Paper shoes

So the tour started at 11 AM. It was organized by the university students of Hong Kong to introduce us to the city and the surrounding areas we may not normally get the chance to see. The day before there seemed to be alot of interest from the whole group to take part in the tour, however only three of us eventually turned up. I felt really bad considering the work the students put into the tour.

So Rob and myself got placed with one tour group, and the only other guy who turned up went on his own with the others. At first our group seemed a bit quiet, they were sitting in the corner and not really talking or making an effort. That soon changed though when we all got into the taxi, I was with the girls and we did not stop chatting all the way to their university, where we had lunch and a tour of their campus. After lunch we all went on the KCR, which is a railway line into the 'New Territories' of Honkers which is a far more rural area. There we were shown two different types of temples and could even go inside (but no pictures allowed of that). What was brilliant was that being with the Hong kong students gave us the chance to ask questions ourselves about their own culture. One amazing thing we learnt was that there are shops which sell just paper replica goods of real objects. For example take a look at these paper shoes.Now they seem real, but they are in fact made to burn so they can be provided to departed ghosts and spirits who may need such items in the afterlife. You can get paper I pods, Playstations and even a paper umbrella. i also found out the significance of incense in Hong Kong. Firstly Hong Kong comes from the name 'Incense port' when translated, as that was its main historical trade. Secondly incense is burned so that ghosts and spirits can taste and find their way. This is why so many shops place incense outside their door, not to create a nice smell like i thought, but instead for ghosts.
One last interesting place we were taken was a walled village, In the picture is the entrance. Basically it is exactly what it sounds like, a self contained village which is walled in and protected. Reasons for this protections was mainly from bandits eager to steal goods and produce. However even when Britian took over Hong Kong these walled villages were given immunity from external governing. Whatever happened within the walled areas were dealt with by their own law and their own rule, apparently with no meddling from the government. We spent the whole day with the students and they were all great. What was lovely was that they all stayed with us after the tour ended at five pm, they could have gone home, but we were having such a good time they took us around Kowloon, showing us the popular shops for students and giving us an idea of Chinese pop culture. We all exchanged contact information and i think the girls said they are eager to take Robyn shopping. bx