Top: Front license plate.
Middle: Rear license plate
Bottom: Picture from the Peak; taken with handheld point and shoot without tripod.
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Bottom: Picture from the Peak; taken with handheld point and shoot without tripod.
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December 10th - A little information that might come under the heading of “trivia”; hope you enjoy!
The colors, shapes, and pricing of license plates here in Hong Kong and in China are of great interest to me (see it doesn’t take much to interest me!). The numbers for license plates are controlled by the government, but the plates are not made by the government as in the States. I believe most States still use prison labor to manufacture license plates and have done so since around 1920. Also in the States the color and size are regulated.
Here in Hong Kong the manufacturer designs the shape of the license plate to fit the lines of the car, so to speak. In other words, if a long rectangular license plate looks better than a square one, then that is what the car manufacturer designs and sells to the customer.
The numbers on the license plates are most interesting! Numbers in the Chinese language have special meaning and when it comes to license plates, the good numbers are highly prized. For example, the numbers: eight, which means prosperity, and nine, means long-lasting are prized; but four is not a lucky number because, especially in Cantonese, it sounds very much like the character meaning death.
To get a license tag number in Hong Kong one submits an application with HK$5000. The government will issue the number to you provided no one else wants it! So there is an auction held regularly to auction off numbers. If some one else bids higher than you for your number, guess what, it is no longer your number! In 1994 the number “9” sold for an unbelievable HK$13 million (that is about US$1.7 million).
One more thought: the front license plate is white and the back one is yellow; this is regulated, I believe. That is because, I’m told, white can be seen more clearly in the on-coming headlight, with yellow seen more clearly in the back! Not sure I understand that! Interesting, right?
December 12th - Yesterday we made the obligatory trip to the Peak, called the Victoria Peak by most travel magazine, but I know it hasn’t been called that for over thirty years and maybe more like fifty or more years.
Telling you what the view looks like from the Peak would simply not do it justice! My English is just not that good enough. It wasn’t exactly a clear night and I was working with a point and shot camera without a tripod, but it is not too bad!
The Peak is about 1900 ft above sea level, so by any measure it ain’t very high! Anyway, one can go to the Peak and see a beautiful sunset on one side of the Peak, then walk about 200 feet or so and see the most beautiful harbor view, in my opinion, in the world. It is one of the most important reasons for coming to Hong Kong: the other reasons are the people, food and excitement of a culturally, diverse city.
Part of the Peak experience is getting there: one can go by taxi, bus, car or the Tram ; the Tram is the way to go. At less than US$5 round trip, it has got to be the second best deal in town (trip on the Star Ferry being the best!). The Tram serves tourist as well as locals, so there are a number of stations before you get to the top.
The tram has two tramcars, one at the top and one at the bottom and they work in tandem; as one car comes down the other one goes up. When one car stops, both cars stop. The first time I rode the Tram in the ‘80’s, the Tramcar I was on stopped and there seemed to be no reason for it to stop. There was no station; we were just sitting there on about a 20% incline. Talk about being a little nervous; I thought there was a problem and the car was about to roll back down the hill. Anyway, I made it to the top that day and have been back more than I can count.
The colors, shapes, and pricing of license plates here in Hong Kong and in China are of great interest to me (see it doesn’t take much to interest me!). The numbers for license plates are controlled by the government, but the plates are not made by the government as in the States. I believe most States still use prison labor to manufacture license plates and have done so since around 1920. Also in the States the color and size are regulated.
Here in Hong Kong the manufacturer designs the shape of the license plate to fit the lines of the car, so to speak. In other words, if a long rectangular license plate looks better than a square one, then that is what the car manufacturer designs and sells to the customer.
The numbers on the license plates are most interesting! Numbers in the Chinese language have special meaning and when it comes to license plates, the good numbers are highly prized. For example, the numbers: eight, which means prosperity, and nine, means long-lasting are prized; but four is not a lucky number because, especially in Cantonese, it sounds very much like the character meaning death.
To get a license tag number in Hong Kong one submits an application with HK$5000. The government will issue the number to you provided no one else wants it! So there is an auction held regularly to auction off numbers. If some one else bids higher than you for your number, guess what, it is no longer your number! In 1994 the number “9” sold for an unbelievable HK$13 million (that is about US$1.7 million).
One more thought: the front license plate is white and the back one is yellow; this is regulated, I believe. That is because, I’m told, white can be seen more clearly in the on-coming headlight, with yellow seen more clearly in the back! Not sure I understand that! Interesting, right?
December 12th - Yesterday we made the obligatory trip to the Peak, called the Victoria Peak by most travel magazine, but I know it hasn’t been called that for over thirty years and maybe more like fifty or more years.
Telling you what the view looks like from the Peak would simply not do it justice! My English is just not that good enough. It wasn’t exactly a clear night and I was working with a point and shot camera without a tripod, but it is not too bad!
The Peak is about 1900 ft above sea level, so by any measure it ain’t very high! Anyway, one can go to the Peak and see a beautiful sunset on one side of the Peak, then walk about 200 feet or so and see the most beautiful harbor view, in my opinion, in the world. It is one of the most important reasons for coming to Hong Kong: the other reasons are the people, food and excitement of a culturally, diverse city.
Part of the Peak experience is getting there: one can go by taxi, bus, car or the Tram ; the Tram is the way to go. At less than US$5 round trip, it has got to be the second best deal in town (trip on the Star Ferry being the best!). The Tram serves tourist as well as locals, so there are a number of stations before you get to the top.
The tram has two tramcars, one at the top and one at the bottom and they work in tandem; as one car comes down the other one goes up. When one car stops, both cars stop. The first time I rode the Tram in the ‘80’s, the Tramcar I was on stopped and there seemed to be no reason for it to stop. There was no station; we were just sitting there on about a 20% incline. Talk about being a little nervous; I thought there was a problem and the car was about to roll back down the hill. Anyway, I made it to the top that day and have been back more than I can count.
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