dave liu dot com

Lying just a half-hour ferry ride from Central, Lamma Island is the third largest of Hong Kong’s islands and is a unique escape for Hong Kongers from the hustle and bustle of urban life. There are no cars here and few buildings are over three storeys high. Trails meander along hills and coastline and the beaches are actually quite clean and inviting!

My earliest memories of Lamma Island were as a young boy heading with my family to eat fresh seafood on its shores. Over the last 20 years the site has become much more commercial and small stalls where we lunched have now given way to rows of seafood restaurants that ferry customers to and from Hong Kong Island.

Lauren and I recently took a day excursion to the island and walked from north to south between the island’s two main villages. It’s a slight climb and can be done in under two hours.

Yung Shue Wan

Our route took us first to the small village of Yung Shue Wan. Until a few decades ago, this was a small village relying mostly on agriculture and fishing. It has expanded in recent years mostly to accommodate people attracted to the lower rents and laid-back lifestyle. Walking the narrow streets between the tightly packed buildings, you’ll see shops and restaurants that reflect his mixed heritage: stalls with dried fish, shops selling TVs and outlets with ghastly clothing.

Hung Shing Yeh Beach

This beach was surprising clean (for Hong Kong) and would be one of the few places I’d actually consider swimming.

Lamma Winds

At the top of a long, windy paved road is a single wind generator. This was built as a testament to Hong Kong’s commitment to alternative energy and a symbol of the regions need to pursue forms of clean technology. We trekked to the top and took some photos of the Hong Kong island and the wind generator.

Pavilion

Though there are a few small woods, the vegetation is mostly sparse grassland and scrub. At the top of the hill there is a pavilion with nice panoramic views of Lamma and nearby islands such as Cheung Chau and Lantau (site of the Hong Kong airport and Giant Buddha).

Lo So Shing Beach

During the Tang Dynasty (7th to 10th century AD), this was a center of local industry where seashells were baked to make lime. There are kilns nearby and many make shift docking stations for rich Hong Kongers to dock their boats while they snack on fresh seafood at the nearby restaurants. As you walk from Lo So Shing to Sok Kwu Wan, you’ll see tunnels that were used during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War. These tunnels were known as Kamakaze Tunnels as the Japanese used to camp in here to await unsuspecting enemies.

Sok Kwu Wan

As you’ll see, seafood restaurants dominate Sok Kwu Wan. They mostly serve people arriving on pleasure junks but are also a great place to eat lunch after a long walk. We had a fixed price meal for two (HK$320) at the Rainbow Seafood restaurant that was surprisingly good and include a free ferry ride back to Hong Kong island!

China is not a country - it’s a whole different world. From shop-till-you-drop metropolises to the epic grasslands of Inner Mongolia, with deserts, sacred peaks, astounding caves, and imperial ruins in between. Thank Buddha, management recently stopped destroying temples. Now they rip down mountains and poison rivers instead. But there’s still plenty to see once you’ve mastered the art of bulldozing your way through crowds and decorating footpaths, buses and restaurants with spit of every color and consistency known to humankind. Unless you have a couple of years and unlimited patience, it’s best to follow a loose itinerary here, such as Beijing to Tibet via Xian’s terracotta warriors, following the Silk Road route, sailing down the Yangzi River, or exploring the Dr. Seuss landscape of Guangxi Province.

The third-largest country in the world, China is bounded to the north by the deserts of Mongolia, to the west by the inhospitable Tibetan plateau and Himalaya, and to the east by the East and South China seas. China’s 22 provinces and five autonomous regions are governed from Beijing, along with some 5000 islands. Hong Kong and Macau have now returned to the fold as Special Administrative Regions (SAR). Disputed territories are dotted near and far around China’s south-east coast. Taiwan - which is bound to be next on China’s shopping list - is the best known. Then there’s the oil-rich Spratly Island group which every country in the region wants to suck dry, the Diaoyutai Islands (known as Senkaku to the Japanese), the Paracels (or Xisha, if China gets its way), and the Pescadores (or Penghu).

Sanya (三亚) is located on Hainan (海南), the smallest province of the People’s Republic of China located off the southern coast of the country. (For those American readers, this is the island where the US spy plane landed when it was shot down by China). When speaking of “Hainan” in Chinese, it is usually the main Hainan Island that is referred to. The PRC government claims Hainan’s territories to extend to the southern Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands and other disputed marine territory. Hainan is also known as the largest Special Economic Zone laid out by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s.

