One thing I learned about in-China flights is that they love to taxi before they take off. Our first flight from Beijing to Lijiang we sat on the plane for almost an hour, and on the flight from Kunming to Hong Kong we sat on the plane for a little over 2 hours. The airway systems must work differently in China then they do in the United States.

Our drive from the Hong Kong airport into the main city was stunning. Hong Kong is composed of multiple islands, and we were able to see a few as we drove in. It was amazing to see weather like this in December. Hong Kong reminded a lot of of when I went to Hawaii. Some cityscapes were right along beaches, a lot of harbors, bridges connecting as you continually go over water, etc. The Western influence was clear, as well, upon entering Hong Kong. This city truly felt like a combination of Chinese and Western ideals and practices.

We didn’t do too much during the afternoon besides a quick lunch and settling into our hotel. The highlight of the day, however, happened during the evening when we were given some free time. My friends and I knew there was water nearby, and we thought it would be cool to see the pier at night. Little did we know that we accidentally stumbled upon Victoria Harbor, which had the most incredible view of a skyline I’ve ever seen. I’ve included some pictures below, but it’s very hard to capture the depth of the city landscape against the water as well. The entire skyline was lit up, and a lot of the buildings had light decorations that were holiday themed. We came at the perfect time, as the famous Victoria Harbor Light Show was about to start. It was a light show set to music that had all of the buildings moving in time for a coordinated light show. This was extremely cool to watch along the water, and gave us a great introduction to Hong Kong.