Hong Kong was first stop on our Asia journey en route to India. We were there for 5 days.
We had not planned in detail about what we were going to do when visiting Hong Kong. We did not even have a Lonely Planet guide which is essential for our style of traveling, as we like to find our way in a new city/town on our own instead of taking a group tour. This style of traveling allows us to interact with the locals and enriches our experience of the place. We use public transportation as far as possible, try to interact with the locals, go to the local markets and stores, as well as eat in small hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
Our visit to Hong Kong has been a delightful experience. It is a hip and thriving city. It feels like LEGO land with tightly packed tall buildings and narrow streets. Hong Kong has been handed over to China for more than 20 years. However, the vestiges of the British past are everywhere, with names like Queens road, Upper Albert Street, and so on. There are double decker buses and narrow trams plowing through the traffic, reminding me of the British legacy of my childhood in Bombay.
The comparison to Bombay ends there. Hong Kong crowd is so disciplined! People stay in a queue to board a train and wait for green signal before crossing the street. Is that the influence of the Chinese or British? People are mostly of Asians decent; they tend to be serious and stoic. Not many smiles are returned. Some speak English but hard to judge as they don’t interact much with us. May be they have a preconceived notion for our type “ Indians” as there are a fair number of us here. That’s why they don’t see me as a person of interest.
Our hotel happened to be in an area that has many wholesale shops selling dried seafood and herbs used for Chinese medicine. In fact, there is a park near by dedicated to Shannog, the founder of Chinese medicine, right in middle of this wh district. It is a peaceful place where people sit and relax or do tai-chi. It has a beautifully manicured herb garden with information about different herbs and its medicinal value.
What amazed me about Hong Kong is that despite its tremendous density it is a very clean city, at least the Central part where we spent most of our time. There is no trash to be seen anywhere. The street corners and back alleys are scrubbed clean. The trash containers are not oozing garbage.
Also, there are no poor or homeless to be seen. Where have they all gone? As I know that every society has some. I posed that question to some friends of our nephew who were nice enough to meet with us. They said that central Hong Kong is a “bubble” and that despite the seeming prosperity; income disparity is very high. Poor people are often members of the working class who cannot afford a decent place to live. The cost of real estate is skyrocketing making rents prohibitive. Many people end up sharing rooms and some even stay in cages that are stacked on top of each other. One goes there to sleep at night!!
We saw one interesting phenomenon that alludes to the lack of space in the city. On a Sunday as we were walking near Hong Kong’s tourist stops near the botanical gardens, St. Paul’s church as well as the Promenade, we saw hundreds of mostly young Asian women congregated in open places. They were sitting in large groups on cardboards placed on the ground; chatting, eating, and playing games. We thought it was some sort of protest or religious observance. It turned out that these women are household maids who come to HK from Philippines or Indonesia to work. They are provided a room in their employer’s home but on weekend when they have a day off and they want to meet other friends they socialize in this manner.
Such are the forces that make a city like Hong Kong buzz. Look forward to now going on to Mumbai and then Bangkok, the other Asian metropolis.
The places we enjoyed in Hong Kong:
- A hike up to Victoria Peak (1800’) using the Morning Trail instead of taking the tram. It is 2.8 km. starting from the trailhead which is a 45-minute walk (a steep one in itself) from Central HK or Sheung Wan areas.
- Macau day trip. The ride on hydrofoil is enjoyable. Seats are assigned and the crowd is disciplined. We took local bus to go to the old city. We were not interested in the gambling, which is what has made Macau famous.
- Tai Kwun, a prison in Central Hong Kong, recently converted into a modern and architecturally interesting complex. It has a 100-year old mango tree in the courtyard that bore 3 mangoes this year. There are some eateries and bars, one called “Behind bars” where the prison cells are converted to cozy booths to enjoy your drink.
- SOHO (south of Hollywood street). We walked up and down this area to eat a variety of food in cool, hip places. A bar called The Old Man is well hidden but worth a visit if you can find it and then find space to have one of the interesting drinks that are named after Hemingway’s various books.
Meera 9 Jan 2019
Very interesting account. Wish you continued happy travels!
Your next few months are going to be full of excitement to say the least! You will be busy as hell with writing and photography! Have a good time in Mumbai