Sanya is the southernmost city in Hainan province, China and has an estimated population of 150,208 (2006). After Haikou, it is the second most populous city of the island. Sanya is revered for its tropical climate and is a popular tourist destination. Sanya is only 1.5 hours from HK by plane so its very easy to visit.

I was scheduled to visit Sanya for a venture capital offsite on a Friday after a long arduous work trip throughout mainland China. During the week, as I told people in China I was heading there I heard the following advice:

Monday: “Sanya? Oh, that’s like the Hawaii of China!”

Tuesday: “Sanya! Wow, that’s the Hawaii of China!”

Wednesday: “SANYA! THAT PLACE IS BETTER THAN HAWAII!”

I can safely say that after coming back from Sanya, it is truly better than Hawaii! There are top tier hotels (e.g., Sheraton) and the prices are very reasonable - after all we’re still in China! Finally, Chinese people don’t share the same affinity for the beach and sun as Americans. As such, the beaches weren’t crowded and were mostly filled with sunbathing Europeans and Australians.

Yalong Wan

This is a local park that located at a beach 7.5 km southeast of Sanya City. The park reminded me of a turn-of-the-century Universal Studios. Small trams take you around to key locations which are primarily religious sites or shrines. The highlight of the park is the a 108-meter Buddhist statue of Guanyin. This statue was completed in May 2005 and is one of the tallest statues in the world.

If you arrive in Shanghai and want a unique experience, I suggest you take the Shanghai Maglev Train. It can reach 350 km/h (220 mph) in 2 minutes, with a maximum speed in normal operation of 431 km/h (267 mph). During a test run on 12 November 2003, the vehicle achieved a top speed of 501km/h, which currently stands as the speed record for high speed transit vehicles. The project took 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) and 2.5 years to complete the 30.5 km (19 miles) track.

When I took the train, we reached a max speed of 300 km/h and the journey to the Pu Dong area of Shanghai took about 7.5 minutes. Definitely take it if you have time!

I was interviewed for the following article which was written by Steve Rosenbush and published by Business Week on August 11, 2005.

Investors hope it’ll be another Google, says China tech banking expert David Liu. But he warns that it’s “hard to pick winners in tech” The initial public offering of Baidu (BIDU ), the Chinese Internet search company, shattered records on Aug. 4. It was the most successful Nasdaq IPO in five years, rising from $27 to $154. While the stock price has settled back at $91, the company has recast the perception of the Chinese Internet market. Valuations of Internet companies, and search companies in particular, are on the rise.

Now, big players from the U.S. are pouring into the Chinese market. Google (GOOG ) has a stake in Baidu. Yahoo! (YHOO ) is said to be in talks with e-commerce site Alibaba, eBay (EBAY ) has acquired Eachnet, and MSN has its own operations in China (see BW Online, 8/11/05, “There’s More Where Baidu Came From”).

David Liu, managing director of China tech banking at Jefferies & Co., expects valuations to keep rising in the wake of the Baidu IPO. He spoke about the Chinese tech market with BusinessWeek Online Senior Writer Steve Rosenbush. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation.

Q: How would you characterize Baidu’s valuation?

A: By any conventional standards, the valuation looks very high. Its valuation is higher than Yahoo, Google, or eBay. To justify this valuation, Baidu needs to grow faster than Google.

Q: Why did Baidu’s value reach its current level?

A: The valuation of Baidu was driven by a “perfect storm” of investment conditions. There haven’t been that many IPOs, and the market is starved for good growth ideas.

Lots of investors have been kicking themselves because they didn’t buy Google when it was in the 80s. It’s 300 now. We’re also seeing rapid growth of the China market. It’s a very large opportunity. It’s the second largest Internet market in the world, and over the next two years, pundits believe, it will become the largest Internet market in the world.

The valuation of Baidu was also driven by the rapid growth of online advertising and revenues related to search. And the nice thing about Baidu is we’ve seen this movie before — in the U.S. Everyone believes the same movie is going to play out in China and that Baidu will do as well as Google.

Q: But is the current valuation justified?

A: The company hasn’t disclosed forward-looking revenue numbers. The analysts who worked on the deal are in a quiet period, and we won’t see anything from them until 40 days after the IPO, or early September. Those reports will show their view on Baidu’s projections. Once the numbers come out, we can figure out whether the company’s projected growth justifies its current valuation.

