Old Star Ferry Pier

Just about anyone who has been to Hong Kong for more than a few hours has ridden the Star Ferry. While not really a tourist attraction, it attracts tourists by, well, the boatload.

As with most of the public transportation in Hong Kong, the ferry is dirt cheap, with trips between Central on the Hong Kong side and Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side running a bit more than 25 U.S. cents for an upper deck ride and a bit less than 25 cents for a lower deck ride.

But we're getting less for our money this month than we did just a few weeks ago, as the old Star Ferry pier in Central was closed late last year and the ferry was moved to the a new terminal, shown in the background of the above photo. The new terminal is a couple hundred meters further into the harbour than the old terminal, which means the ride across is a shorter one than it used to be, but it's not the shortened ferry trip that has many Hong Kongers up in arms.

More to the point, preservation-minded locals are bemoaning the loss of yet another old landmark and the seemingly endless narrowing of the harbour as land is continually "reclaimed" on both sides. The old ferry pier, shown here, which is being torn down to make room for more roads, is covered with protest signs reading "Respect our Culture and History" and "This is Wrong."

For an idea of how much of the harbour has disappeared over the year, take a ride on the century-old Hong Kong tram next time you're in town. The system boasts nearly 30 km of track, much of which was harbour-side when the system was originally built. Today, none of the track runs next to the water.