Hong Kong Hamsters

Jeff has been a ham for many years.  Aside from the culinary and theatrical images that word evokes, a ham is also the operator of an amateur radio station.  For the uninitiated, amateur radio is a hobby that involves the non-commercial use of specific bands of public airwaves for the exchange of messages, generally using either voice or Morse code transmissions.  In the days before cell phones, ham radio operators were an important source of emergency communications in the event of disasters.  Because airwaves are owned by the public, they are regulated by governments, and users, such as hams, are required to be licensed by national governments.  In the U.S., the agency that licenses hams is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  In Hong Kong, it is the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA).  Jeff's hobby has put him in touch with literally thousands of people in hundreds of different countries over the years.

When we came to Hong Kong, Jeff had to apply for permission to operate his low power, high frequency (HF) transceiver here.  His FCC license made him eligible for a reciprocal license so he wouldn't need to sit for another set of exams.  There are more than 3,000 licensed hams in Hong Kong.  In the early days, Hong Kong had two classes of amateur radio licenses: Full and Restricted.  The Restricted class did not require passing the 12 word per minute Morse Code test and only allowed operation on the VHF/UHF bands.  In 2004, Hong Kong revised its amateur radio regulations, eliminating the Morse Code requirement and establishing one single class of license.  However, because of space constraints in Hong Kong, most hams are unable to put an antenna up on their roofs, meaning very few of them are active on HF bands, and the majority transmit on VHF/UHF bands.

Hong Kong regulations are unique in that they require both an amateur station license and a separate authority to operate.  However, in order to apply for these, Jeff needed his Hong Kong ID card.  In order to get that, my work permit had to be approved, and that didn't happen until March.  So Jeff was off the airwaves for a couple of months, and he underwent some withdrawal symptoms.  Fortunately, we received our Hong Kong ID cards in early April, and Jeff immediately went to the Hong Kong OFCA and applied for his license, which was promptly granted.  Now he is fully licensed to operate here.

In order to navigate the Hong Kong licensing requirements, Jeff relied on the assistance of Charlie Ho, a Hong Kong ham he met over the airwaves.  Charlie, his wife Pansy and their dogs Jade and P.J. live in Fanling, which is in the New Territories, and they kindly invited us to visit them there.   With a free day due to the Good Friday holiday, we jumped on the MTR and headed north.  Fanling is just south of the mainland China border.  The trip there from Hong Kong took about an hour.  Charlie met us when we arrived at the station and he drove us to their house, where we were greeted by Pansy, Jade and P.J.

Fanling is about 25 miles north of Central Hong Kong

Pansy & Charlie Ho in their "ham shack" with Jeff and P.J. the dog

The Ho's live in a small village on the top floor of a three-story house with a nice roof veranda.  Their village is primarily residential with similar houses, surrounded by the mountains.

Jeff disappeared into Charlie's "ham shack" where the two of them tried out his setup, while I chatted with Pansy and got to know their dogs.  It was really nice to get some quality "dog time" after being dog-less for the three months we've been in Hong Kong. 

Charlie and Jeff on the roof inspecting antennae

Charlie has an elaborate ham shack with a bank of radios stacked on shelves against the wall and wiring that runs up to various antennae on the roof of their house.  We went up to their rooftop veranda to see their antenna setup.  A clear, sunny day meant that we were also able to take in their beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and, to the north, the border of mainland China and the skyscrapers in the city of Shenzhen.

The Ho's took us on a tour around Fanling to see some of the sites.  The Fanling-Sheung Shui area has grown quickly during the years that the Ho's have lived there, and its population is now around 300,000.  We visited an area known as Lung Yeuk Tau, which is comprised of five historic walled villages of the Tang Clan.  The Tang Clan originated in Jiangxi province in what is now mainland China, but are considered to be native Hong Kong people, having been the first to settle in what is now Hong Kong from China in the 11th century. 

Entrance to the Tung Kok Wai walled village

We visited the entrance towers of the To Wai and Tung Kok Wai walled villages.  Although hundreds of years old, people still live inside these villages.

We also visited the Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall.  An ancestral hall is a Chinese temple dedicated to deified ancestors of surname lineages of Chinese families.   Historically, ancestral halls were used for rituals or festivals in honor of a family's ancestors, including weddings and funerals.  In more recent times, the halls have also been used for community functions such as meetings and elections.  The Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall is the main ancestral hall of the Tang Clan and is one of the largest in Hong Kong.  It was built in the 16th century and consists of three buildings.

Pansy, Jeff and Charlie in front of Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall

After visiting Lung Yeuk Tau, we shared a traditional Chinese dinner at a lovely restaurant nearby.  We would like to thank Pansy, Charlie, Jade and P.J. for their hospitality and for hosting us to a wonderful and interesting day in the New Territories.

Jeff and Charlie sharing lobster, chicken and spicy beef at dinner

The Big Buddha

Hong Kong is made up of more than 200 different islands.  Most of the population of more than 7 million lives on Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula or in the New Territories.  But the largest of Hong Kong's islands is Lantau Island.  At just under 60 square miles, it is nearly twice the size of Hong Kong Island but Lantau's population is only about 100,000.

Lantau Island on the left; Hong Kong Island on the right

Other than the occasional trip to the airport, which is situated on Lantau Island, we haven't visited there, so with a warm and sunny Saturday on our hands, we decided to get away from the crowded city and do some exploring.  