Q: How will the Baidu valuation alter the outlook for M&A and IPOs in China?

A: There’s no doubt the Baidu IPO will affect companies that are in a related space, like Alibaba. Any Chinese search company today is going to look at the Baidu situation and start thinking more about launching an IPO than pursuing an M&A.

Baidu will have an effect on the broader market, too. There are only 30 China-based tech companies on the Nasdaq. That’s a very small sample, so every single deal has a meaningful impact on expectations. If you’re a China-based tech company looking to sell or go public, an event of this magnitude heavily skews that sample and what you think the value of your company is. In my opinion, the Baidu IPO pushes valuations beyond the point where many M&A deals can get done.

Baidu clearly affects companies with one degree of separation — those that are rivals of Baidu. And it affects the valuation of Internet companies, or companies with two degrees of separation. They will argue that they make their money by monetizing traffic, just like Baidu.

Tech companies, which have three degrees of separation, will argue that they’re tech market leaders, just like Baidu and deserve a similar valuation. And companies with a fourth degree of separation, which operate beyond the tech market, will argue that they deserve a valuation comparable to Baidu, too. But I think these arguments lose credibility unless the company is a search company or an Internet company.

Q: Can you be more specific about how Baidu will change the outlook for M&A and IPOs in China?

A: Baidu will have the biggest impact on search companies like Sina and Zhongsou, which compete directly with Baidu. It also may have an effect on companies like Alibaba, the b2b site. While Alibaba may be in talks with Yahoo, it’s unlikely to sell out entirely. It may sell a piece to Yahoo, then go public, just as job site eLong sold a piece to Barry Diller’s IAC/Interactive before it went public. [eLong was acquired by Interactive and is now part of spinoff Expedia.]

We’ll see more two track deals like this. M&A is difficult in any market growing this fast because the seller thinks it’s going to keep growing like crazy, and the buyer thinks expectations are too high.

Other companies on the cusp of M&A or IPO include China HR, the job site. Rival job site 51job (JOBS) went public last year. It was the second-best performing IPO on the Nasdaq. Another job site, Zhaopim, may also be close to IPO or deal. The same is true for Soufum, the real estate site. But once you get beyond search and Internet sectors, the influence of the Baidu IPO really starts to wane.

Q: Is there a danger that an M&A/IPO bubble is forming in the China market?

A: Valuations are based on a company’s future growth. If these companies perform well, the valuations will be justified. If they don’t, valuations will come down. That’s why quarterly performance is so important. These kinds of businesses are so new in China.

But there will be a new Google, a new Yahoo, and a new Microsoft that comes out of China. And these market leaders will justify their valuations. But these companies are relatively small, and it’s hard to pick which ones will be winners. That’s why investors get paid so much money. It’s particularly hard to pick winners in tech, which tends to be a winner take all market.

Q: Will Baidu be a winner?

A: It has the lead right now, but someone else could come along. Google wasn’t the first search company in the U.S., or even the second or the third. And most of those early leaders aren’t around today.

I was interviewed for the following article which was written by Brian Bremner and Justin Hibbard and published by Business Week on August 11, 2005.

The search engine’s runaway stock may spur Chinese Net IPOs — and rein in M&A as companies’ ideas of their own valuation soar How do you say feeding frenzy in Chinese? The moon shot of an initial public offering by Chinese Internet search engine Baidu.com (BIDU ) — whose $27-a-share launch on Aug. 4 jumped fivefold, to $154, before settling back to around $90 — shattered a five-year record for the best debut on the Nasdaq. It tapped into a deep investor hunger for the next Google (GOOG ) — which has seen its shares triple in the past year — and a desire to profit from the Internet in China, where some 100 million people now go online.

So will Baidu’s success unleash a flood of China Net IPOs? There’s good reason for excitement. Broadband subscribers in China last year more than doubled, to 43 million, and Beijing technology research firm BDA China is forecasting the online advertising market, worth $208 million in 2004, will expand to nearly $1 billion by 2009.

IPO INSPIRATION

Although the stampede into Baidu is partly based on the search engine’s similarity to Google, it also reflects optimism about that potential growth. That’s why many analysts are bullish on Chinese Internet companies. “We will see an expansion of the valuations. Baidu helped that,” says Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy.

