10.1.2018

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Class today was very interesting, with Professor Samsen Yuen explaining the political situation in Hong Kong to us. He started with the political history during the British rule and went over the details of the handover and how the elections work today. I had heard that Hong Kong had a hybrid government, as it is a special administrative region, but I thought this lecture was very useful because it went over the details that I had not known previously and would not have understood very well by just reading about it.
After the lecture, we had dim sum in the restaurant on campus with our learning buddies. We ordered an incredible amount of food but managed to get through most of it. My favorites included the vegetarian taro dumplings, noodles, and rice noodle dumpling things.
Yu Laoshi then took the Williams students went to a 500-year-old walled village in Yuen Long, called Kat Hing Wai. Inside the walls, brick structures and houses were elements of the old village that remained and it felt a little like stepping back in time. I was surprised, however, to find that many of the houses have been rebuilt and that many people currently reside within the walls. After researching some more about the village, I found that the village is actually “private property and that the government does not have the consent of the owners to declare it as a monument” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kat_Hing_Wai). That made it clearer as to why the village has newer buildings and is not preserved as a heritage site; however, I am a little confused as to why residents are not upset by tourists coming around.
Next, we took the light rail to Hong Kong Wetland Park but missed buying tickets by 7 minutes. Instead, we walked around the entrance area and were able to view some of the park and Shenzhen.
We then ventured back to Yuen Long to get some food. In the subway station, we tried some milk tarts – slightly different from egg tarts, but still very delicious. Then, we went to Yoho Mall, where Yu Laoshi treated us to some very tasty Shanghai cuisine, including vegetarian goose, dumplings, seafood fried rice, eel, tofu, and a fermented rice ball soup dessert. Stuffed and satisfied, we headed back to Lingnan University.