View of Tung Chung from the cable car

Lantau Island is less than five miles west of Hong Kong Island, and there are a variety of ways to get there, including ferry, water taxi and on the Hong Kong subway system (the "MTR.")  We took the MTR across the harbor to Tung Chung, which is the most populated town on the island.  Lantau has a very mountainous and heavily forested terrain.  The island is even referred to as "the lungs of Hong Kong" because of its forests and relative lack of development.  There are trails for hikers, but we opted for a 3.5 mile cable car ride to Ngong Ping plateau.

Stilt Houses in Tai O

Development of the cable car system began in 2004 as part of a tourism project, and it has a colorful history involving everything from typhoon damage to trapped passengers to a criminal indictment of the operator's CEO.  But it has run smoothly for the past couple of years; we felt safe and enjoyed the amazing views during the half-hour journey. 

At the top of the gondola, we emerged into Ngong Ping village, a somewhat contrived cultural village positioned as the gateway to Tai O village, the Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha.

A dried seafood stand in Tai O

A short bus ride took us to Tai O, an old village on the west coast of Lantau centered on fishing and salt production.  The town became an entry point for illegals fleeing mainland China during the Chinese civil war (1927-1950).  Despite the difficulty of making a living on fishing, people there still live on the water in stilt houses and the town is crowded with dried seafood shops.  We wandered through the narrow streets and across the waterways linking them, dodging the locals eager to take us on a boat ride.

 After visiting Tai O, we took a short walk from Ngong Ping village up to the Tian Tan Buddha, one of five large Buddha statues in China.  It is made of bronze and, at 112 feet, was at one point the tallest seated Buddha statue in the world, having been overtaken by another statue in Jiangsu Province, China.  The path leading to the Tian Tan Buddha is flanked by statues of 12 "Divine Generals" that guard the statue.  Each symbolizes a different animal from the Chinese Zodiac and is armed with a different weapon. 

One of the 12 Divine Generals

There are 268 steps from the main walkway up to the Buddha, and there was no shortage of people making the climb.  Tian Tan Buddha was completed in late 1993.  Together with the nearby Po Lin Monastery, it is a major center for Buddhism in Hong Kong.

The Po Lin Monastery was founded in 1906.  The name means "precious lotus," and the lotus flower symbolizes purity in Buddhism.   The monastery is really a collection of elaborately carved buildings surrounded by beautiful and colorful grounds.  At the front, there is a courtyard with an area for offering incense, although a guide told us that worshipers are now encouraged to make offerings of flowers instead as an environmentally-friendly alternative to incense.  The first building is a smaller temple with statues of deities inside that act as guards which leads to a courtyard featuring the Great Hall or main temple building.  At the center of the lavish Great Hall are three golden Buddhas, each with a slightly different pose and facial expression representing the Buddha's past, present and future lives. 

The three golden Buddhas at Po Lin Monastery

The Great Hall at Po Lin Monastery

Our day trip to Lantau gave us a much-appreciated change of scenery from Central Hong Kong!

Bula Fiji!

"Bula" means hello in Fijian.  Recently, we rekindled friendships with other SCUBA divers from Minnesota at a resort on Beqa (pronounced "Benga") Island in Fiji.   Since we've only just gotten settled in Hong Kong, we felt a little bit sheepish going off on vacation so soon, but we committed to this trip early last year and wanted to stick with the plan.

Fiji is truly an island nation, and Beqa is but one of Fiji’s 330 islands that are spread across both sides of the international date line.  Indeed, the country likes to boast that Fiji is "where the world begins each day."  Fijians are remarkably warm and hospitable people and the country is noted for its rugged and volcanic terrain, lush greenery, spectacular SCUBA diving and the occasional and relatively peaceful coup. 
 

Leaf Scorpion Fish

Testament to the vastness of the Pacific: Nadi (Fiji’s international airport) is 10 hours by air from Hong Kong, almost as long as the flight from LAX. Upon arrival we took a jitney 150 kilometers, followed by a 40-minute boat ride to our resort, where we stayed in a ‘bure’ (a glorified hut) for ten nights. The dining was as terrific as the diving, with menu options emphasizing fresh fruit and other south Pacific fare, supplemented by meat and dairy products from Australia and New Zealand.  Each day we marveled at the logistics required just to keep people fed.

SCUBA diving is the main activity at the resort, and I packed in 16 dives during our stay.  Because of its beautiful colors, soft coral is a real draw for SCUBA divers and it is more commonly found in the Pacific, along with a variety of critters unique to this region.  As usual, I shot a lot of photos. For anyone interested in seeing more of them, here is a video: (full disclosure: the video is 4-1/2 minutes long).

Blue Ribbon Eel

            

Jeff prefers amateur radio to diving. He obtained a Fijian license (3D2FJ) and made 1,028 2-way contacts on Morse Code with other amateurs in 62 countries and far-flung locations as remote as a Russian scientific base in the Antarctic, all on battery power. 

Jeff in his "Ham Shack"

On the remote islands, Fijians live in villages, and life there seems to revolve around the local schools.  During our stay on Beqa, we visited a primary school and a secondary school and were serenaded there (and on several other occasions) with songs sung in both English and Fijian.  Music is an integral part of Fijian life, and children are taught to sing from the time they start school, if not before.  Almost half of the students at the high school level are boarders due to the distances between villages and even other islands. We took a variety of school supplies that were gratefully accepted as donations.

The Beqa Secondary School serenades us

Our trip was a restful break from our busy lives here in Hong Kong and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with our friends from back home.  Vinaka (Fijian for "thank you") to Evie, Bill, Sue, Gary, Glenda, Tom, Bev and Denny for making our vacation so special!