ukate

I was in Hong Kong last week. Arriving and leaving the airport we were asked to sign a 'medical declaration' and answer questions like 'Have you been in contact with anyone who has SARS?'

Our flight from Hong Kong to London had to make a 1hr stop at Bangkok. We saw food being loaded so this may have been due to some health regulation or emergency measure which meant that food couldn't be loaded at Hong Kong. Just guessing, we were only told it was 'because of SARS'.

That was the extent of the 'inconvenience'.

There were very few passengers coming and going at the airport. UK TV news yesterday showed passengers having their temperature taken.

Regarding masks: many people working in hotels, shops, restaurants - generally, those coming into daily contact with a lot of people - wore masks. On the street, some did and some didn't - it was about 50/50.

Masks were on sale on street corners and in shopping centres. There were 'SARS stations' supplying antiseptic wipes or spray for cleaning your hands before going to eat. Regular announcements were made at airports, shopping centres etc, in Cantonese and English, reminding people of precautions they could take, like frequently washing their hands. Notices were posted everywhere.

People were clearing every bit of rubbish and litter and public places were being disinfected. None of this intruded on our tourist activities - if anything, it reassured us.

In Hong Kong there was no atmosphere of panic, people were going about their daily lives as usual.

We were told some hotels had only 5% occupancy, due to cancellations. 80% of tourists had cancelled their trips. Tourism is Hong Kong's 2nd most important source of income. People in the tourist industry are losing their jobs. Our tour guide took us on a city tour - just two of us in a bus which would normally take 10 - and told us he would be unemployed the following day.

Many shops and restaurants were empty but stayed open so, again, we were not 'inconvenienced'.

Just our personal experience. We could have cancelled but decided, based on the actual evidence available, that the risk was minimal. Getting it in perspective, we were statistically more likely to die crossing the road etc etc. That was our choice and the situation may have changed; the risk may become higher, or it might not.

Everyone has to make their own decision but preferably not based purely on what the media says.

Yvette_B

Thank you, this helps. My husband and I are not cancelling our honeymoon trip to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Bali. We leave May 13th. As time passes, I get less scared (not less concerned) about SARS and get more excited about going.

ukate

Hi Yvette,

Thanks for the reply. I've been reading things like 'everyone's wearing masks' and I just wanted to point out that this is not what I saw a week ago in Hong Kong.

I know you're not taking it as a recommendation to go or not to go there but I just want to clearly state that I'm not qualified to give that kind of advice. I'm simply saying what I saw and what I was told by people in Hong Kong.

We stayed on Hong Kong Island in the North Point district which was fairly convenient and near a tram stop. It's very cheap ($2HK) to go anywhere by tram and you get to see a lot. Taxis are pretty cheap too - the most we paid round the city was $20HK. A hotel in or near the Central district would be even easier and a bit nearer to the main attractions. Things we particularly enjoyed were:-

Victoria Park: watching the locals do Tai Chi (you can take a tram and we were there at around 08.30 on a Monday morning)

Hong Kong Park: is a lovely little park and a real haven of peace in a very noisy and busy city; it has a museum of teaware, gardens, a lake, a conservatory with lots of orchids, a restaurant and more And tram stop nearby.

Kowloon: we took the Star Ferry from Queen's Pier over to Kowloon in the afternoon, went to the Museum of Art (lots of calligraphy and Chinese paintings) but there are other interesting things to do on Kowloon. We then sat and watched the sunset over the Hong Kong Island skyline until it got dark and the buildings lit up bit by bit. Impressive sight.

Incidentally, if you're looking for paperback books in English, there's a good bookshop beside the Star Ferry Terminal (on the Honk Kong Island side). We picked up a couple of books on the way to getting our tickets for the ferry.

Man Mo Temple: worth going to a temple (there are a number of them around, some very small and in surprising places) just for the experience. Be prepared for lots of smoke from the incense

Central/Mid-Levels Escalator: a series of outdoor escalators which doesn't sound very exciting but turned out to be fun, riding up above streets full of markets, shops and restaurants - we even passed a mosque, not very Chinese but interesting! You can get out and explore or carry on up to the top to Conduit Road. If you want to, you can turn left and walk along to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens, although we didn't do this. If you get off at Elgin Street, there's a very nice restaurant called

The Shang-Hi: is a nice clean and modern but still charming restaurant where we had Dim Sum with the traditional Jasmine Tea. It's eaten for breakfast or lunch (or brunch!) Lots of other things on the menu, too. This is generally a good area for restaurants. Slightly upmarket but not expensive. The escalators were open until midnight, so you could ride them in the evening and do dinner instead.

We also bought some Jasmine tea from one of the many tea shops. Haven't tried it yet but it smells wonderful

Anyway, I hope the situation is such that you can go ahead with your honeymoon in May and - many congratulations by the way!!

