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04 Transportation
04 Transportation
Central is a district with sophisticated transportation system. You can reach or leave it by bus, mini-bus, private cars, taxi, train, tram or ferry. Among these vehicles, tram and ferry are the two with the longest history. They act as witnesses to Hong Kong's dynamic development. Furthermore, they serve as visitors' "must-try" for their brief travel in the city.
In the morning of our day tour, we got on a ferry. With the sea breeze blowing softly onto our face, all vexations seemed to vanish. 'Ich warte schon eine Stunde,' a German woman muttered to the male who sat next to her. One of us learnt German so that we knew what she meant. She complained to her husband that she had already been waiting for an hour. 'Yes, Mr Smith. We have arranged an interview for you on the coming Friday,' a businessman who sat next to us talked to the other party on phone with a heavy Hong Kong accent. Central is undeniably a place for business and entertainment such as shopping in big malls, and drinking in bars and clubs. It is not surprising to see that half of the passengers on the ferry are tourists and businessmen.
In our ferry ride, we saw tourists from different countries standing next to the fence and holding their cameras. We heard all kind of languages. They mix together as if we were on an ocean liner which travels around the world with passengers of different nationalities.
In recent years, passengers can join the harbor tours held by the Star Ferry every day to get a much better glimpse of Hong Kong's skyline. These tours are getting more popular due to the chaos caused by the relocation of Queen's Pier a few months ago. 'I really hope that these old yet adorable white-and-green boats will retain their shapes and sizes. Star Ferry should maintain its iconic identity,' said Smriti Bindra, one of our interviewers who came from the Philippines. Anoushka Brand, who was Smriti's buddy, nodded her head to show her absolute agreement. No doubt that the Star Ferry is an icon of Central as well as an attraction of Hong Kong. It is cheap but valuable.
We spent the whole afternoon wandering off Central to take pictures and do interviews. After that, we rode on the tram and slowed down our pace. "Tingle, tingle..." an unchanged but familiar sound was made by the tram as it was approaching the tram stop. We felt that we were traveling on a space shuttle and going back to the old days of Central. The sound seemed so disharmonious with Central's business and up-to-date environment. The tram we rode on had low traveling speed and was lack of air-conditioning. Besides, it was driven so slowly that it could never be compared with other vehicles in Central. However, we enjoyed our ride. We knew that these were the trams' unique features.
All in all, these two means of transportation may seem old-fashioned and ill-timed to Hong Kong people who are usually busy and have fast cadence of life. Nevertheless, to spend HK$2.00 for an experience of Hong Kong's collective memory, why not?
Central is a district with sophisticated transportation system. You can reach or leave it by bus, mini-bus, private cars, taxi, train, tram or ferry. Among these vehicles, tram and ferry are the two with the longest history. They act as witnesses to Hong Kong's dynamic development. Furthermore, they serve as visitors' "must-try" for their brief travel in the city.
- Ferry
In the morning of our day tour, we got on a ferry. With the sea breeze blowing softly onto our face, all vexations seemed to vanish. 'Ich warte schon eine Stunde,' a German woman muttered to the male who sat next to her. One of us learnt German so that we knew what she meant. She complained to her husband that she had already been waiting for an hour. 'Yes, Mr Smith. We have arranged an interview for you on the coming Friday,' a businessman who sat next to us talked to the other party on phone with a heavy Hong Kong accent. Central is undeniably a place for business and entertainment such as shopping in big malls, and drinking in bars and clubs. It is not surprising to see that half of the passengers on the ferry are tourists and businessmen.
In our ferry ride, we saw tourists from different countries standing next to the fence and holding their cameras. We heard all kind of languages. They mix together as if we were on an ocean liner which travels around the world with passengers of different nationalities.
In recent years, passengers can join the harbor tours held by the Star Ferry every day to get a much better glimpse of Hong Kong's skyline. These tours are getting more popular due to the chaos caused by the relocation of Queen's Pier a few months ago. 'I really hope that these old yet adorable white-and-green boats will retain their shapes and sizes. Star Ferry should maintain its iconic identity,' said Smriti Bindra, one of our interviewers who came from the Philippines. Anoushka Brand, who was Smriti's buddy, nodded her head to show her absolute agreement. No doubt that the Star Ferry is an icon of Central as well as an attraction of Hong Kong. It is cheap but valuable.
- Tram
We spent the whole afternoon wandering off Central to take pictures and do interviews. After that, we rode on the tram and slowed down our pace. "Tingle, tingle..." an unchanged but familiar sound was made by the tram as it was approaching the tram stop. We felt that we were traveling on a space shuttle and going back to the old days of Central. The sound seemed so disharmonious with Central's business and up-to-date environment. The tram we rode on had low traveling speed and was lack of air-conditioning. Besides, it was driven so slowly that it could never be compared with other vehicles in Central. However, we enjoyed our ride. We knew that these were the trams' unique features.
All in all, these two means of transportation may seem old-fashioned and ill-timed to Hong Kong people who are usually busy and have fast cadence of life. Nevertheless, to spend HK$2.00 for an experience of Hong Kong's collective memory, why not?
EN2707 |
Latest page update: made by EN2707
, Nov 6 2009, 7:38 PM EST
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