As a student ambassador of an exchange programme to Britain, you are invited to give a speech in a gathering where some ambassadors would introduce the wonders of their home places. You would like to share with other attendees why you love HK so much and that it is surely a great tourist destination. Write a speech.
Good morning friends from all over the world,
I’m Marcus Chan from Hong Kong. After listening to some of your sharing, I’m longing to travel to your home places. And now, it’s my time to introduce Hong Kong, my home place, to all of you. See if you get fascinated about this city after my speech!
I know there’re plenty of tourist spots with beautiful views in Britain. I hope I’ll have chances to visit those places. But in Hong Kong, the view of the Victoria Harbour is also fabulous. If you don’t like just simply sitting and watching the sea, Hong Kong also offers lots of choices for entertainment. As a food paradise, you can have a taste of cuisines from Hong Kong itself and all over the globe. This is definitely music to foodies’ ears like me. With another nickname “Shopping Paradise”, you can enjoy zero consumption tax when you’re buying a variety of goods with relatively cheap prices in HK and so you can buy more souvenirs. For those who like the natural environment so much, do you know that 75% of our land is reserved as country parks? Hong Kong is not a pure concrete jungle, but with a large size of grassy rural area and mountains which make hiking and picnicking very enjoyable and wonderful. With diverse choices of touring, how can you say you don’t like Hong Kong? It’s a place where I can relish different activities.
Maybe you’ll say,” The entertainment part is attractive, but will it be difficult to travel from one spot to another?” As a Hongkonger having lived there for 17 years, I can tell you we have the most convenient and excellent transportation system. For commuters like me who needs to go to school far away from my home, it takes time within an hour at most to reach my place. It’s super convenient and that’s also why I like Hong Kong so much. Well, Hong Kong is so small that “far away” doesn’t really mean far away. But the advanced transportation network also makes travelling so easy in Hong Kong. Our bus and minibus routes cover almost all developed areas. The railway system has train lines reaching every district with a 99%-on-time service. If that’s not enough, we have over ten thousand of taxis serving with the best quality of service in the world according to a study last year. So when you’re travelling in Hong Kong, you can make good use of time to tour as all places of wonders are within easy access.
Does any of you do History at school? If you study history, you probably know that Hong Kong was once a British colony. With such an interesting background, Hong Kong can stand out from other Chinese cities. Yes, Hong Kong has been exposed to the western culture. The east-meets-west style is what I absolutely love about Hong Kong. So how “western” is Hong Kong? We have lots of western restaurants providing authentic cuisines, regular English dramas held in theatres and celebration events for festivals like Christmas and New Year. But for me, the part about local culture is more meaningful for me. Have you heard of traditional Chinese festivals like the Dragon Boat Festival and the Cheung Chau Bun Festival? Their names sound strange but the celebrations will definitely be fresh, unique and distinct to you. The history has built our hybrid culture of the East and West, which makes Hong Kong perfect for all of you to experience a fruitful trip.
So do you know why I love my city so much? Indeed, I’m proud of the numerous choices for sightseeing, well-developed transportation system and special culture. I hope you’re interested in getting on a trip to Hong Kong. Maybe one day you will love this city like me. Thank you!
Marcus Chan Wai Hang
6E 2015-16