Hong Kong...wow this place is absolutely amazingly hauntingly beautiful. I have that Gorillaz Song "Hong Kong" stuck in my head and it is completely fitting with the city (naturally). Taking the bus from one Island to the next was awesome. The scenery - I can't even describe it. I regret that I didn't take more pictures while being here. I hadn't had enough time to book a hostel in Thailand (oops) so I got off at a random stop to see what I could do. I stopped outside of the the Chungking Mansions (please google this place...please) and was immediately hustled by and Indian man asking me if I needed a place to stay. I said yes so I followed him up to this dirty, nasty building. There were Indian people everywhere crying out trying to sell things and staring. I was immediately put off. We waited in line of an elevator and rode up to 17th floor. This place was so gross. Dust everywhere as they were doing reconstruction on the building. Really small, really cramped. I was feeling claustrophobic, which is saying something since I had been living in China for the past three months. I got in my room. I actually couldn't breath. I looked out my "window" which was actually just a square whole in the wall that looked onto some pipes. "Oh god", I thought. I have to get out of here.
So I left. I left to explore the city of beautiful neon lights. Along the way I got attacked by three different men. Not really attacked, but stopped and asked if I would talk to them and be friends with them. One was kenyan, two were Indian. I was getting really seriously annoyed. I made excuses to all of them and I am pretty sure I had a permanent "fuck off" look stuck to my face for the next three days. I found an Irish pub and went in there to seek refuge from all the street hustlers. I sat at the bar and chatted with the nice Philipino bartender for a while. Soon after I was joined by a nice American man named Derrick. Derrick hailed from the Big Apple, and hadn't been to he states for four years. He had been in Korea teaching English for the past two years and then in a small town in China teaching English for the past two. We bonded and swapped stories of the complete ridiculousness that is China. That's what expats seem to do around here - laugh about this Country. Because hey, we are all in this together. We cheers and had a drink together over the news of Osama. It was nice to be with an American again, but in general it's great meeting the random people you do while travelling. Really it is.
I spent the next two days exploring all that Hong Kong had to offer me. I moved out of the nasty hostel and into a nicer hotel where I could actually breath. Also less nasty hustlers in the area which is also a complete plus. Hong Kong is technically part of China - but not really. The British signed something with them when they took it over saying that they would give it back over to them in 100 years after they were done with the place - in 1999. That they did, much to the displeasure of the Chinese. I would be worried if I were them too, it would be hard to go from a commonwealth to communism. But the Chinese didn't implement the same rules that it did in mainland China, mainly because Hong Kong is so profitable. Many Chinese escaped to here when the CPC party took over in 1949. As a result, the Chinese living her are very...non-chinese. They actually mainly speak in English to each other. Everyone is dressed up wearing a business suit, and there are more Starbucks than I have ever seen in my life. Oh, and you don't need a proxy to log into Facebook!
I could honestly see myself living in Hong Kong. It got a little claustrophobic at times but there was nothing more breathtaking than riding the Star Ferry back and forth across islands, looking at all the neon lights and the wonders of the modern world. And listening to the distinguished Brittish men chat over their business lunches. The clashing of Chinese and English culture made a unique place and even more unique people. I took a hot yoga class which was in a high rise, and trying to find peace with one's body and mind while overlooking the beauty of Hong Kong was ug...well you get the point.
Despite the creepy guys (they exist all over the world ladies...watch out!) It seemed to be like a pretty romantic place. Walking through Kolwoon park and looking out across the pier there were couples everywhere. I witnessed some pretty adorable intimate moments. It almost seemed slightly cheesy - one man picked up his lover and swung her around and another carried his bride style towards a bench and sat her down. I tried to take pictures but I didn't want to be that creepy. And someone like Jess would be way better at that then me..I am just good about writing it. Of course as all things I prefer Hong Kong at night. It was much more beautiful that way.
As usual, I got to thinking (wow Carrie Bradshaw much?) about the Chinese in Hong Kong. They seem happy and they seem to love it. Of course this is all they know, but still they seem to have no issues living in a completely westernized place. It made me wonder how long it would take mainland China to get this. If i was a betting woman I would say not too much longer. Change is coming to China at a rapid pace and it has already taken over Shanghai and Beijing. If they want to be the established superpower that they strive to be then they must make the change to all the cities, not just those two. Of course it will be difficult, but honestly they Chinese have gone through so much culture change in the past hundred or so years they should be used to all the change by now.
I was pretty sad to leave Hong Kong. Part of me wanted to buy a nice high rise apartment and search for a nice posh 9-5 business job with all the other locals. It had been two weeks since I had been in mainland china and I had gotten used to the normal toilets and the lack of hacking and coughing. And staring. And dirt. But I was excited to press on because in a few hours in the Beijing airport I was going to see my mom for the first time in three months! Ahhh!
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