The tightest city in the world

When asked about airports, one official stated: “There’s all the airports in the world, then there is Hong Kong.” Of course he was referring to Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport. Kai Tak is a thing of the past, having been replaced by a new airport situated miles from the dangerously high number of high rise apartment buildings right in the path of the approach to the runway. Planes then had to come in right over dozens of huge buildings as tenants were subjected to unspeakable noise. I have mentioned coming into Hong Kong a number of times amidst the high rises. I was too green a traveler to be aware of the risk at the time.

I have always said that Hong Kong has the most surprises of any place I have visited.

The city has some 7.4 million people in an area of 425 square miles of land.

I retook the Ram Tour the other day, this time by video. It wound its way through high rise buildings for miles and finally ended in the high hills overlooking the city. I had read that this was the way to get a feel of the spread-out city.

I have come to know how bad the traffic is in Seattle, but it couldn’t hold a place in comparison to Hong Kong.

Drivers there of double-decker buses are easily the best drivers I have seen, or the luckiest, or maybe both.

There is the greatest variety of vehicles mixed in with walking traffic. Just watching them stop and the volume of traffic and noise is scary.

I had found the misspelling of English names on buildings rather fascinating. This in spite of the fact that Hong Kong had been held by the British for a very long time.

The new airport, several miles in distance, someday will suffer the same fate as Kai Tak, as residential living space will gobble up more land.

It is a land of excitement, shopping, food, and, I guess, intrigue.