Hong Kong - Where East Meets West

A few weekends ago Nikolai and I decided to take a weekend trip into Hong Kong. Since we are only a 2.5hour (plus customs) trip away I did not anticipate Hong Kong being all that much different than here in the Greater Guangzhou area. I was in for a little reverse culture shock.

We came into Hong Kong late at night, so I did not get a real chance to investigate the city of 7-million until the next morning. I did, however, get a chance to enjoy a Ben & Jerry's Phish Food Waffle ice cream cone...wow...I have missed good ice cream!

On Saturday morning we awoke to clear blue skies and slightly cooler weather (for my Minnesota friends, that means it was in the upper 70s). We started our walk down to Victoria Harbor and along the way I was stunned. People stopped at stoplights here and pedestrians ONLY used crosswalks on the main roads. There also seemed to be more Starbucks per square kilometer than anywhere I have ever seen.

As we got closer to the harbor, there was a moment when the fresh salty sea air hit my nostrils. Ah, fresh air! I even saw a few runners out along the Walk of Stars.

The harbor itself was beautiful. Truly one of the great harbors of the world. As I looked at it it was hard to imagine its shores without the glittering steel and glass skyscrapers along the sides and giant ships and ferries in its waters. We took the famous star ferry across to Hong Kong Island and spent the rest of the late morning and early afternoon walking around the streets and hills of the west end. Beautiful!

Later in the afternoon we decided to go up to Victoria Peak to see the famous high view of the harbor. Here, is where Nikolai and I realized that we were truly not in mainland China any more.

We waited in line for about 1 hour to get on the historic tram to take you to the top of the hill. At the top you will find everything from touristy nic-naks to a Bubba Gumps restaurant. However, Nikolai and I were there for the view so we quickly passed all of these attractions and headed for the observation deck.

While at the top, we walked around on our own a bit. While taking photos, I ran into a couple who was posing with Danish flags that they had draped on the ledge of the tower. I wanted to find Nikolai to show him the flags but when I did Nikolai had this strange look on his face. "What happened?" I asked. "You will never guess.", he relied.

Apparently, as he was wandering around admiring the view he came across a mainland chinese family with a 3-year old son. There was a great commotion as the small boy seemed to need to use the bathroom. Now, in mainland China, I have become almost too comfortable with seeing grandparents and parents squatting with their children and grandchildren along roads, paths and even in shopping malls to relieve themselves. But, this was Hong Kong.

That didn't matter to this family as Nikolai said they stripped the little boy of his pants and he precede to go number 2 on top of the observation deck at Victoria Peak. Seconds before he was finished, Nikolai said there was a great commotion as security guards came running over to the family and escorted them away, presumably to the nearest restroom.

As Nikolai retold the story to me we just kept on laughing. It was nice to be in a place where that was not acceptable in public anymore.

Later that evening we meet up with a college friend (Robin) who is teaching in Hong Kong and we enjoyed a great meal of Mediterranean food and a wonderful conversation about life in China. My friend mentioned that she was excited to go out for non-chinese food, as many people who come to visit them want to have chinese food. We get enough of that at home in Foshan!

The next day we spent shopping! My only mission was to find a pair of boots and Nikolai a pair of Clark's Originals. We found out quickly that mainland Chinese people come to Hong Kong to buy the real brands while Hong Kong natives will venture over the boarder into Shenzhen to buy the cheep knockoffs...so funny to see!

Over all, it was a great trip. I know there will be many times that I am craving western food, civility and the ability to speak english...it is nice to know that Hong Kong is so close!