Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The New Territories
The New Territories is the part of the mainland between Kowloon and the Chinese border and is actually a much larger area than the city itself. Although there is a great deal of housing development and 'new towns' the area still has quite a lot of real countryside, which like the beaches on Hong Kong island may come as a surprise to some people. Whilst it is possible to get around on public transport or taxis we eventually decided to book an organised tour. On our first attempt to get around on our own we almost ended up in China (or maybe custody!) by accident. We went to the last train stop inside Hong Kong as instructed by our guide book, only to discover that the rules had changed and that the only way to leave the station was to go through Chinese immigration. Almost anyone can get an entry visa at the border, unless you have a British passport, in which case it's much more difficult and you really need to have applied back at the embassy first, so Plan B it was.The first thing we noticed on our tour was that we remembered how much sympathy we had for every other tour group we've seen over the past year, as they are relentlessly driven from place to place with only a few minutes to take photos before being herded back into the bus. We had quite a good day though, unlike our guide who seemed to either be having an off day or just generally regretting his career choice. Up in the hills there are quite good views back across the city and you can even go walking if you have time (although significant quantities of mosquito repellant would have be required on the day we visited). Some of the old British army sites are still around, it's just that the Chinese have moved in and (quite literally) just changed the signs over the door.
There are still 'walled villages' here which are basically filled with very narrow streets of very small 'houses' town which are really just one room in most cases. In the past these were homes to many families, although it sounds like things have changed over the years. Now it seems that the families have moved outside the walled area to the new town that has sprung up. And the tiny little houses? well they've become the local equivalent of 'Starter Homes', rented out to young couples who can't afford anything else. From what we were told it also sounds like the owners are hanging onto every bit of property that they can in preparation for a house price boom that they expect when (or if) there is a future opening or relaxing of the Chinese border.
The last place we were taken to was quite sad really. It's a waterfront area of land where there is a fairly large collection of house boats, there are more of them than in Aberdeen and it all looked a bit smarter. However, right on the waterfront is a huge development of luxury apartments (which seems to be nicknamed Beverly Hills). The apartments are still not finished but the lots were sold several years ago and (according to our guide) many have already changed hands several times as the prices climb. Unfortunately (for the water dwellers) the purchasers of the apartments were promised an idyllic waterfront view which clearly didn't involve a fishing village, so the current local residents are being 'rehoused' to ensure that the rich folk can have their fantasy "Waterfront Living" lifestyle.
New Territories photos are here.
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