Indeed, some Chinese tech companies that have been considering a flotation might now jump in. “Given the success of Baidu, I’m sure some other Google look-alikes will be inspired to [do an] IPO,” says Khiem Do, head of Asian equities at Baring Asset Management.

At the same time, Baidu’s offering could put a damper on a wave of mergers and acquisitions among Chinese Net companies that had been picking up. Yahoo! last year paid $120 million for control of Beijing 3721 Technology Co., and it now appears to be close to a $1 billion deal to buy a one-third stake in Alibaba.com, an online marketplace for small and midsize Chinese companies.

“CROWD PSYCHOLOGY”

And in February online game pioneer Shanda Interactive Entertainment bought a 19% stake in portal Sina.com. After Baidu’s performance, however, Chinese Net entrepreneurs may believe their companies are worth more than potential acquirers are willing to pay. “The Baidu IPO pushes valuations beyond the point where many M&A deals can get done,” says David Liu, a managing director at investment bank Jefferies & Co. (see BW Online, 8/11/05, “Baidu: “We’ve Seen This Movie Before”").

All this doesn’t mean Baidu truly warrants its own sky-high valuation. Baidu, co-founded five years ago by former Infoseek engineer Robin Yanhong Li, is the mainland’s No.1 search engine, with 45% of the market. But the company earned just $1.45 million on $14 million in sales in 2004. At $90 per share, Baidu’s market capitalization is nearly $3 billion — which values it at more than 1,800 times 12-month trailing earnings, compared with price-earnings ratios of 70 or so for Google and Yahoo.

And Baidu faces intense competition. Its rivals include well-heeled U.S. search providers such as Google (which owns 2.6% of Baidu), smaller Chinese search sites, e-commerce players like Alibaba, and portals Netease, Sina, and Sohu. “We are in the realm of crowd psychology,” says Duncan Clark, BDA’s managing director.

WHO GETS BITTEN?

Investors might also note that the record of Chinese Net stocks has been mixed. Of the 10 Chinese tech companies that went public last year, 7 are trading below their offering price. Online 51job Inc., which went public at $14 in September, 2004, zoomed to $55 before falling to its current $13.

The one exception: Shanda Interactive, the best-performing stock on the Nasdaq last year. It went public in May, 2004, at $11 and now trades at $37.50, up 241%. Although Baidu’s IPO boosted some of the laggards, they quickly fell back to where they were before the IPO. In a feeding frenzy, it seems, someone always gets bitten.

I was interviewed for the following article which was written by Steve Rosenbush and published by Business Week on July 27, 2005.

Acquisitions and international investment holds the key to high wages, job growth, and productivity — all crucial to domestic tranquility Just a few weeks ago, it appeared that two Chinese companies were on the verge of making significant acquisitions in the U.S. Now, both deals are in peril. China-based appliance maker Haier (HRELF) appears to have dropped out of the bidding war for Maytag (MYG) in the face of a higher offer from Whirlpool (WHR). And China National Offshore Oil’s bid for energy company Unocal (UCL) has stalled in Washington, where political sensitivities over natural resources always run high.

Nonetheless, China remains poised to become a major player in the global mergers-and-acquisitions scene. Driven by fundamental economic and political needs, companies based in China will likely attempt larger deals over the next few years, especially in the technology arena.

RURAL STAGNATION

The primary driver of China’s M&A scene is social and political in nature. Beijing is worried about the prospects for political unrest. John Rutledge, a former economic adviser to President Bush, says disturbances and even riots in China are more common than many people in the West understand. While the Chinese leadership may not have to run for reelection, “it knows it can’t hold onto power without raising the standard of living,” says Rutledge, who now runs Rutledge Capital.

Despite China’s stunning economic growth during the past few years, the economic boom has yet to reach rural areas, where most of the country’s 1.3 billion people live. Wages in the industrialized coastal cities, where about 300 million people reside, have been growing 10% to 20% a year and total the equivalent of about $3,300 annually, according to David Liu, managing director at investment banker Jefferies & Co.

Liu says wages among the 1 billion people who live in the interior add up to about $352 a year — approximately one-tenth of what workers in the cities make in trades such as construction.

PUSHING PRODUCTIVITY

Through M&A, China can not only create economic growth but also help boost employment growth and raise wages. One part of that strategy involves Chinese companies buying troubled U.S. ones such as Maytag. With wages in China so much lower than those in the U.S., such deals also allow Chinese management to return broken-down U.S. companies to profitability, according to Liu.

