July 20 -- Leaving Taiwan Arriving in Hong Kong

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

July the 20th was highlighted by our sad departure from Taiwan and our arrival into the city of Hong Kong.

The beginning of our day consisted of an amazing opportunity to visit the Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS) Memorial Hall in the heart of Taipei and Liberty Square. This was especially fun because as teachers we were able to get an intimate look at the life and history of Taiwan’s most emblematic leader. Once inside we were able to admire some rare and exciting artifacts that belonged to or were a part of the leaders life. Ranging from photographs, uniforms, paintings, and automobiles, we were able to see how important a man he truly was in world history. Some of the most eye-catching images where of CKS with: his wife (wedding day), Franklin D. Roosevelt, General MacArthur, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Ronald Reagan. Also, there were some beautiful sketches of CKS' face that were made up of Chinese characters. Another interesting element of the museum was walking into a copy of CKS' office. We were greeted by a life-size CKS that was sitting at his desk. It was meant to give you a sense of the great leader while at work. However, the highlight of the visit was in going to the top of the building where resides an extremely large bronze statue of Chiang Kai-Shek that overlooks Liberty Square. The sheer enormity of the statue and the setting itself is very reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Along with this we were fortunate enough to see the changing of the guard ceremony at the footsteps of the statue. The discipline and elegance of the ceremony are quite impressive and will not easily be forgotten. Besides the statue and guards, there is a political and historical element that is embedded into the building itself. For one, the ceiling right above the head of CKS is the official symbol of the current ruling party and the founding ruling party that CKS was a part of known as the Kuomintang (KMT). Also, there are various Chinese inscriptions that decorate the walls on each side. Another interesting side note was that on either side of the building it contains staircases that lead straight to the upper floor. Each staircase has exactly 89 steps in order to honor the CKS’ age at death. Lastly, worth mentioning are the various types of souvenirs that one could purchase that depict Chiang Kai-Shek as a superhero and great leader of the country, definitely a collectors item.

From this amazing visit we began to head towards the airport to leave for Hong Kong. By my estimations, everyone loved their stay in Taiwan and we hated that we had to leave. We were treated in a truly amazing way and felt like diplomats with the service and care that was bestowed upon us during our 5 days there. I think that the true hero of this segment of the trip was our leader Kathy Kai-Hsin Chen. In serving as an officer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan, she became the conduit for all that Taiwan represented to us, as well as the generosity that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs demonstrated towards us. Kathy, if and when you read this, THANK YOU!!! You were truly amazing!!! Despite the sadness of our departure being eminent, Kathy had one more trick up her sleeve as she arranged for each and everyone of us to be admitted through the special entrance (bypassing check-in and other security as a means to swiftly board our flight) of the airport for boarding our flight. We all felt so special as if we were “authorized personnel.”

Our short flight saw us arrive at our final destination of the trip, Hong Kong. Who would have thought that 21 days would go by so fast, and now we were only 3 days from concluding the trip.

Our first visit in Hong Kong was to the Civic Exchange located on 69 Wyndam in the Central District area of Hong Kong Island. After a steep climb in an impressive part of town, we arrived and were greeted by the Civic Exchange’s director of Environmental Affairs http://civic-exchange.org Mike Kilburn. Mr. Kilburn provided us with a 1 hr. presentation as to the purpose of the NGO he works for. The Civic Exchange is a grassroots organization that is meant to combat the environmental problems of the city. It was founded by Christine Lo, and serves and operates as a non-profit independent think-tank in Hong Kong. The overall purpose of the organization is to provide information to policy makers regarding the environment, conservation and climate change. In essence his organization takes the academic data/research and places it into plainer terms so that the average person can understand.

One of the main areas of study that Mike shared with us is the vital issue of air pollution and its daily effects on Hong Kong itself. Through his website he was able to share with us statistical data and a link to the Hedley Environmental Index http://www.hedleyindex.sph.hku.hk/ which showed us the level of air pollution that has and is currently affecting Hong Kong. Through this he was able to share the amount of money that is lost due to air pollution (i.e. the cost of a hospital bed, death, lost productivity, etc…). It was surprising to note how awful the air pollution problem is in the city and that most children in the city have underdeveloped lungs and that no key athletes ever train in the city. Sadly, despite the very real issue involved, most of those areas that cause the pollution (i.e. transportation systems, power stations, roadside transport services, ships, etc…) are very much unwilling to want to change in order to save or continue to make money. Another reason why this issue continues is due to several factors. 1) the gap between the rich and the poor, 2) the lack of emission controls in HK, 3) the limited amount of regulations/controls in the city government. However, this is causing them to target the students in the upper level schools to help educate them on the issues involved with the idea that these very same students will attempt to enact change in Hong Kong. As a whole, I think this provided us with some amazing insight into what is and has been developing into a severe problem in Hong Kong.

The conclusion of our evening saw us have the opportunity to have an amazing dinner atop a skyscraper in a revolving restaurant that allowed us the opportunity to view the beauty of the Hong Kong skyline at night. This was followed by a wonderful and relaxing “junk” boat cruise of Victoria Harbor that also gave us a more sea-level appreciation of the grandeur of the Hong Kong skyline.

This was an amazing trip and I once again can’t thank Clay, Linda, & Venus enough for all they did in order to make this trip not only a success, but fun and informative as well.

Shur-Er!!!

Manny

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[Anonymous]

The pics enhanced your journal Manny. A+!

Mr. Chan

[Anonymous]

Shurr IS a nice write up! Great Detail on the Chiang Kai Check Memorial 8)

[clay dube]

Manny - nice work. I loved how you not only described what we did, but also reflected on it.

The Two Chiang's website is quite interesting: http://www.twochiang.com/ The site opens with Flash animation, but then offers links to the store and other resources.

The Civic Exchange website is at: http://www.civic-exchange.org/wp/. It includes links to their newsletter (and there you'll find links to Christine Loh's op-ed newspaper essays.

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