Hong Kong Zoo and Botanical Gardens vs Kew

Movement and Color

A local recommendation..

Local: The Hong Kong Zoo and Botanical Gardens are nice. Compact, but good for a visit on a Sunday afternoon. And free!

Visitor: Any special attractions?

Local: A huge orang-utan. Swinging from tree to tree in his hairy red fur coat. Impressive.

Visitor: Plants?

Local: Orchids. A few. And a herb garden, But no one goes there. They go to see the orang-utan and sometimes the flowers.

Visitor: Movement and color attract humans. Stems and leaves are harder to for them to appreciate.

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Voice-over

Hong Kong Zoo and Botanical Garden does a decent job. For a city state dedicated to urban life, it is expected that numbers of specimens will be small: a thousand plant species in 5.6 hectares. Compared to Kew’s 40,000 plant species in 121 hectares. But here’s an interesting comparison. Hong Kong Zoo and Botanical Gardens receives 870,000 visitors a year, Kew only double that at 2 million.

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