I just read this post in a spanish economy blog regarding the Index of Economic Freedom. Apart from checking where Spain is as the original blogger did. I got surprised for one thing: Hong Kong is the leader of this index… Wait! Isn’t Hong Kong part of China? Yes, politically, but not in an economic sense. Together with Macao, they have a special status named Special Administrative Region, and do not follow many chinese policies, including economic.
So, if Hong Kong is not China, and Hong Kong is the leader, where is China? In the position 132, which is normal based on the lack of correlation between a communist system and economic freedom.
Isn’t it ironic that two parts of the same country have such a big difference? The S.A.R., which gives Hong Kong independence in almost all fields, will be valid for 50 years, and then the idea is to have “one country, one system”, and not “one country, two systems”, as per today. Will this time be enough for reducing the huge gap? In which way will it be reduced?
Hong Kong was born thanks to the commercial exchange and this is still a very important business in the area (according to the Wikipedia, it is the eleventh largest trading entity in the world). You can easily notice it due to the huge number of cargo ferries in the area.
As the area in the city is scarce, and the coast line has also limitations, they have found a new way to increase the capacity of the cargo port: cargo platforms. This is another example of “If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain“…
Pretty interesting, isn’t it?
Hong Kong was the last base in my trip to China, and I really took it easy there. No hurries, and more days than needed. I already wrote about Hong Kong in this or this other post more than one month ago, but I also had some time to go around the main area. This is the case of the small trip to Chuang Chau.
A perfect opportunity for seeing Hong Kong skyline from the water, and also checking that calm is also possible very close to such crazy city. Chueng Chau is another island, with a nice fishing port, and a relaxing atmosphere.
A very positive surprise, completed with this sunset…
I will start the trip from the beginning, so I also refresh my mind and do not miss anything… I will try not to to bore you… 😉
I already wrote part of my first impressions of China in this post. I flew to Hong Kong and crossed the border to Shenzen to benefit from the cheap internal flights in China. Hong Kong area is full of islands, and the ferries are a common transport there. So, I found the fastest way for my purposes to reach an airport in Mainland China using the Turbo Jet Sea Express ferry linking Hong Kong International Airport and Shenzen Airport. Really easy way to go to Mainland. Just remember that you have to pick up your luggage before the customs, and that there is a free bus from the pier to the airport (just 2 km).
The first image I got when I jumped off from the boat was this one:
Nice sunset, isn’t it? It is a pity that it was cloudy… Cloudy? No. China is the most polluted country I have ever been (ok, I have only been within Europe, Canada and Japan, but anyway…) and that could be seen at simple sight. The “cloud” is always present: in Shenzen, in Beijing, in Xi’an and even in Shanghai. But, of course, this was just the beginning, in one of the most industrialized areas of China, also called Special Economic Zones, where more factories are placed, and where tougher controls are carried out to avoid an overpopulation around it.
So, after this shock and the issue with the taxis, I took one of the last flights to Beijing, where it was snowing during the night… Nice image, but bad omen for the rest of the days there regarding the climate… Thanks to God, I was prepared. 🙂
