Call me crazy, but I think Hong Kong is a lot like Napa Valley, California. Napa Valley is world famous - so is Hong Kong. Napa features two mountain ranges: the Mayacamas on one side and the Vacas on the other. Hong Kong has the Kowloon ranges on one side of the harbour and the island's spiky spine on the other.
Napa has a reputation for glitzy glamour that verges on the showy. Hong Kong unabashedly abnegates understatement. The Napa Valley auction, one of the most successful charity auctions in the US, raises US$9.5 million for non-profit organisations. Hong Kong generates at least as much at its many charity auctions.
Napa's early inhabitants were an indigenous group called the Wappo. Hong Kong's were the Hakka. The Catholic community provided the early foundation for Napa's success. The Catholic community provided the early education for Hong Kong's success.
Napa's reputation is due in part to its diurnal temperatures, which mean sunny heat ripens the
grapes by day and the chilly evenings preserve the grapes' natural acidity. In Hong Kong we brave stifling daytime temperatures and shiver throughout the evenings - in air-conditioned restaurants. Fog is highly prized in Napa as it cools the ripening grapes during the warm summer temperatures. Fog is highly prized in Hong Kong as it cools the ripening taipans during the warm summer heat.
Napa is home to the most expensive agricultural land in the US. Hong Kong has some of the most expensive horticultural land in the world - our botanical gardens. Napa specialises in mud-bath treatments used since the 1860s to regenerate city dwellers after excessive wine consumption. The Four Seasons, Grand Hyatt and Mandarin all offer rejuvenating mud treatments for city-dwellers suffering from excess.