But that game can only be played for so long. Wages in China will rise over time, and other low-cost centers of manufacturing, such as Indonesia or various states in Africa and the Middle East, will emerge.

To maintain its competitive advantage, Chinese companies must acquire technology that will make the country more productive — the real key to improved living standards.

TOP-TIER BUYS?

That was the thinking behind Chinese computer giant Lenovo’s purchase of IBM’s (IBM) PC division earlier this year (see BW Online, 5/9/05, “Lenovo and IBM: East Meets West, Big-Time”). It wasn’t for the brand, which Lenovo only can use for a few years. It was all about the technology, according to Liu, who heads up the company’s China business.

Bigger tech deals are on the way. “Chinese companies need to acquire top-tier technology in the U.S. and Europe. Buying second- and third-tier companies doesn’t really help, because they don’t boost productivity. What they really want to buy is Intel (INTC),” Rutledge says.

LARGER COFFERS

The process doesn’t have to occur overnight. Chinese leaders in business and politics, unencumbered by democratic elections and quarterly earnings expectations, can afford to wait more patiently than their counterparts in the U.S. And a lot can change in five years. The Lenovo deal would have been unthinkable five years ago.

China certainly possesses the financial wherewithal to make it happen. With $750 billion in liquid securities, the government has plenty of cash on hand. And the revaluation of the renminbi will strengthen the value of that currency in relation to the dollar, making it easier for Chinese companies to buy assets in the U.S. (see BW Online, 7/26/05, “China’s Revaluation: Don’t Fret”).

Formidable roadblocks to big-tech deals would exist. CNOOC’s Unocal bid has triggered a review in Washington that could drag on for the rest of the year, or longer. And it’s not clear that Unocal, which has a large percentage of its oil reserves in Indonesia, not the U.S., is really so crucial to U.S. strategic interests. The political opposition to a takeover of a major U.S. tech company may prove even greater.

THE RIGHT TARGETS

For now, Chinese companies will focus on more achievable goals, such as buying smaller and midsize tech companies. Liu participated in two such deals, including the sale of software maker Ross Systems to Hong Kong’s CDC Corp. (CHINA) in 2004.

Jefferies also sold Audiovox’s (VOXX) cell-phone division to UTStarcom (UTSI) last year for $165 million. While UTStarcom is based in Alameda, Calif., it does much of its business in China.

Such deals are fairly easy to close, assuming that the principals observe a few guidelines, according to investment banker Jeff Williams, principal of Jeff Williams & Co. Chinese companies need to pick U.S. targets carefully — deals that involve companies in aerospace and defense are still impossible to contemplate. But China is hardly alone in that regard. For now, only companies based in a few countries such as allies like Britain, France, and possibly Italy or Germany have a shot at making acquisitions in this area.

IRRESISTIBLE FORCE

China’s leadership will ultimately do whatever it takes to ensure a rising standard of living. And if China wants access to the top-tier technology that will boost productivity and growth, it may very well have to expand political freedoms at home to win approval of deals abroad.

Regardless of who ends up owning Maytag or Unocal in the short term, China’s emergence as a power player in the M&A market is only just beginning.

Lantau is the largest outlying island in Hong Kong – almost twice the size of Hong Kong! More than half of Lantau has been designated a country park area. Its tranquil and green environment makes it a popular spot for nature lovers and hikers. Incidentally, the island is also home to Hong Kong’s top notch international airport, Chek Lap Kok, and much maligned Hong Kong Disneyland which opened in 2006.On a side note, as an illustration of how the Chinese language sometimes loses its beauty when translated, we’ve included the following picture. Here’s some useful information on the Lantau Island Ferry. Note that it still gets the point across:

Giant Buddha and Po Lin Monastery

The 34 meter high Giant Buddha, the world’s tallest, outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha statue, sits on a lotus throne above a three-platform altar and weighs 250 tons. We purchased an admission ticket with includes a vegetarian meal at the staircase in front of the Giant Buddha. As you can see from these pictures, its really an awesome sight as you approach it from the road and see the clouds surrounding Buddha. We also had a great vegetarian lunch in at the monastery dining hall and we were told that you can stay there for a night if you are seeking enlightenment.

The nearby Po Lin Monastery, set amid spectacular mountain scenery on the 520 meter high Ngong Ping plateau, has a fabulous vegetarian restaurant where we had a hearty lunch!

