I’m back from Hong Kong and ready to gush and swoon about what a fantastic time I had.

The architecture!

The cultural sites!

The food!

The people!

The shopping!

All truly awesome. Though, if you’d told me three or four months ago that you were going to Hong Kong I would’ve merely feigned polite enthusiasm. Due solely to my own naivety, Hong Kong was not even on my radar as a top vacation destination until the invitation to travel with Jetsetter (and her parents who were born and raised in Hong Kong!) presented itself. The more I read up and heard firsthand from friends who’d visited, I realized this was truly an opportunity of a lifetime.

Don’t let my looks fool you: I am definitely a novice when it comes to Asian culture. Sporadic Korean Culture Camp attendance, dry grocery store sushi, and my momma’s broccoli beef stir fry (excellent as it is) is the extent of my Asian upbringing while growing up in rural Washington State. I’m being truthful when I tell people I had culture shock when I moved to the Bay Area for school. However, 8+ years of residing in the Bay have nothing on being in the thick of it for 8 days. Upon landing in Hong Kong, I was a little apprehensive about the crowding, fast pace, constant noise, foreign chatter, towering buildings, and bright lights. Seriously bright. They use a different voltage there that make their lights SUPER intense. It wasn’t until the wee hours of the morning on my third day that I feel I finally found my footing and started to appreciate their way of going about life. Following are a few lasting impressions I took away with me from Hong Kong. This is aside from the souvenir tea set (for decorative purposes only – I’m kinda sketch on actually consuming anything from it since it’s off the street) and 50 watt laser pointer.

Health and Movement:

Back to that morning of the third day: I woke super early, about 5 am their time. After unsuccessfully trying to fall back asleep I got up, puttered around as quietly as possible in the dark so as not to wake my roommate, and was ready to hit the street running, literally, at 6 am. My roommate and I discovered a running track around Victoria Park the day before. Unfortunately, I had not factored in that the sun doesn’t rise until 6:30 in Hong Kong this time of the year so when I landed in the lobby it was still dark outside. Despite the time and dark, I could see dozens of silhouettes moving outside on the sidewalk. Not really sure what got into me, but I’d read that Hong Kong was a really safe place and found myself hopping right into the hustle and bustle on the sidewalk and eventually running around Victoria Park as the sun rose. The beautiful thing was, I felt completely at ease. Serene, even. As a relatively attractive fit young woman, it’s not easy to find peace like this while jogging “alone” even at home in the daylight, not to mention a dark foreign park. Everywhere I looked off to the side of the track, clusters of dark figures were gathered practicing Tai Chi.

All around me I passed runners of varying degrees of athletic ability.

The most memorable were those with backs so bad they couldn’t stand straight. But there they were, out there hunched over in a sitting position but pumping their arms and legs, moving at a pace more brisk than a walk. I saw them each day I was out running and I’m sure they were out there the days I was not.

Although I “worked out” less than usual, all the brisk walking (Hong Kongers walk at a frenetically fast pace) coupled with the authentic Chinese cuisine helped maintain my weight and even slim down a bit. Chinese food in China, including the Chinese counterparts of American favorites, don’t have all the salt, sugar, and preservatives found in our food. Noticeably so. From what I sampled, chocolates (specifically, KitKats and McD’s milkshakes), Yoplait yogurt, Sprite, and Starbucks Vanilla lattes are less sweet. McD’s fries are less salty. Instead of alcohol, hot jasmine tea and hot water are served at meals. I saw an occasional Cream Soda and at one meal two bottles of red wine were split amongst our party of 12. For dessert a beautiful platter of melon and a bowl of lightly sweetened pureed squash were served.

For the most part, I really liked the less intense jolt of sugar and salt. I always thought yogurt was too sweet and really, when I thought stuff didn’t taste good it just kept me from unnecessary spending and eating.

