Perhaps it was partly the sunshine that made the difference, but there were also other advantages which made my stay in Hong Kong seem like a holiday interlude. Its tax-free, duty-free status draws hordes of tourists from all over the world, lusting after bargains but often proclaiming their innocence by the phrase: "Is that American dollars or Hong Kong?" With a rate of 5.65 H.K. Dollars to one U.S. Dollar, they should hardly need to ask, and have certainly damaged their bargaining position by indicating to the Chinese shopkeeper that they do not know, to within 500% or so, the price of the article.
This large tourist traffic means that Hong Kong has the best hotels in the region and I now understand fully why so many newspaper articles on China or Indonesia or Vietnam, come from "our correspondent in Hong Kong". I stayed at the Peninsular Hotel in Kowloon on the mainland, a ferry-ride from Hong Kong island - and rated it the best of all the hotels I used during my world tour, because it offered luxury with dignity rather than with ostentation and achieved a certain "period" flavour refreshing to the spirits after the noisy brashness of so many modern hotels.
The Crown Colony of Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong Island, the peninsular of Kowloon and the New Territories - leased for 99 years in 1898.
The prosperity of the Colony and the small area available have forced builders high up the mountain sides, and multi-storey buildings are fantastically perched where it would seem impossible for a mountain goat to gain access or foothold. A spectacular view of this, by daylight or night is obtained by a ride up the Peak Railway.
The Island looks tiny when viewed from a 'plane, but a drive round by car corrects this impression to some extent. A popular ride is to Aberdeen, where I was ferried to the Tai Pak Floating Restaurant and enjoyed the best Chinese food I have tasted anywhere. "All unconscious of their doom" the fishy materials of the meals swim around in a pound at the side of the Floating Restaurant until selected by a diner who, after pronouncing the death sentence goes inside and waits for his victim to be served up. I recalled a hotel on the A.I. in Yorkshire where, years ago I was invited to select trout from the graceful speckled creatures swimming in a tank. At that time, I was not completely sullied by "the world's slow stain" and I refused, to the surprise of my companion, a Yorkshire man, who said that "brass" alone signified in this part of England and that for a price the Hotel Manager would unquestionably be willing to strangle and serve up the pet canary then singing energetically in its cage.
Tai Pak Restaurant displays pictures of some of the Royal personages, film-stars and other celebrities who have eaten there.
On leaving, I was given a pair of chopsticks, one of which I shall have sharpened at the point so that food can be speared; the other can be drilled vertically for use as a drinking-straw. This is the only way I can ever hope to take a meal with the sole aid of chopsticks.
Hong Kong has a special importance to the Press as (in their phrase) - a "listening-post" to find out what is going on in China. The dedicated newsmen may be found hard at work, listening until the early hours of the morning if need be. Certainly, the noise in some of the bars is so great that unless someone were listening hard, the Red Guard could march in unheard. This concept of the "listening-post" is perhaps the most significant discovery of modern times. Formerly, a reporter wanting to know what was happening in Peking, or Djakarta, or Hug, would go there at considerable personal inconvenience, put up with poor hotels and bad food, and confuse himself with a lot of facts, often very irritating to his employer. Now, free from this sort of bias, he can listen in comfort and keep his mind on the important business of reporting what his readers want to hear.
Whatever Hong Kong's value as a "listening-post" there is no doubt about its importance as a trading post for China and through it comes a wide variety of products - from fans and carvings for the tourists, or china and clothing for the home, to lifting-tackle and machine tools for the factory - usually at staggeringly low prices, since China wants foreign exchange.
American tourists must obtain a certificate of origin to prove that the Chinese souvenirs they are buying were not made in China, and the infinitely obliging Hong Kong shopkeeper finds this no problem.
In Hong Kong and Kowloon there are two department stores selling only goods from "Red" China, and I spent an hour or so one evening looking round. Because of the weight problem I restricted my buying to a sandalwood fan, three traditional Chinese scenes painted on silk, and a jade ring. Ahead of me at the jewelry counter was an American also buying a jade ring which he explained would fit his wife's finger, providing it would just pass over the top joint of his own little finger.
I guess I'm going to have a little Customs problem when I get back - we don't deal with Communist China."
We discussed the difficulty and decided that anything controversial is best kept in the left-hand jacket pocket so that it can quickly be produced when asking for the guidance of the Customs officers. We further agreed that it is very easy to forget odd items in the left-hand pocket, and that one rarely hears of ordinary travellers being searched by the Customs officials.