Hong Kong
Up and Away
Suzie Amer goes up in the air and gets a different perspective
Hong Kong, as I experienced it a while back with 80 meeting planners from around the world, is a more frenetic and cluttered version of New York. Skyscrapers abound and throngs of people clog the streets, dodging cars and bicycles. But outstanding was Hong Kong's sheer volume of signage: Draped across busy, hectic streets, Chinese characters compete with one another, each one improving upon the next in size, color, or brightness. The signs, the streetcars, the traffic, and the ongoing construction projects give the city a more jumbled, frenzied feel than the busiest parts of Manhattan, set to the persistent, penetrating soundtrack of English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. It is thrilling.
On the final day of our visit, we were given an incomparable view of where Victoria Harbor separates Hong Kong Island from Kowloon (which, along with the New Territories and the some 260 outlying islands, comprise greater Hong Kong) in a guided helicopter tour.
It was my first time in a helicopter, and I was riding shotgun. As the pilot lifted off I experienced a mixture of nausea, vertigo, and stone-cold fear. Soon, however, the glass bubble separating me from certain death began to afford me a bird's-eye view of the jumble of skyscrapers that loom over Victoria Harbour, where old-fashioned junks negotiate with ferries, cruise ships, and sight-seeing boats on their way to Aberdeen Harbour (itself cluttered with floating homes and Jumbo, the world's largest floating restaurant).
Up there, the details of Hong Kong fell away. I scanned the vista for a glimpse of Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, which, on street level, is adorned with bamboo and wooden cages filled with songbirds; or the Flower Market, where colorful blooms from all over the world can be found, but these could not be seen from afar. Nor did have I time to spot any of the Buddhist, Taoist, or Confucian temples that are sprinkled throughout the city; however, the International Finance Centre (the world's third-tallest building) did soar up from its perch on Hong Kong Island. The massive aluminum roof of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, supported in part by the world's largest glass wall, seemed to undulate over its 2.67 million square feet of space (including 689,000 square feet of function space and six restaurants).
It was easy to identify my host, the InterContinental Hong Kong—it's the only Hong Kong hotel actually built over the edge of the harbor in Kowloon. Of its 514 rooms and suites, nearly two-thirds feature incredible views of Hong Kong Island beyond the harbor. The view from my hotel window was of the Central District, the business and financial heart of the city that is located on Hong Kong Island; its skyline, brilliantly lit, as seen each night from the InterContinental, is an image I'll never forget. The hotel also boasts the island's largest ballroom, at 9,515 square feet, and prefunction space to hold up to 600 for cocktails. But as I flew over the Tsing Ma suspension bridge—the second-longest bridge in the world—I reflected how easy it is to forget that 40 percent of the territory is officially designated a conservation area.
All of this took less than five minutes. As the pilot turned the helicopter back toward the landing pad, the frenetic pace of the city re-emerged, and I, once again aware of the glass bubble in which I was suspended, braced myself for landing, back into the vibrant commotion of Hong Kong.