In terms of scurrying to and fro, I attempted to capture the energy in the sights and sounds of the video of us crossing the street, below. Listen to that crosswalk signal telling you to go-go-go!

I asked Jetsetter’s cousin Polly, a native Hong Konger, why this pace is so prevalent. She explained that their mentality is “time is money.” This causes everyone to speed walk everywhere in order to spend as little time in transit and more wherever they may be going, be it to make money for or spend time with their families. 

Family

Hong Kongers (and realize I’m completely generalizing throughout this entire post; I know not all are like this but this is what I observed) are very generous and family-centric people. Example one: Jetsetter’s family.

I always knew her immediate family to be warm and generous. Since befriending Jetsetter sophomore year, her family has embraced me at their family gatherings. Several times throughout the trip her momma referred to me as her “other daughter” and all four of us American twenty-somethings traveling with her as “all my children.” (Jetsetter has only one sibling, an older brother who was not with us.) Both parents showed great compassion and concern when I fell violently ill during a day trip. I like to pride myself on my general good health and strength, but one of the days I completely lost it – my lunch and then some, twice, and then nearly passed out. You know you’re down for the count when you’re sprawled across a public bench too weak to be mortified that everyone in your party is standing around you in a huddle deciding your fate. Which brings me to example two. This huddle included some of Jetsetter’s extended family. Her aunties, uncles, and cousins were all equally compassionate and curious, generous with their time, knowledge, and kindness.

They led us all around Hong Kong, told us which sites to avoid and took us to those not to be missed. They treated us to some of the grandest meals I’ve ever experienced and in their favorite restaurants. They even invited us into their home for Lunar New Year,

a true treat that wouldn’t have happened had I been a regular old tourist visiting on my own terms. All the regular old tourists rang in the new year the obnoxious Western way: with copious amounts of alcohol, merriment, and carousing in Lan Kwai Fong. Don’t get me wrong, we were right there too, ringing in the New Year ’til the wee hours of 4 a.m.

But it appeared all the true Hong Kongers were fast asleep at their grandparents’ home with their families.

Although our New Years Eve was wildly Western, our New Years Day was decidedly authentic thanks to Jetsetter’s family who, as I mentioned above, invited us to their home. They also gifted us with an abundant supply of red envelopes stashed with cash.

Completely unnecessary but totally touching. Some say money talks. In this case it was saying that we were welcome like family members in their home all because Jetsetter is their family and we are her friends.

Additional Observations

While walking around Hong Kong and Macau, I saw at most three homeless persons. Very little in comparison to the major metropolitan cities with which I am familiar: San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Sydney. Upon inquiring, Jetsetter’s dad explained to me that many are taken in and cared for by their families while the rest are provided food and shelter in prison.

Despite the excessive throngs of people out and about at all hours of the day, Hong Kong is extremely clean. I didn’t see any trash littering the street except for New Years Day which is to be expected with all the festivities going on. Each morning I saw men and women out with makeshift brooms sweeping the sidewalks and streets.

It’s true when they say that Hong Kong is a shopper’s paradise. Everywhere you turn, there is something to buy for everyone. From designers (I visited a THREE-story Louis Vuitton!) and fakes (Ladies Market) to antiques and knickknacks (Hollywood Road). From what I saw, many women in Hong Kong, even the most dowdily dressed, will have an authentic Louis Vuitton or Gucci bag on their arm. I read in one of my guidebooks that because space is so costly, Hong Kongers flash their wealth with designer handbags and watches  instead of putting money into their apartment homes and cars. Most gatherings are held at restaurants and very few have cars. Why bother when storage is costly and public transportation is so awesome? Something that didn’t quite add up to me was with all these Hong Kongers shopping so much, where do they put it all? Turns out, there is quite a market for used designer handbags. If  interested and in Hong Kong, get off at the Causeway Bay MTR stop. Milan Station stores dot Times Square, all within walking distance of each other. Or just check out their website. The Hong Kong dollar is $7.71 HKD to $1 USD.