Hong Kong is a place of many different cultures.
Walking down the street shows you many faces of the Chinese, but also those of
Caucasian, Southwest Asian, and Middle Eastern. There are places to find Italian,
Amercian, and other Asian cuisine.
The place where you get to actually interact with
the different cultures is on race day at Happy Trails Race Track. During the
day, its a quiet piece of property that stands as a grass race track with
soccer fields at its center and border of highrises, sky scrapers, and
mountains. During race time, I ran into many different people. Chinese,
American, British, French, and others I could not single out or identify. They
are were all there for a specific purpose: the races. Whether they were owners
or betters, they all gathered around, closely pressed together despite the
humidity of Hong Kong. The roar of thousands of people was outstanding as the
horses cleared the finish line.
The USDA Ag Trade office was a very educational
experience. We learned how the United States set with importing goods, such as
beef and pork, to Hong Kong. Within five hours, you can reach half the world's
population with a plane ride from Hong Kong, which makes for a very fast and
efficient trading spot.
Ocean Park was our time of relaxation and
recreation. Rides, animal exhibits, and gift shops galore made for a long day
of walking. Half the park is set at the bottom of the mountain, while the other
half is at the top. You can reach it either by cable car or train. We went up
by the cable cars, giving a fantastic view of the ocean and mountains. When we
began the trek down the mountain, we took the train, and learned first-hand how
to act and move in a crowd of hurrying Chinese. It was a rush only to move a
couple feet from platform to cramped train.
On my own time, I managed to get lost on the
streets of Hong Kong for almost twenty minutes. Thankfully, many of the local
people speak English and my group and I asked for directions from another hotel
who were happy to help us.
We learned so much about Hong Kong's trade with
the U.S. and just about Hong Kong's mixed culture that seems very similar to
the U.S.'s melting pot. Overall, Hong Kong was an incredible experience--one
that I wish we could have stayed longer to enjoy.
Kylee Whitehill & Christ Christopher
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Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering majors
Class at the race track
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Melinda ATO gift
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Ocean Park gondola
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Race track
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