by Peter Nelson
The New Territories are a peninsula at the tip of southern China. They were leased to the British in 1898, along with Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, for 99 years. When we were there, you could wander around all of these places without needing a visa from China. We’d planned to stay in Hong Kong for a couple of weeks, but fell so in love with the place that we wound up staying six weeks.
Tin Hau is the Chinese goddess of the sea. She protects fisherman and sailors, and thus is very important in the lives of all coastal dwellers in the South China Sea. When we were in Hong Kong, there happened to be an enormous festival celebrating her. Special ferries were chartered to transport all who wanted to take part. We tagged along.
