60 years of the PRC...

This past weekend was a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. That's right and you might ask how the Communist Party of China celebrates this holiday? They have fireworks, like any regular American would do. On thursday, I experience fireworks over the harbor of HK. The show was anything any more spectacular than a big city in the ol' USA but it was cool to see the massive building in the backgroud of the fireworks. My viewing point was from atop the dorm towers. The celebration continued until Saturday with the Mid Autumn festival. At the festival, the people of HK and the rest of China (I guess...) light lanterns and sit around in a circle with their family. Supposedly its a time of being close to those who matter most to you. Though I did not light any lanterns, I did have a very eventful day on Saturday. The day started out early in the morning with a trip up the tram to the peak. From the peak, we hiked down the other side of the mountain (if you look a map of HK, its the very southern point of the island). The three hour long hike was very relaxing. Its amazing to have such a different view of Hong Kong when your only 20 minutes away from a city of 8 million people. The nature was a nice change of pace of the busy life I have been experencing over the last month. At the bottom of the mountain, was a district in HK were I was the only white person within a 1 mile radius. However, one other person in our group is a local to HK, so I was able to experience traditional food ordered in Catonese. While the food did not differ from so of the interesting things I have already had, it was interesting to have a meal ordered and not actually sure what you are getting to eat.
From the district full of locals, we took a bus to a more tourist friendly location, Stanley. This district was full of different types of shops with alot of cool souveniers. I got a couple paintings and a sword. In Stanley, the area was also full of American restaurants and bars which were surrounded by a beautiful beach.
At night, we celebrated the Mid Autumn festival by attending a party in Victoria Park. Mostly, the park consisted of Asians watching shows that didn't see interesting. But I guess to each, his own. However, we did run into some more exchange students where we had another local dinner followed up by dessert. Dessert is very popular in HK, with block of restaurants devoted to just the one dining experence.
Overall, the weekend was very interesting. Today, I explored a little more of HK and got my own custom tailored Itailian suit! I hope all is well for everyone in the United States and I can't wait to post more adventures.