HONG KONG WANDERINGS AND IMPRESSION:

Fruit stand near our hotel (during a quiet time of day)

Some returning impressions of Hong Kong. To begin I really love Hong Kong.  It is a vibrant, hectic, complex city. However, being here after about two weeks in Seoul has provided an interesting lens for my impressions. For a start the actual pacing of this city seems almost frenetic, compare to Seoul. People seem driven and rushed. They walk faster and even the escalators to the subways (MTR) are faster- so you have to really pay attention and time your steps accordingly. (There, of course, lots of auditory and visual instructions to hold the handrail on the escalator, with scary picture of groceries or falling children knocking down others on the escalator!).

Bruce’s first impression as we tried to buy some fruit at a nearby fruit stand was that they were rude. My own impression is that it was not rudeness, we were just taking to long to figure out what we wanted, and there were other customers waiting. Another impression: this is a city where consumption and finances rule. You could probably buy anything you want, someplace here- and probably for much cheaper.  I remember from being show around on earlier visits it was basically a shopping expedition (sadly for the person showing me around: I am somewhat anti-consumption, so I didn’t buy anything). In the downtown area, people (often men but some women) zip by talking on their cell phones about making deals and leaving offers ‘on the table’. There is poverty, we have also seen what looks like a few homeless people as well as some possibly ‘iterant’ street musicians (some of them looking white rather than Asian), but also lots of high end jewelry and clothing stores. 

Man Mo Temple with Apartments 

I also wonder about the absence of ‘traditional HK culture’ in daily life. This is compared to my impressions of Seoul where young people would be wearing traditional Hanbok/clothing on the street (and could get into palaces and museums free if they were wearing traditional clothing).  Pride in other aspects of HK historic culture seems more absent- food is good, varied and also representing a range of Asian cultures, but not a sense of ‘this is a traditional HK dish’.  Dim Sum (dumpling) shops are everywhere but they are a basic part of everyday life, rather than additionally celebrated as something that is particularly typical for HK. Souvenir shops sell T-shirts that say I ‘heart’ HK, rather than miniaturized objects from more specifically HK culture. 

Is there are traditional HK culture from the past? Last time we were here, we did visit an Ethnographic Museum that had a small exhibit on the autonomous, fishing villages that existed in the area prior to the European invasion. (Many even had their own language).  I wonder if what I see in HK today is a result of European influences rather than a hybrid mix of indigenous and outsider influences.

More veggies indoor market

So far, we have been exploring HK Island with a brief excursion last night into Kowloon, to return to an old favorite haunt that was near the Hostel we had stayed at last time. Our neighborhood appears to be an older, residential area, with fruit, vegetable and meat stands on many corners. In the morning and evening, we often see older people pushing carts as they shop for what I assume are for daily meals. Down the street are several blocks of ‘dried fish’ stores. Many of the stores are small narrow street level shops, topped by tall narrow high rises, that I assume are apartments for families. A clue is often the laundry hanging out the windows or small balconies with  plants growing in large pots.

Upstairs Food Court

Other food shopping options surround us, including a multi level food and dry goods ‘wet market’ with a place to get cooked food on the top floor. (this is really typical of many larger markets here.) The range of what is available is wonderful- 4 kings of sweet potatoes (yellow, orange, purple and yellow orange), wonderful tropical fruits (longans, rambutans and other that I like but don’t know their names). An array of green veggies and of course stalls where you can get what ever meat or fish you want cut for you by the owner.  

Bamboo scaffolding being set up

From our hotel within about a 10-15 minute walk we are suddenly in a fancier section of town, with large shopping malls as well as hovering financial buildings that are lit with a light show every evening around 8 pm. Yesterday morning we walked to the ‘Mid levels” an area of HK that has moving escalators going up the side of the mountain that is HK, since it is so steep. We passed streets with markets, antiques, and restaurants, as well as high rise apartments. 

Our goal was the Jamia Mosque, (On Mosque Street- hard to get lost when you have your own street name). As we got closer some of the restaurants changed from Asian to Turkish, Moroccan, Greek or Middle Eastern.

Jamia Mosque

The Mosque itself, is small and the minarets are dwarfed by tall apartment buildings that surround it. However, it is still a lovely place of calm in the city. This time, there were a few women in headscarves (I am assuming they were probably Malaysian) the three younger ones taking care of an older women in a wheel chair (this city is not at all easy for folks who are less able to move around).  I was welcomed into the women’s section and greeted with a smile and OK sign when I emerged. (I had put on a long-sleeve shirt and head scarf before entering the mosque courtyard, and they were soaked by the time we left. Did I mention it is really hot and humid here?

Later in the afternoon we took the MTR under the water to Sham Shui Po, a street market with food and clothing that we liked from the last time we were here. We basically wandered a bit, enjoying familiar sights, and then had an amazing dinner at a restaurant I had eaten at several years ago- the highlight being a salt and cumin roasted fish.  We then headed home, taking the short ferry ride across from Kowloon to HK Island (it is free to elders and also the cost of a subway ride for other folks). We timed it so that we were going across the water around 8 pm, so we could see the amazing light show on both shores as we crossed. 

Bruce and Veggie/Fruit Street

Today, rain is predicted, not sure what we will do (someone here said that there is a typhoon warning). But was is the lowest level of alert, so while it might not be a typhoon, it does look like rain most of the day. I start teaching tomorrow so might not write much in the next 4 days.
And a few days after that, we are home.  Thanks for reading and to be continued.