We visited Ngong Ping Village, a Hong Kong culturally-themed attraction. You can travel by Ngong Ping Skyrail (aka cable car) to the Ngong Ping Village which includes three themed attractions: Walking with Buddha, Monkey’s Tale Theater and Ngong Ping Tea House.

The Wisdom Path

This is an outdoor wooden replica of the centuries-old Heart Sutra, one of the world’s best known prayers that is revered by Confucius, Buddhists and Taoists alike. It has been erected in the form of the symbol for infinity (∞) which represents immeasurable splendor and the concept of nothingness.

Tung Chung Fort

Occupying a 70 meter by 80 meter site, Tung Chung Fort was built in the early 19th century as part of a short-lived attempt to suppress the opium trade and defend the coastal area from pirates. The fort was declared a monument in 1979.

In 1997, the British set sail from Victoria Harbor and Hong Kong became the new Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Today it’s business as usual in the former colony. Beneath all of the ultra-modern clothes and haircuts and the glossy building exteriors, however beats the heart of old Hong Kong. CEOs head home to light joss sticks and pay homage to Buddha in front of ancestral shrines. The gliding junks and incense-clouded temples of Hong Kong’s past endure, somewhat obscured by McDonald’s golden arches and shelves upon shelves of Gap khakis.

My wife and I had the unique opportunity to grow up in Hong Kong during its rise as an “Asia Tiger”. During the 1970s and 1980s, Hong Kong evolved from a back water entreport into a global financial center to rival New York, London and Tokyo. Much has changed since we left for North America. Gone are the rickshaws that populated the Star Ferry and the abundant number of foreigners that gave Hong Kong a colonial, cosmopolitan feel. Much has changed. For instance, in place of the many British are now many tourists from Mainland China. Both most things remain the same – if not more abundant. Skyscrapers are even more prevalent as are the number of taxi cabs and . Domestic help from south east Asia countries such as Philippines and Indonesia appear more abundant than ever – particularly on Sundays in key parts of Central. And the pollution seems to keep growing at an ever increasing pace…However, going back to Hong Kong always gives my wife and me a sense of nostalgia. It is truly a unique place and I highly encourage you to visit if you ever find yourself in Asia. You will not be disappointed!

The city is definitely a must for anyone thinking about traveling to the region and is an ideal location to start any journey through southeast Asia. I personally lived there for over 13 years so I can recommend places to eat and things to see during your visit. I’ve included my pictures and descriptions of some of the sights that I was able to see during my visit from July 4 to July 12, 1999. Enjoy!

The Peak

The Peak is one of my favorite places in Hong Kong because it is here where you can truly experience the sharp contrasts of city, harbor and green. The great vistas make it one of the most popular tourist destinations and the clean air makes it a novelty in a city full of smog and congestion! On a clear (aka rare) day, you can see Tsing Ma Bridge, Hong Kong Disneyland, Lamma Island and other outlying islands. You can get here either by taking a bus or the Peak Tram from Central. I highly recommend the Peak Tram which has been providing unforgettable views since 1888. The cable pulled tram travels along a track so steep that nearby buildings appear to be tilting!

Western Market & Sheung Wan Fong

The Western Market, an Edwardian-style building originally called the Harbour Office, was built in 1906 and later became a food market before closing in 1988. Two years later, it was declared a historical monument, renovated and re-opened as the Western Market in 1991. Next to it is a compass-like piazza named Sheung Wan Fong. I encourage you to visit this market to see how people in Hong Kong bought meat before the advent of mass supermarkets. I remember coming here as a boy and seeing all the carcasses hanging from hooks and listening to the local butchers yell out the latest deals of the day. The smell of the place still lingers in my mind and if you ever get a chance to whiff the air you’ll know what I mean.

Man Mo Temple

One of the first traditional style temples built during the colonial era, Man Mo Temple’s magnificent external architecture reflects its historical roots. Inside, the air is thick with plumes of aromatic smoke from the coils and incense sticks that are said to carry prayers to the spirit world. Gold altars and red shrines pay homage to the Taoist gods of literature (“Man”) and war (“Mo”) – “Man” with his calligraphy brush and “Mo” with his sword. There is also a statue of Pau Kung, the god of justice, and another of Shing Wong, the god of the city. The plaques near the entrance give an interesting perspective on the history of the temple and its gods. The temple’s historical relics include a bronze bell dated 1847 and imperial sedan chairs made in 1862.

