Chinese food is so much better in China!

Seems obvious, I guess, but I have to say I'm impressed!  I tend to be fairly picky, and Chinese food has never been my favorite.  I don't dislike it, but it's also not what I'd usually pick when asked what I want to eat.  But since I'm here, I figured I should give it a try, though before coming I was admittedly nervous about the local cuisine!  (I preface this with the disclaimer that I've been here all of a day and have not ventured much beyond the convention center hosting the conference, so pretty much everything I've seen caters to tourists and business travelers...)

Last night after the conference, I ventured up to Victoria Peak, which overlooks central Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor, which the city surrounds.  From the top, there are spectacular views of the city below.  I went about sunset, so got to see the city lights come to light as it got dark, which was cool.  While I was there, I decided to grab dinner.  After wandering around the large shopping mall at the top (the route from the funicular up the mountain to the lookout is carefully crafted so you pass practically every store in the mall along the way, most of which are not different than any mall in the US or Europe), my choices were among the following: Bubba Gump, a Japanese restaurant, Burger King, and a few other places clearly not serving local cuisine...  Hong Kong's very much the same as any western city, with all the major restaurants and stores (including 7-11's all over the place)!

Panorama of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor at night as seen from Victoria Peak

I found a place outside the mall that looked somewhat like a slightly fancier diner type place, with a menu ranging from French or Italian to American burgers or BBQ to some actual authentic Asian (including a Chinese dish or two).  It wasn't actually all local food, but it worked.  I got Hainan Chicken, which was delicious!  First, being used to Chinese food coming in small paper cartons and Styrofoam, it was impressive to see it served so ncie.   It came with three different sauces, one of which was a citrusy sauce, one of which was soy sauce, and the last one was probably the best duck sauce I've ever had (It was more than just a sweet sauce, it had a little bit of spice to it).  Also, I was very proud of myself, because I managed to eat the whole meal with chopsticks!  Real chopsticks are so much easier to use than the cheap wooden ones.  And I even ate the soup, which I never eat at Chinese restaurants back home.  This may all seem like things one would expect when eating local food, but for somebody who's a generally picky eater, it's always exciting to discover new things!