Hong Kong — Gateway to the Olympics
Half the fun of sightseeing in Hong Kong is traveling to the sites in style, often by modes of transportation that date back more than a hundred years.
For one of the world's major financial centers and a city of 7 million that prides itself on being on the cutting edge of just about anything and everything, a step back in transportation time is just fine — as long as it can be accompanied by high-tech alternatives.
Most iconic of Hong Kong's transportation options is its historic Star Ferry Company. Founded in 1888, it was the primary mode for public crossing of Victoria Harbor between the city's Kowloon side and Hong Kong Island until the 1972 opening of the Cross Harbor Tunnel.
Today, the Star Ferry Company features 12 ferries running four cross-harbor routes and carrying 70,000 passengers a day — or 26 million a year. Despite the influx of road tunnels and subways connecting the two sides, it remains a popular and inexpensive mode of crossing, just 2.2 Hong Kong dollars — or about 30 U.S. cents — for a single trip.
Also dating back to 1888 is the Peak Tram, a funicular railway traversing the steep, hilly terrain called the Mid-levels, located between the Central and Victoria Peak districts. It boasts an accident-free history, although service was knocked out for four years due to damage sustained in the 1941 Battle of Hong Kong during World War II.
With a capacity of 120 passengers a trip, the Peak Tram shuttles an estimated 4 million riders a year — or 11,000 residents and tourists a day — on the five-minute, several-stop trip that tops out at a steepness of 48 degrees.
What started out with a static steam engine to power the haulage cable is now a renovated, computer-controlled system transporting tourists to some of the most striking views from Victoria Peak overlooks.
Almost as old is the Hong Kong Tramways, serving Hong Kong Island since 1904. The electric streetcar system is one of only three tramways in the world — the others being Blackpool, England, and Alexandria, Egypt — and the only one that exclusively runs double-deckers.
Besides being a long-time tourist attraction itself, the tram system provides daily transport for nearly a quarter-million residents.
But Hong Kong is more than merely turn-back-the-clock transportation. Featuring a highly developed, sophisticated mix of public and private transportation, the city has 90 percent of its daily journeys taken on public transportation, the highest such percentage in the world.
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