Kate

CalgirlSusan

Ukate, I'm amused with the idea that you report people are going about their daily business as usual, despite the fact that hotels are now at 5%, normally jammed busses may only have 2 passengers, many people are losing their jobs, and restuarants are closed or closing. It doesn't sound like usual to me.

Yvette_B

Thanks much Kate and don't worry, we made our decision to still go on our vacation weeks ago. Plus I just like to hear about other peoples experience instead of listening to the media who certainly don't report things correctly in situations like this. I will print out your intinerary to keep in mind.

As for Cali gal, she wasn't saying those things you mentioned weren't happening. I think she was just trying to say that everyone wasn't wearing a mask and people weren't running around like crazys, am I right Kate? Besides, she just came back from Hong Kong, she should know more than you, unless you just came back too. But you probably are just watching TV. That's ok though, everyone is entitled to there own opinion on the situation. I personally rather hear the facts.

CalgirlSusan

What? I was merely repeating what she said about Hong Kong. I just thought it was funny that she reported those things happening then called it "people going about their lives as usual". I just didn't see what she described as going on as being the "usual". That's all. I don't consider closed restaurants, bus drivers losing their jobs, and 5%hotel occupancy being the "usual".

gard

Hi

My wife and I went to China (Beijing, Xi'an and Hong Kong) in the end of March and this is when the SARS outbreak "started". We had a great trip but I have to say that I was a bit concerned when we were in Hong Kong. People were wearing masks, they had a lot of stuff about it on the news. One day when we had taken the subway they showed on TV that SARS was found on a subway station and they were cleaning it.

Well, I have posted pictures and a travelogue from the trip to China on my page www.gardkarlsen.com

Regards
Gard

ukate

Hi calgirlSusan

Good point. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that the locals are going about their normal lives as best they can, in the circumstances, and not shutting themselves away at home. By this I mean they are still doing their Tai Chi in the park, travelling to work on the tram (those who still have jobs), children going to school etc. Hong Kong has not yet ground to a halt although it's heading that way if the tourists stay away.

Kate

kang

I don't know about Hong Kong but I do know that many places in China are in panic mood. For instance, Lijiang in Yunnan province. My first hand information(from a motel owner in Luguhu near Lijiang) was that she was ordered early today to shut down her business and no one outside the local villagers would be allowed to stay in the area. In fact, the villagers hostily confronted tourists for transitting the desease even though there was no case reported so far. As for Lijiang, as of today, there are two big hotels still open for tourists but everyone else was closed. There are few people still around. The situation continues to unfold on daily basis on national scale and might change dramaticly without any advance notice. Any information you collected might very well be old news and not work for you anymore at the time of your arrival.

So postpone your trip into China if you can. You might expose yourself to danger and you are not helping the Chinese to cope with the problem. And the worst thing for a tourist is that you might feel that you are not welcomed by the Chinese public.

Anthony

Anyone planning to go to China is crazy.

There were over 20 more deaths today between Bejing & Hong Kong. ALL theaters and most public places are closed in Bejing. The government is quarantining THOUSANDS of citizens.

Taiwian had it's 1st SARS death today, and is NOT allowing ANY visitors to come into the country from China.

ALL cruiselines are banning passengers that have been to China.

This is a worldwide crisis, and we have people here who are so stupid that they will risk catching SARS just to go on vacation - I mean essential busineses that rely on travel to China have canceled trips - and you STILL have people wanting to go on vacation???? Wake up you people!!!

ThinGorjus

I agree with you, Anthony. I hardly call the CDC or WHO the "media," as Yvette alludes to. They are the entities telling people not to travel to China or Toronto unless it is necessary. I don't know too many people who go about their daily lives wearing surgical masks and flocking to the airport to try and ESCAPE the country.

Deepa

As a 7 year resident of Hong Kong, I have to say that the life, in the past few weeks has been anything but normal. My husband has been working from home. I haven't been to a shooping mall or a grocery store for more than a month. My daughter's school has been shut for more than 3 weeks.

However, the good news is that the situation is fast getting under control and people are returning to normal activities. The number of new cases has for the past 3 days been about 14-17 a day compared to between 60-30 in the past month. I am delighted to say that Hong Kong is getting back and fast! For those of you interested in seeing the statistics, please the govt. site- info.gov.hk

DonTopaz

You should understand that the CDC and WHO are primarily interested in stopping SARS from spreading, especially until the medical community acquires a better knowledge of how the disease is spread and how it can be treated effectively. So, when WHO or CDC issues a travel advisory, it doesn't necessarily mean that you stand a good chance of getting the disease if you go.

In fact, the likelihood of you getting SARS on a trip to HK or China is extremely small. However, the more people who travel there, the greater is the likelihood that some of those travelers will indeed get SARS and bring it back to a previously unaffected region.

mrwunrfl

Just wondering how SARS has affected horese racing in H.K. Are Sha Tin and Happyvalley closed? Surely, attendance has been affected.

I just heard that the crisis is easing a bit. I think that travel to H.K. will offer some bargains long after the crisis has ended. The risk currently is not zero, but it is a low risk.