The visit includes a tour of the Observatory’s measuring devices, together with advanced computer equipment linked with other observatories around the world. There is a short talk on of the Observatory's work on a daily basis, also during extreme weather events. Members can see how weather forecasts are formulated and disseminated to the public at the Observatory, using the latest technology. There is also an outdoors tour to observe, with explanations, how weather observations are made using meteorological instruments.
After this visit, members have a tour of Chungking Mansions led by the residents. Chungking Mansions is replete with contradictions: it has the cheapest guesthouses and meals in Hong Kong, in a dilapidated seventeen-storey commercial and residential structure in the heart of Hong Kong’s tourist district, while being located on some of the most expensive real estate on earth. Its design, built to be luxurious in the 1960s, makes it perfect as a place to escape into and never be seen by the police again. From the start, it had no unified ownership, so rapidly deteriorated, plus making it almost impossible to redevelop. Its tangled history, first in the 1970s and 1980s as a backpacker mecca and then as a developing-world enclave, has made it a tourist attraction. Chungking Mansions is now where people from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and other areas seek their fortunes through temporary employment and low-budget transnational trade.
Members will then enjoy a lunch at one of the famous restaurants in Chungking Mansions.
Members and their guests are most welcome to attend this event, which is HK$380 for Members and HK$480 for their guests.