I just got back from a fantastic weekend in Hong Kong. The sky was blue and the weather was, according to my friends who live in HK, about as good as it gets. Now the question many people have been asking is: is Hong Kong still safe for travelers to visit with the recent case of swine flu?

The first case of swine flu was discovered the day after I arrived. Even before this, Hong Kong had already taking precautions including disinfecting the doormats of residential buildings every hour, many people wearing masks, masks being sold at convenient stores and health declarations needing to be signed at the airport on entry to Hong Kong.

Yes, tourism over Labor Day weekend was less than usual and this is probably liked the the global threat of swine flu. But it's pretty evident that Hong Kong is taking the threat seriously. Seems like they learned a lot about how to deal with things from SARS.

My advice, don't cancel your plans to go to Hong Kong these days: life continues as usual. And if you are feeling paranoid, masks are this season's favorite accessory.

Photo by Rebekah Pothaar.