated to preserving, collecting, and displaying objects that tell the story of trade and maritime activities in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.  The museum is located on Pier 8 in the Central Harbor Waterfront overlooking Victoria Harbor and displays over 1,200 objects in 13 galleries on three levels.

Maritime Museum on Pier 8

Each of the museum's galleries focuses on a theme, including China's maritime heritage, the Canton Trade, the Pirate Coast, Hong Kong harbor, the evolution of China's maritime technologies, relations with foreign powers, maritime technologies (communications, charting, navigation, pilotage), and Chinese marine art.

The initial galleries of the museum show the evolution of Chinese seagoing activities, starting in the Zhou period, 1046-256 BC.  Maritime contact with east and southeast Asia grew in importance from the 1st century AD.

 Early ships and trade

An imperial decree issued in 1685 allowed foreign ships to call at all Chinese ports, but this was modified in  1757, limiting foreigners to trading at just one port, Guangzhou, then known to Europeans as Canton.  The gallery shows examples of luxury goods that were traded with foreigners at Canton, including paintings, furniture, clothing, wallpapers, lacquerware, porcelain, ivories, pewterware, and silverware.

 Canton trade

One gallery is dedicated to the COSCO Group that controls the largest shipping fleet in China and the second largest in the world.  In addition to the operation of hundreds of merchant vessels, the group manages container terminals worldwide and runs huge shipbuilding and ship repair facilities in China.  The next gallery is dedicated to modern shipping facilities and vessels, with models of many current ships.

 COSCO Group

 Modern shipping

My favorite galleries were the ship bridge displays and the bridge simulator used for training crews in the operation of modern ships.

 Bridge display

 Bridge simulator

Throughout the museum, there are great views of Hong Kong harbor and Kowloon on the other side of the harbor.

 Views across the harbor

The Hong Kong Maritime museum packs a lot of history and information in a small space and the juxtaposition of representations of early Chinese trade with the world and today's modern shipping industry is quite intriguing.