Sunset at Victoria Harbour

Dusk at Central

Dusk at Central

Hmm… this seems to be one of the posts that got left out in the Hong Kong series. Anyway, here it goes. I originally planned to go to Eastern China for a backpacking trip, however, due to unforseen circumstances, I was forced to abandon it in favor of Manila. While I was there, I colleague of mine told me that I was lucky that I didn’t push through with the China trip since there was a major sandstorm, the worst in four years, precisely at the time I was supposed to go there. What I didn’t know is how bad it was, until I got to Hong Kong.

Sunset at Victoria Harbour

Sunset at Victoria Harbour

When I got there, my friend told me that the effects of the sandstorm way up north were felt here in Hong Kong. The day before I arrived, the air quality was so bad that it reached record levels. Keep in mind that Hong Kong is just next door to the factories of Guangdong where most of Hong Kong’s pollution comes from. By the time I got there the air has cleared up and it wasn’t as bad anymore. Of course there were still residual effects from the sandstorm and this made for spectacular sunsets. However, this also made for rather strange effects where the Causeway Bay side of Hong Kong Island is clear while the Admiralty and Central side where not. This persisted throughout the day and frustrated me no end.

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