Article: Hong Kong's magic; Old and new, East and West come together in a dizzying, dazzling array.(TRAVEL)

Byline: Craig Guillot, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

HONG KONG - "You drink," said the old man as he tore the marble-size gall bladder from a snake's underbelly and drained the black bile into a small dish before mixing it with a bit of rice wine and a few drops of snake blood.

As he slid the dish toward me, I slammed down the concoction, continuing an ancient tradition, and prepared to head out into the urban chaos that lies outside.

Drinking snake bile at the base of a modern-day skyscraper is exactly the sort of stark contrast that makes this special administrative region of China such an enticing destination. As a land where East meets ...

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