Hong Kong S.A.R, China

Just think how heavy they would be if filled with water! Just think how much smaller the ecological footprint would be if they were filled with tap water at the offices themselves. On the other hand, just think how much larger the ecological footprint would be if all those office workers were drinking from 8-ounce, one-use, plastic bottles. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

Three continents are here united: Asia, South America, and Europe. From Asia, comes the customer. From South America, comes the potato. From Europe, comes the culinary stereotype. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

At the moment, he's dealing with inventory, not customers. He doesn't have to be at his best, his friendliest, his smiliest. He doesn't have to anticipate the next move or the next word from a potential buyer. So, even though his muscles are working, his mind goes wandering off. In his world of work, he has created a world of escape. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

Suburbs are simply not urban: That's why we call them SUBurbs. Real cities are very urban: mixed-use developments at the mega-scale where you can work, play, and shop without wheels of your own. In places like Hong Kong, you don't need lots of house space because you have the whole city under foot. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

The stars of Victoria Harbor are the ferry boats: often dressed to impress. You don't have to squint to see this one coming. Just this month, Star Ferry received an award for building social capital (whatever that means!) and making Hong Kong a caring and inclusive community. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

All that remains of the old Hong Kong Railway station is the clock tower. One hundred years ago, the station was built to connect Victoria Harbor with Canton (now Guangzhou). The station was demolished in 1977, but the tower was preserved. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

The Arch celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The archway itself permits dragons from the hills on the mainland side of Hong Kong to pass directly through on their way to the water. Keeping the dragons happy brings good luck, just ask any feng shui master. The whole idea of feng shui is to block negative energy and allow positive energy to flow. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

Here's some applied color theory along Nathan Road. Blue and green are grouped together in traditional Chinese culture as qing; it represents the renewal of life and symbolizes vitality. Orange symbolizes change and adaptability. Yellow symbolizes earth. Conclusion? Hong Kong is becoming a sustainable urban place. [2011]

Macau S.A.R., China

How do you build visual reminders of nature into the urban environment? Use the thousands of canvasses the planners gave you: Dual purpose your sidewalks. Let them make of your city a shadowbox of silhouettes. Then, watch to see if pedestrians step on the cuddle fish. [2011]

Macau S.A.R., China

Casino owners in Macau salivate when they think of the construction project materializing before their eyes right now: a series of bridges and tunnels that will link Macao to Hong Kong and the mainland. As planners dreamed about engineering the mouth of the Pearl River, they must have looked back on the Chesapeake Bay for inspiration. [2011]

Macau S.A.R., China

Macau is the global city of the gambling industry. If you are working your way up the gambling hierarchy, start at your local 7-11, spend a week-end in Atlantic City, fly to Vegas for a week, and end up in Macau, where it would be easy for an addict to spend the rest of his life. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

There is nowhere to go but up in Hong Kong, a city defined by its high-rise skyline. The more storeys you can pile on top of each other, the more work you can get done on each square foot of ground space. Hong Kong is quickly becoming "Asia's World City," a promotional moniker adopted to raise its profile on the world stage. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

You know you're not in Kansas anymore when gazebos start looking like Chinese temples. In a city like Hong Kong, with a population density of 17,000 per square mile, it's hard to imagine enough space being available for even small street-side parks. Apparently, high population density does not always equal crowding! [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

Office workers in Hong Kong come down from their urban high-rises and emerge into the country, where landscapes are green, and reminders of Eden are all around. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

The fragrant harbour isn't so fragrant any more, but the urban landscape looks tidy and almost inviting from this perspective. Just think what the view must be like from one of those towers. By the way, Hong Kong means "fragrant harbour." [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

If you brought in some anthropologists of the future to pick through corner culture off Nathan Road in Hong Kong, what would they conclude? By the early 21st century (a) print media was still hanging on; (b) English was the most important language in a Chinese-speaking city; and (c) glamour and sports were the critical concerns of the day. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

Bilingual signage is typical of Hong Kong. So is Closed-Circuit TV. The pictogram in the middle might as well be the logo of the urban world in which we live. Anyone want to move back to the country? [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

On one side of Victoria Harbour is high-rise Hong Kong Island, on the other is high-rise Kowloon. With a population almost as large as Virginia's and an area that is one-third the size of Rhode Island, high-rise architecture is not a surprising part of the urban landscape. Nor are ferries a surprising part of the urban waterscape. [2011]

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

High rises occupy most of the space on, off, and over Nathan Road, the backbone of Hong Kong's Kowloon Peninsula. Yet, some corners have been set aside for the few people who have time to relax. [2011]

Macau S.A.R., China

What do pandas eat?  Bamboo. Leaves, stems, and shoots.  Almost exclusively. And, because they eat so much, the species needs large bamboo ecosystems to survive. None are left in Macao and few are left in China. Their ecosystems are disappearing, and by the end of the century, pandas will exist only in zoos. [2011]