I woke up early to get to the university area to meet up with other CityU students for the city excursion. We left at around 9:15 to go via charter bus to a history museum to learn about the history of Hong Kong. Alas, the tour guide spoke really softly, so I only heard bits and pieces. I did learn a few things.

The first thing I learned was about the bun mountain (包山), which, as its namesake implies, is a mountain of buns. Its framework back then used bamboo and wood. At a festival, people would climb on these mountains in hopes of getting the highest bun. However, at some point (I believe the late 1700s), the mountain fell because so many people climbed it and people were injured. As a result, until 2005, this event was banned. After 2005, it was revived after precautions were made: the framework was instead made of metal, the people who wanted to participate had to have rock-climbing experience, and these people were also given safety gear to climb.

The second thing I learned was about the Opium Wars and British occupancy. At first, only Guangzhou (廣州) was the only port by which outside trade was allowed in China according to the rules of the emperor of that time. The British decided to smuggle in opium from India (a neighboring country) to China in exchange for silver, the currency at that time. This became a problem, so Commissioner Lin Zexu decided to take action by getting rid of the opium through water. The British became angry, so they demanded refund from the government. Since the opium was smuggled, the government refused, but offered to have China pay instead. Eventually, China lost to Britain, so China gave up two pieces of land and also had to open up 5 ports total. China also allowed Britain to lease another part of China until 1997 (Hong Kong). After 1997, Britain decided to return all three pieces of land to China.

Afterwards, we went to see some clothing designs from China within the history museum. We were allowed to look at our own pace but were not allowed to take photographs. It was ok though since I would not be able to know what exactly the outfits are. Soon after, we went back on the charter bus to head to the restaurant which is specially known for its vegetarian cuisine. Most of the food was very good. My favorite was this honeydew and milk dish heated and wrapped in some crispy bread. This dish could then be dipped in sugar before eating.

The final destination of this city excursion was the Sky 100. It claimed to have the most scenic views in the city since it is the tallest building within Hong Kong, boasting 393 meters above sea level. However, when we arrived, it was getting quite rainy so the view was very blurry. It was still good that we went on this trip because if we were to go here on our own, it would be very pricy (around the price of our whole trip [which was $180], if not, more). There were still pictures that could be taken, so it was not all for naught.

I decided afterwards to hang out with some new friends at the Festival Walk [mall] again for a while. We tried to help one of our classmates to get a SIM card for Hong Kong, but to no avail. Soon after, I had to leave to go to my other aunt [Y]’s place to eat dinner. It was very great spending some more family time, but it got late pretty soon, so we headed back home after some time. The fifth day is complete!