sunday 28th september - day 38 - hongkong

Yesterday was spent doing absolutely frigg all.. my hangover was so bad I only moved to eat. Claudia and joe stay in with us too. Joe checks out and flys back to kunming and the junk boat we planned to go on is cancelled so we spend the day doing some general sighseeing around the city. We go up to the golden bauhinia, which is just a golden flower monument at the harbour. We go down to central and the mid level escalators - which is a 2,600ft long of joined escalators covering the soho area - filled with bars, restaurants shops and a few markets. walking south of soho, we arrive at the botanical gardens and small zoo. Surprisingly its free entry and is home to small range of monkeys, birds and reptiles. After lunch back at the hostel we have a look at the chungking mansions - where we are immediately bombarded by people selling fakes and asking for us to visit their shop - conveniently located down some dark alley. We nearly booked a hostel here and are quite glad we ended up in causeway. We venture up to temple st and the markets there, but its full of overpriced crap, even we dont want. Stopping at pizza express on the way home we are informed on the metro that admiralty station is closed due to a protest and the police have been firing tear gas and pepper spray. I read the news over dinner and get the lowdown on whats been happening. Democracy protests began outside the government buildings in admiralty due to Beijing ruling last month that it would allow Hong Kong people to elect their next leader in 2017 - yet beijing have now confirmed that the choice of candidates will be restricted to those approved by a pro-Beijing committee. Protesters want Beijing to withdraw this ruling and have the freedom of voting without the chinese government effectively screening candidates. Protesters peacfully protested but were met with shocking attempted dispersion by the police in the form of tear gas being launched into the crowds - sparking outrage from protesters and hongkong residents alike. Once we arrive back in causeway its clear the protesters have not been deterred - by the thousands they are blocking roads in mongkok, central and causeway. We watch it unfold in causeway and its all very peacful despite the disgust at the police's outrageous response. Thousands sit down, block the roads and settle down for the night. Supplies are also begining to be brought in. Within a matter of 30 mins, the crowd has swelled 10 timea over and is continuing to grow. Its all very calm still with just a few chants and cheers so we make back to the hostel for the night.