travel news review

10 May '99
Visitors to Hong Kong may now be able to expect cleaner, tidier surroundings. Hotel staff have taken to the streets of Hong Kong in an effort to clean up tourist areas. The Marco Polo Hotel and the Prince hotel have designated one day a month to cleaning up their local environment in Canton and Haiphong Roads, Tsim Sha Tsui. The campaign is an attempt to attract more visitors to the city, and comes in response to increased rubbish and pollution levels in Hong Kong's streets. Tourism officials have welcomed this new community-mindedness.

27 April '99
Kowloon City's Kai Tak runway could become an island theme park if residents have their way. Responding to government plans to turn the runway site into a massive dumping area, art groups and residents of Kowloon City have insisted that the site should not become an eyesore for travellers viewing Hong Kong from Kowloon Peak. The groups have proposed a pollution-free park for the site, hosting cultural attractions like an amphitheatre, museum, concert hall and gallery. Under this plan the centre of the runway would be blasted away to form an island surrounded by water.

22 March '99
Visitors to Hong Kong can now join the thousands of residents who practice Tai Chi in city parks each morning. The Hong Kong Tourist Association is inviting tourists to try Tai Chi, with three free sessions each week in Kowloon at 7.15 am. The Chinese martial art, involving meditation and gentle exercise movements, encourages health, well being and relaxation.

1 February '99
Museums in Hong Kong will now be open every day of the year, except on the first and second days of the Lunar New Year. The new opening hours will affect the larger museums, such as the Museum of Art and the Museum of History as well as smaller museum. Authorities hope the increased openings will attract more visitors to the museums.

2 October '98
As Hong Kong's air quality wavers between abysmal and atrocious, environment groups are demanding the government takes some serious action to improve air quality. Health authorities are concerned at the number of days which are declared unhealthy. The high pollution levels in Hong Kong are caused by the large number of diesel vehicles, factory emissions and on-going construction work which kicks up clouds of dirt and concrete dust. Friends of the Earth in Hong Kong has called on the government to introduce legislation to ban idling vehicles and to swap the Territory's 17,000 taxis over to LPG.

23 September '98
If you're hungering for oysters while you're in Hong Kong, make sure they come from somewhere other than Hong Kong waters. Doctors in Hong Kong have warned residents and visitors alike to refrain from eating raw oysters from Hong Kong waters following the discovery of concentrations of flesh-eating bacteria (necrotizing fascitis) in oysters harvested in Hong Kong's harbours. The bacteria, which can be transferred to humans, causes the skin to fall off the body.

21 September '98
The Hong Kong government has abolished one of Hong Kong's public holidays - the Sino-Japanese War Victory Day. This public holiday, which celebrated the eviction of Japanese forces from Hong Kong at the end of World War 2, falls on a Monday in mid to late August each year. The cancellation of the holiday brings the number of public holidays celebrated in Hong Kong each year down to 17. The holiday was cancelled mainly to save costs for business operating in Hong Kong.

15 July '98
Travelers arriving at and departing from Hong Kong's new airport, Chek Lap Kok, are advised to be very patient, as it hasn't been a good opening week for the airport. Computer and mechanical problems have left many passengers stranded due to flight delays, and cargo operations at the airport have all but halted. Cargo flights have been re-directed to the nearby airports at Macao and the Chinese city of Shenzen as officials attempt to solve the problems.

8 July '98
Hong Kong's new international airport opened on Thursday, 2 July. The airport is built on a man-made island at Chek Lap Kop, off Lantau Island. At a cost of US$20 billion and with the capacity to handle 35 million passengers annually, the new airport was one of the world's largest construction projects. The airport commenced full operations on 6 July. The new airport replaces the Kai Tak airport, which sat smack in the middle of urban Hong Kong and made for one of the most exciting (or nerve-wracking) final approaches of any airport in the world.

1 July '98
In a recent survey by the Geneva-based Corporate Resources Group, Tokyo has lost its status as the worldÆs most expensive city for expatriate living. The most expensive city in the world is now Hong Kong. And it appears living anywhere in China is not for those with limited funds - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian and Shenzhen all made it into the top ten most expensive cities in the world. London is the 10th most expensive, New York the 21st, while Sydney comes in at 74th.

10 June '98
The Hong Kong Tourist Association is anticipating zero growth in visitor numbers this year. More than 70% of visitors to Hong Kong come from other Asian countries, but as it doesn't look like the region's economy will be improving for some time yet, officials are looking at another year of poor tourism returns. Nonetheless, the association has announced a number of projects to attract visitors back to Hong Kong including the development of the Aberdeen fish market into an area similar to FishermanÆs Wharf in San Francisco, and improved terminal facilities to attract more cruise ships to the island.

27 May '98
The Hong Kong airline, Cathay Pacific, has banned British rock group Oasis for life from flying on Cathay Pacific flights. The ban comes after the lead singer Liam Gallagher and his band were reported for their drunk and abusive behaviour on a flight from Hong Kong to Australia in February this year.

Recent elections in Hong Kong saw a strong swing in favour of pro-democracy candidates. All the candidates who were ousted after the return to Chinese rule won their seats back, although the Democrats, Hong Kong's largest party, secured only 13 seats of the 60-seat Legislative Council.

13 May '98
Red tide algal blooms, which have already closed beaches at Repulse Bay, Middle Bay and Chung Hom Kok, appear to be spreading to Lamma and Lantau Island, threatening their closure as well. The algal blooms are toxic to fish and dangerous to humans, particularly when contaminated shellfish and fish are eaten. This latest health scare is one of many over the past six months to hit Hong Kong. Late last year an outbreak of æbird-fluÆ in chickens caused the death of six people and last week pig offal was banned after nine people fell ill after eating pig lung soup. Travellers might like to consider the vegetarian option during their stay in Hong Kong.

4 March '98
Immigration officials in Hong Kong are currently testing a new travel pass which allows business people who visit Hong Kong frequently to use the residents’ lanes at the immigration counter, reducing the time spent waiting in queues by around 40%. Applications for the passes, which cost $65 and are valid for three years for multiple stays of up to two months each, are available at Hong Kong immigration and trade offices.

4 February '98
Hong Kong’s only remaining vehicular ferry service across Victoria Harbour, from North Point to Kowloon City, has ceased operation. As most cars and taxis in Hong Kong now use tunnels to cross the harbour, dwindling use of the ferry services across Victoria Harbour made the services under-used and unprofitable.

20 Janruary '98
A new Museum of History has been planned for Hong Kong. The Museum will include an exhibit about the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. The student demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square were widely-supported by Hong Kong and more than one million Hong Kong residents protested against the military crackdown against the students.

24 December '97
Repairs to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery, damaged during a landslide earlier this year, have almost been completed and the Monastery is scheduled to re-open by Lunar New Year. The main temple in the Monastery, situated on Sha Tin hillside, contains more than 10,000 gold statues of Buddha.