The monstrous Central is not quite as imposing in daylight, especially up here at Victoria peak, where you can see it nestling at where the mountain meets the water. The view here is absolutely stunning, the steep mountains clad in lush green jungle, the throbbing city below and in the middle of it all an old railway track with a tram that, at least from a distance, look pretty good. Its beautiful, but not magic. The feeling of unbounded joy of exploring a new place from yesterday has faded, it is still there, but not as strong. Its just to bad they have built a shopping mall of sorts at the peak, desperatly trying to sell stuff to tourists – when you step of the tram you actually step straight in to the giftshop. The sun is shining and it is warm so I cant help but treat myself to an ice cream before I leave.

After the peak I find my way to a part of Hong Kong Island called the middle levels. It is an area of smaller streets compared to the big streets of Central. Here there is a series of transporters and escalators, going up the mountain at the moment since it is after 10 am – in the moring they bring people down from there homes to their jobs and in the evening vice versa. The escalators are all covered, but they are out doors and n street level. I follow it all the way to the top, just for the sake of having done it. On the way it seems I start to turn Japanese, considering how many photos I take. You would not believe how hard it is to get a decent picture of your self on an escalator show that the escalator is part of the street. As I near the top I am stricken with a sudden feeling of italianness. The signs in the street here are all in English and closer to the walls than the Chinese counterparts so it is hard to tell that I am in Asia. This is just the kind of backstreets with a myriad of small bars, restaurants and cafes that you would expect to find in an Italian city. On the way down I get a closer look as I am going slower. I hop in to a small Mexican restaurant for some lunch about half way down. I start to see a gradual change towards a more Asian feel to the place as the signs start showing Chinese characters and finaly a temple-like building covered in Chinese dragons. The area is nice to walk around in and the street escalators is a nice touch but not really that special.

this stgreet gives me an italian feeling.

And we're back in china again