Avenue of the Stars

Located in Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon is Asia’s first Avenue of the Stars. Here you can see plaques honoring celebrities from the Hong Kong silver screen and those behind the camera.

Clock Tower

Located next to the Kowloon-side Star Ferry is the clock tower. Part of the original Kowloon-Canton Railway Terminus, the clock tower was completed and came into operation in 1921. This is a landmark from the Age of Steam, a time when people spent days traveling across Europe and Asia.

Victoria Harbor

Nothing demonstrates the pulsating growth of Hong Kong more than Victoria Harbor. As you can see in these pictures, Hong Kong has grown rapidly from a small island into a thriving metropolis with skyscrapers that rival New York and Tokyo.

In the first picture below, the Bank of China designed by I.M. Pei (of the Louvre museum fame) and the HSBC bank can clearly be seen. In addition, the following pictures show the Hong Kong convention center constructed for the handover ceremony of Hong Kong to China in June 1997.

View of the Hong Kong Convention Center.

Obelisk memorializing the handover of Hong Kong.

Wong Tai Sin Temple

This very large and active Taoist temple was built in 1973 and contains some sights that are very common in Chinese culture but may seem usual for people from the West. Aside from the people praying and giving offerings to the gods, there are galleries of fortune tellers, people shaking joss sticks for good luck and fortune telling, beautiful stone gardens carved in traditional Chinese style and numerous urns for burning incense. Below is a picture of Lauren having her fortune told by a local fortune teller. In addition, I’ve included pictures of numerous bas-reliefs of Kowloon (Nine Dragons) at the Wong Tai Sin Temple.

Longest Suspension Bridge In The World

This bridge that links Hong Kong Island to Lantau Island (site of the new airport and the giant Buddha statue) is reputed to be the longest in the world (take that San Francisco!!).

Longest Escalator In the World (Travelator)

At 800 meters long, this is the world’s longest covered escalator. It links Des Voeux Road Central near the harbor to Conduit Road (where I lived) in the Mid-Levels. The escalator is a convenient way to see the city hillside which contains great restaurants and shops. Traveling the entire length takes about 20 minutes. The escalator runs one-way downhill from 6 am to 10 am and then uphill from 10:20 am to midnight. This hillside escalator is known locally as a travelator. We took it many times to travel from Central to the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong Island in an effort to avoid the horrendous traffic.

Tiger Balm Gardens

Officially known as the Aw Boon Haw Gardens, these gardens are three hectares of grotesque sanctuary in appalingly bad taste but are a sight to behold. Aw Boon Haw made his fortune from the Tiger Balm cure everything medication and this was his gift to Hong Kong. Its meant to teach people about heaven and hell and famous Chinese religious beliefs. Unfortunately, its scheduled to be torn down before the beginning of the Millenium so if you want to see it you must hurry! Below I’m standing in front of a few murals depicting life in Hell. Not exactly the Sistine Chapel…

Ching Chung Koon Temple

Located on the north east side of the New Territories, this temple is a classic illustration of Chinese temple architecture. These pictures show the classic urns for incense burning, the furnaces for burning paper objects so that they can be used in the afterlife (e.g., money, cars, clothes, etc.), porcelain paintings, and tiled frescoes.

Above is a typical furnace used for burning offerings and all things made of paper including money, cars, houses, etc. Essentially anything you want to take to the after-life or sent to your ancestors in the after-life.

Yuen Yuen Institute

This Taoist temple complex pays homage to not just Taoism (ancestor worship), but Confucianism and Buddhism. The temple has a blend of Confucius, Buddha and Tao and contains several very Zen-like stone gardens. Coincidentally, we bumped into a business school classmate here, Anthony Soohoo!

Food!

If not for the amazing sights, you should at least head to Hong Kong for its culinary delights! Although we have lived in Hong Kong for many years and eaten many exotic Eastern and Western dishes, nothing was quite as unusual as pillow toast. This is a loaf of bread that is full of butter and toasted. The outside is hard but the inside tastes rather buttery and gooey. Definitely an interesting Eastern play on a very Western food!

