Hong Kong

Two weeks ago was a tough one for my acquaintances in Asia. Rough circumstances befell both my friends, my colleagues started getting the flu, even my city was pummeled with a Typhoon (tai feng – 台风 – extreme wind).

It’s not my place to co-opt other people’s stories of misery but the long-short is that I spent a good deal of time feeling fairly helpless on behalf of people I care about, and managed to stop off at the Kowloon hospital just long enough to be reminded of what grim places they are (the notion of having to undergo medical treatment overseas, or indeed anywhere, is simply frightening).

With regards to the lesser incident, Juliet’s bicycle was stolen by a virago pedestrian after the two collided in the street. The woman was crossing against a red light and clearly in the wrong, nevertheless she was verbally and physically overpowering and made off with the cycle as remuneration for her ‘injuries’ (must be tough to carry a bike when you’re that injured… Juliet managed to lock the rear wheel). What I find most interesting about this story is that the police walked by during the ordeal and completely shrugged off Juliet’s appeals for help. “Not their business” was the line, which is patently absurd coming from representatives of a country that makes everything about the lives of its citizens ‘its business’… much like the crowd who gathered to watch the spectacle, offering laughs but no assistance.

Hong Kong was dense and intense. It’s a city of extremes: population, shopping, temperatures. Walking in and out of the local buildings there is enough environmental flux to crack steel. One colleague (I was there for work) even claimed that, due to air-conditioning, the locals experience colder average temperatures than most other cities on earth. Likely false, but still intriguing.

Perhaps Xiang Gang’s most distinctive feature is its miles (literally) of elevated walkways curling in and out of clustered skyscrapers. A great many of the paths are also climate controlled. Amazing. I feel, with training, it may be possible to travel to all regions of the city without actually surfacing for fresh air. In addition to the skyways, Hong Kong has an <overdeveloped> abundance of subterranean malls and food courts, most of them hooked into the subway system. I found it enjoyable to ride the local tube, particularly as the insides of the trains are entirely unobstructed from cabin to cabin. When the crowd is sparse you can see down the length of the cars, as though standing in the gullet of a giant snake, and watch as the twists and undulations of the tunnel approach from the distance.

I think I’ve used the word ‘cluster’ a lot recently. Never has applied more fully than in the HK SAR. Seemingly the inverse of most cities, I believe there must be a minimum height restriction. As far as the eye can see down the coast there are 20-story-plus buildings hugging the shoreline. I was also told by colleagues that Hong Kong is surrounded by the most densely populated islands on earth. That I can believe.

During my wanderings, one experience stuck out quite vividly. In my hunt for a digital camera, I stopped by Time Square (oddly, there’s one in every Chinese town and city). Hong Kong’s was, as is to be expected, bathed in neon and swarming with hot bodies (crossing the road is like trying to push pasta through a sieve from both sides at the same time). I escaped the throngs and ate at the local food court for dinner. While fending off hypothermia, I managed to eaves drop the conversation next to me: four ABC tweens, visiting from their home in Bangkok. They spoke a mixture of English and Chinese throwing in plenty of ‘likes!’, ‘ya-knows!’, and ‘niggas’ (the chinese variant… unfortunate from a western standpoint). There was nothing innately interesting about what they had to say (“just tell your dad you spent it all on food”; “yeah, tomorrow we’re going to the spa”; “I can’t believe you don’t know ba bao jiu! You’re such a bad Chinese!”) but I had this vision of the future of Asia… bilingual, shop-aholics who live and play underground. I suppose this is a sad thought really, but it made me chuckle at the time. (I’ll admit this idea first lodged itself in my head when I visited the northern mainland city of Dalian a few years ago… the underground mall there was a warm excape from the street level snow. It also had bowling, DQ and apartments! Oh, and no subway to make it appear moderately sensible)

Clearly, however, the best part of Hong Kong was visiting with my friend John. We had several excellent moments of surreal incredulity: both working in Asia, in our mid 20’s, AT THE SAME TIME! Like, ya-know, nigga! I’ve known John for most of my life, we share the same birthday, we’re both perpetual wayfarers and this experience still ranked ‘out there’. Mucho fun to see him in Hong Kong. Among other things, we spent several nights checking out the scene at Lang Kwai Feng, a series of funky alleys backing up against the island hills, and ground zero for what I interpret to be a continual street-war between red light district and swanky bar establishment. Not to mention it’s a wet market during the day.

I did, indeed, buy a digital camera. It’s a multi-year lust-fest finally come to an end. I think most of the enjoyment was in the anticipation <isn’t it always>. But, hopefully this means I’ll be contributing bad photography to the log over the next few weeks.

With the onset of the Typhoon I pushed back my flight to Sunday hoping to avoid the inevitable travel delays. I missed the worst of it but still sat on the tarmac for 6 hours reading my pocket guide to mandarin and wishing I hadn’t eaten Indian food the night before. Didn’t get it till 3am on Monday morning. grrr.

Being back is nice. Shanghai is clearly not so happening as Hong Kong; but that’s why I like it.