Hong Kong is my new favourite city. This place makes the rest of Asia look like it is either back in the stone age or so far up it’s own ass it can’t tell a cigarette from a calculator – I’m looking at you here Singapore.
Hong Kong, now part of China, retains much of it’s Britishness in the way of names (Harbour instead of Harbor for example) and has a certain colonial era charm. It just felt cool passing through a subway station called “Admiralty”. In reality, the building is probably now home to the new Red Army or something.
My first impression wasn’t as good as I had expected however. My attempt to take a bus from the airport failed miserably when nobody could give me change for HK$500 and nobody seemed to bother to speak good enough English to try and help me do so. I settled for the overpriced Airport Express train, only to get lost when I tried to find the MTR (subway / tube / whatever). Signposting here is not great, Singapore and even Shanghai do a much better job.
Furthermore, there are no good hostels in Hong Kong. Many travellers find their way to the notorious ChungKing Mansions, where you get a room and not much else. I always try to choose a hostel based on it’s social atmosphere. In Europe and Australia, hostel owners are great at setting it up so that you can meet other people easily. In Asia, this is less common and in Hong Kong, non-existent.
I tried a new option that I hadn’t used before – Couchsurfing. It is essentially a big group (now over a million people I think) of people who let you stay on their couch for free. It seemed like a great way to meet people and see the city from a different point of view.
I ended up staying with a Swiss guy who was studying in Hong Kong. He stayed in an awesome part of HK called Clear Water Bay. It is a lot more suburban than the Island or Kowloon and there were some great views. After I met Mathis near the bus stop, we went back to his place after stopping off at 7eleven to buy some beers – looking good already.
We had a great time and ended up going out to downtown Hong Kong where we joined in on Hong Kong’s greatest late night activity – drinking on the street. A beer costs about £1 from 7eleven and many people simply stand on the street and drink. It’s quite a sociable thing and it was quite busy for a Sunday night. Apparently on Fri/Sat night, the queue at 7eleven is longer than any club in the city.
Whilst very merry, I also randomly bumped into a dive buddy I knew back in Thailand – he was also drinking on the street of course. Pretty random, but it seems everyone is moving to Hong Kong these days – I may actually join them next year. My friend Mike, whom I travelled with a lot in Jan/Feb/March is moving here today actually. I’m sitting in McDonalds waiting for the rain to stop, so I can go meet him.
Hong Kong has all the modern conveniences of a major world city. Transport is cheap and so is beer, at least in 7eleven. It’s irritations, such as poor sign layout and awkward English actually make me feel more comfortable about the place. This is not Disney, though ironically there is now a Disney in Hong Kong, this is a real city with good bits and bits and it is not trying to be anything it isn’t. Singapore could learn a thing or two about letting it’s hair down from Hong Kong. I suggest starting with chewing gum.
Great article mate. I hope I can visit HK sometime.