Hong Kong
While buying a thank you note for my hosts in Hong Kong, I struck a conversation with the clerk at the store. I said that I was blown away by the cleanliness, modernity and comfort associated with life in Hong Kong and how that contrasted to life in Beijing, Hong Kong’s bigger, grittier, and more “Chinese” cousin. The clerk casually replied (in English), “what did you expect? Hong Kong and China are different countries.” Technically, that’s not true. Sort of. Nonetheless, his comment was insightful and prescient. Hong Kong is China, but it’s different. While mostly Chinese, the city has a very Western flavor. The stores are Western, the infrastructure is Western, and the ethos of the city is, in my opinion, closer to Sydney than it is to Beijing. Perhaps one reason is that the city is sub-tropical—I walked around in a t-shirt, while I’ll have to bundle up before going out in the sub-zero temperature here in Beijing. Do to the similarities with the West, Hong Kong seems like it’d be an easier place to have a family and raise kids than Beijing.
In Hong Kong, a beach with surfable waves is only 30 minutes by car away from the heart of the city. Moreover, the sleepy area around the beach had the feel of a southeast asian beach town, not of China. Within the city limits, one could get any kind of Western food or product he or she desired. Also 30 minutes from the heart of the city, although this time by foot, is the top of a mountain that looks down on the skyline and, in my opinion, the prettiest harbor in the world not in a city named Sydney.
While I’m much happier to live in Beijing than Hong Kong now—for one, people in Hong Kong generally don’t speak Mandarin, but rather Cantonese—Hong Kong is the type of place that I could see myself living in when I’m older. Beijing I’m still not too sure about. I mean, I could see my mother living comfortably in Hong Kong, which would be impossible in Beijing. I realize that this is a weird piece to come on the heels of one about spending four months on the road in rural China, but, at the age of 23, I’m constantly caught between looking into the future and living every moment in China as if I’ll never have another chance to travel and be young.
In Hong Kong, a beach with surfable waves is only 30 minutes by car away from the heart of the city. Moreover, the sleepy area around the beach had the feel of a southeast asian beach town, not of China. Within the city limits, one could get any kind of Western food or product he or she desired. Also 30 minutes from the heart of the city, although this time by foot, is the top of a mountain that looks down on the skyline and, in my opinion, the prettiest harbor in the world not in a city named Sydney.
While I’m much happier to live in Beijing than Hong Kong now—for one, people in Hong Kong generally don’t speak Mandarin, but rather Cantonese—Hong Kong is the type of place that I could see myself living in when I’m older. Beijing I’m still not too sure about. I mean, I could see my mother living comfortably in Hong Kong, which would be impossible in Beijing. I realize that this is a weird piece to come on the heels of one about spending four months on the road in rural China, but, at the age of 23, I’m constantly caught between looking into the future and living every moment in China as if I’ll never have another chance to travel and be young.
posted by jr at 7:30 AM
1 Comments:
Travel and being young is not predicated on chronological age! We must get back to Van Onna and his chocolate sprinkles for breakfast, followed by entering the kitchen door at Der Silveren Spiegel. In all seriousness, I understand the push-pull you are feeling, but I think most important of all is to try and ENJOY what you are experiencing. No reason to cut yourself just to see if you bleed.
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