Xi’an (西安), the eternal city, is one of the best places to visit in China if you are a history buff and not simply because it is the home of the world famous Terra Cotta Soldiers. Called Chang’an in ancient times, Xi’an is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of the country. During Xi’an’s 3,100 year development, 13 dynasties such as Western Zhou (11th century BC - 771 BC), Qin (221 BC - 206 BC), Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) and Tang (618 - 907) placed their capitals here. Along with Athens, Cairo, and Rome, Xi’an is one of the four major ancient civilization capitals. The cultural and historical significance of the area, as well as the abundant relics and sites, make Xi’an a Natural History Museum.  It also happens to be the burial site of my ancestors from the Han Dynasty!

Xi’an is the capital of Shaanxi province, located in the southern part of the Guanzhong Plain. With the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Weihe River to the north, it is surrounded by water and hills. The Bell Tower is the geographical center of Xi’an and the four main streets are respectively Dong Dajie, Xi Dajie, Nan Dajie and Bei Dajie which are also the main commercial streets. 

In the city, there is the 3,000 year old Banpo Village Remains from the Neolithic Age (approximately from 8000 BC to 5000 BC), and the Forest of Stone Steles that holds 3,000 stone steles of different periods from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Around Xi’an, the Famen Temple enjoys the reputation of being the ‘forefather of pagodas and temples in Central Shaanxi,’ because it holds the finger bones of Sakyamuni — the founder of Buddhism. The natural landscape around Xi’an is also very picturesque as Mt. Huashan is one of the five best-known mountains in China. Traditional downtown Xi’an refers to the area encircled by the city wall, this has now been expanded to encompass the area within the second ring road (Er’ huan Lu).

Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses

The Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses is known by some as the eighth major miracle of the world, Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang is listed on the World Heritage List, and the City Wall of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) is the largest and most intact Ming Dynasty castle in the world.

The Terracotta Army (兵马俑: literally “soldier and horse funerary statues”) or Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a collection of 8,099 life-size terra cotta figures of warriors and horses located near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (秦始皇陵). The figures were discovered in 1974 near Xi’an, Shaanxi province.  The terracotta figures were buried with the first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huangdi) in 210-209 BC. Their purpose was to protect the Emperor in the afterlife. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as “Qin’s Armies”.

The Terracotta Army was discovered in March 1974 by local farmers drilling a water well to the east of Mount Lishan.  Mount Lishan is the name of the man-made necropolis of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. This is also where the material to make the terracotta warriors was made, and found. Construction of this mausoleum began in 246 BC and is believed to have taken 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete. Qin Shi Huangdi was interred inside the tomb complex upon his death in 210 BC. According to the Grand Historian Sima Qian, the First Emperor was buried alongside great amounts of treasure and objects of craftsmanship, as well as a scale replica of the universe complete with gemmed ceilings representing the cosmos, and flowing mercury representing the great earthly bodies of water. Pearls were also placed on the ceilings in the tomb to represent the stars and planets, etc. Recent scientific work at the site has shown high levels of mercury in the soil of Mount Lishan, tentatively indicating an accurate description of the site’s contents by Sima Qian.

The tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi is near an earthen pyramid 76 meters tall and nearly 350 meters square.  The tomb presently remains unopened and unfound. There are plans to seal off the area around the tomb with a special tent-type structure to prevent corrosion from exposure to outside air. However, there is at present only one company in the world that makes these tents, and their largest model will not cover the site as needed. Qin Shi Huangdi’s necropolis complex was constructed to serve as an imperial compound or palace. It comprises several offices, halls and other structures and is surrounded by a wall with gateway entrances. The remains of the craftsmen working in the tomb may also be found within its confines, as it is believed they were sealed inside alive to keep them from divulging any secrets about its riches or entrance. It was only fitting, therefore, to have this compound protected by the massive terracotta army interred nearby.

Shaanxi Library

Here is one of the most modern buildings I saw at the time that I visited (late 1990s). Probably now one of the oldest buildings. Its the Shaanxi Library.

Muslim Snack Street

Xi’an is also famous for food with Shaanxi snacks, Guangdong cuisine, and various foreign delicacies such as the Sichuan hot pot. Among all the delicacies, the most famous and popular one is the Muslim Snack Street. I ate some interesting lamb dishes here and it tasted pretty good.

Tang Dynasty Dinner Show

The night life in Xi’an is decent and I took in a traditional performance. I chose one called the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show and included traditional food and music.  Definitely worth checking out.  It was a cross between Chinese Opera and some acrobatics.