Rosan Yanisce Ferrer

Timeless Top 10 Travel Guides​Page | 168 Chapter Eight: Interacting with Hong Kong   Chapter Eight: Interacting with Hong Kong                     If the different tourist attractions are not enough for you, then maybe you need a little more adventure and immersion to truly appreciate what Hong Kong has to offer. One way of doing that is by interacting not only with its places but also the people and culture embedded within. In this chapter, we have put together 10 of the best things you need to try and do while you are in Hong Kong. Some of these places are also great tourist destinations wherein you can enjoy and get to know the people, the culture and Hong Kong’s way of life through the eyes of a local. 1. Star Ferry Ride                           Riding the popular Star Ferry is one of the ways for you to enjoy Hong Kong’s most iconic Victoria Harbour. The Star Ferry is a passenger double-decker ferry that carries tourists and locals who wanted to sail across the Victoria Harbour from the Hong Kong Island to the Kowloon Peninsula. It was founded in 1888 by the Star Ferry Company and has since then carried about 70,000 passengers a day. The Star Ferry is consists of 12 ferries that are operating daily in 2 routes (Central and TsimShaTsui). Even if you can cross to the other side through buses or trains, tourists still preferred to ride the Star Ferry because aside from the experience, it is still the most inexpensive mode of transportation in order to get to the other side of the city.  In 1870, a British man by the name of Grant Smith brought a wooden boat that ran back and forth across the Victoria Harbour at different intervals. Few years before the steam ferry was created people use the sampans to cross the harbour. About three years after Grant Smith attempted to run steam ferries from Hong Kong Island to the Kowloon Peninsula, the British consul in Canton briefly stopped the operation because it might cause people to reach the gambling houses in Kowloon. Then around 1888, a founder named DorabjeeNaorojeeMithaiwala created a ferry company known as the "Kowloon Ferry Company." He bought the boat by Grant Smith and further developed it, and because of the ferries popularity, he was able to acquire four more new vessels; the Morning Star, Rising Star, Guiding Star and the Evening Star. These vessels have a 100 seating capacity and was making about 147 trips a day. In 1898, he incorporated the company changing its name to Star Ferry Co Ltd. Fast forward in 1933, the Star Ferry company created the first ever diesel operated electric passenger ferry called the Electric Star.  During the Japanese Occupation, the Star Ferry particularly the Golden and Meridian Star was used to transport prisoners of war, The Electric Star was later bombed by the Americans and sunk in the harbour, but after the war the vessels were recovered and was operational since then.  The Star Ferry is celebrating its 119th year as one of the main means of public transportation in Hong Kong. The Star Ferry was officially declared by the Society of American Travel Writers as one of the Top 10 Most Exciting Ferry Rides back in 2009.  ​ ​There are 3 different places you can visit a Star Ferry.  To get to the TST Star Ferry pier, take an MTR to Tsam Shat sui Station Exit L6.  Walk along Salsbury road to the Clock Tower. To get to the Central Star Ferry, take the MTR to Hongkong Station A2 Exit  A. You can walk to the pier along Man Yiu street. Lastly, to get to Wan Chai Ferry Station, take the MTR to Wan Chai Station Exit A1. From there, you can ride the skybridge to the Hongkong Convention and Exxhibition Center then go down to the Convention Avenue at the Harbour Road.