Hong Kong

We did a few other things while in Hong Kong. We headed over to the Kowloon Walled City Park. (Click the link for more info and old pictures). It was very interesting. It was a small area that had been walled in sometime in the 1870s by China has continually remained Chinese land throughout this whole Hong Kong/England land exchange. It was set up a little like a fortress. In the 1960-1990s it had buildings that were 8-10 stories high with almost 15,000 people living there. It occupied space just under 700 feet by 400 feet. The sidewalks were about 3 feet wide. The buildings were extremely close together and the neighborhood had become known as a place of drug dealers, shady business and lasciviousness. So they knocked the whole place down and created a park with monuments and remnants of the original wall. It was a nice little park. Hong Kong is very rich in history. The more time I spent there, the more I realized how little I know about it.

 The dog in the Zodiac garden.

 The Zodiac garden.

What the city inside the walled area used to look like. Pretty dense, right?

We went to the temple and did a session in English. We met a wonderful young woman there who was a Chinese national. She had returned from her mission to Temple Square just a month before and was in town to spend time in the temple before returning home. I could tell it broke her heart to be back in a country where she couldn't share the gospel with friends. She gave me a hug. She says she's applying to BYU-Hawaii for next fall. I hope she gets in and is able to return to America.

After the session we went over to the ward house and changed. There was a wedding there. It was interesting to see Mormon wedding culture mixed with Chinese wedding culture. Very few of their friends and family were members so they did the Chinese customary ceremony afterwards at the ward house, without the alcohol. She was beautiful. We told them congratulations and were on our way out. 

Then we went and did the Mid-level escalators. That's the next post.