Hong Kong, baby!

As many of you know, I was in Hong Kong last week during the Chinese National holiday. It wasn't mere vacation; I took the LSAT, the prime motivation for my visit. Several of my PC colleagues have travelled to HK with visiting family; it's a great waypoint between China and the West. Some would say that HK isn't really China; in my experience, it's like the West with Chinese Characteristics.

A British territory for over a century, HK was ceded to the UK in 1842 during the Opium Wars to serve as a port from which the Brits could import opium and export tea, silks, etc. The Western touch can be seen all over modern HK, from the most obvious--cars drive on the right side of the road, English is widely spoken--to the more subtle--signs abound that warn residents against spitting, with a maximum fine of 5,000 HK$. Spitting, in case I haven't mentioned it before, is about as common as breathing for people on the mainland, and there are yellow gobs of phlegm everywhere to prove it. Also, as everyone knows, Hong Kong has a crazy economy and most of the world's goods pass in or out of their port on their way to somewhere else. You don't have to sit long at Victoria Harbor to notice the container traffic.

British rule ended in 1997, and I can remember reading about the handover, or "reunification" to the Chinese, in Newsweek when I was in high school. At first glance it was difficult to see that Hong Kong is part of China at all. Mainland Chinese need visas to enter the Special Administrative Region, and it is considered an international destination by the travel industry in China. They still use the Hong Kong dollar, which is roughly equivalent in exchange to the Chinese yuan, almost 1 to 1. (For the US$, it is about 7.8 to 1) Called the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, HK still has it's own legal system, customs policy, cultural delegation, international sport teams, and immigration laws...you get the picture. For it's part of the bargain, the PRC represents Hong Kong diplomatically and militarily.

For all that, Hong Kong is still another square in the quilt of the Chinese Motherland. It is the most profitable square, and one that most Mainlanders are quite proud of, despite the fact that they've never visited themselves. And in the words of a life-long Hong Kong Island resident, "We are not Taiwan." That is to say, the people of Hong Kong are mostly satisfied with their situation as an appendage of the PRC, and don't have overt designs on independence, a la Taiwanese. He told me this as he pointed out the 35-story People's Liberation Army office building along Victoria Harbor on the island. There is a disconnect between the people of Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese. Since my trip, I've had the strange experience of both sides asking me about the other--"how do they do ____________ in Hong Kong/the Mainland?" I think that a sense of vague Chinese-ness unites them, but in terms of experience and lifestyle (at least the lifestyle I witness in Sichuan) there is a huge gulf between the two groups of compatriots.

But about my trip--it was an adventure. I arrived on Friday afternoon, travelling via Shenzhen, the Mainland city that sits on the northern border of HK SAR. It is significantly cheaper to fly through Shenzhen and take a train or ferry across the border, so this is what I did, with the help of two Oregonians I met along the way. Travel-weary, I explored the area around my hotel a bit on foot before settling in for dinner at a little cafe on a side street. My meal was pleasant; as I sat by the window, I had the very-HK experience of watching one luxury sedan after another roll down the street: BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus, like a parade. I walked back to my hotel (a YWCA!) I enjoyed the crowded busy-ness and warm humidity of the tropical night. Unfortunately, about 6 hours later, I woke up with what I've self-diagnosed as food poisoning. Could've been the scallops at dinner, or the street food snack earlier in the evening. Doesn't really matter, in the end. I was sick as a dog, well into Saturday.

This would've all been only mildly distressing, except that I was scheduled to take the highly anticipated LSAT on Sunday morning. The situation was critical. I had to get better, and fast. With the help of the hotel concierge, phone calls to my mom and to PC medical staff, lots of Gatorade and some serious positive thinking, I pulled it together. I woke up Sunday feeling comparatively great. The exam passed in a blur, and I think I did alright. We'll see when the scores come in...

After the exam, I made the acquaintance of a fellow-examinee called Romeo, and we went out for dinner that night to celebrate. Below is what I hope can be called my LSAT victory shot (after the scores come in, of course). We are at Victoria Harbor, on the Kowloon side facing Hong Kong Island.


The next three days were spent exploring HK, and especially Hong Kong Island. My tour guide was Freeman Lee, a HK native who was formerly in finance and is now a marathon coach. I met Freeman through Romeo, and we formed a merry trio trekking through the city. Highlights were the impossibly long, but ultimately priceless hike up to Victoria Peak, a crazy dim-sum lunch where we literally stood over people waiting for them to leave in order to grab their seats at the packed tables, and making friends with Romeo and Freeman, a Swiss-Italian and a Hong Kongese, respectively. The conversation was interesting, as you might imagine. In all, after the rough start, it was a great trip. Some more photos:

Double-decker buses and street signs in Hanzi and English!


Waiting on a table...


Me and Freeman where the dim-sum magic is made.


View from the top--it was unfortunately hazy, but you can still see Victoria Harbor and the Kowloon Peninsula on the other side. The tall building to the left is called the IFC.


The Hong Kong Island skyline at night, viewed from the Star Ferry as we crossed back to Kowloon. The IFC is now to your right side, and the one with criss-crossing white neon is the Bank of China building. Thanks to Freeman for the architectural tour.


If you can go to Hong Kong, do it. It's clean and cosmopolitan and distinct--definitely worth a trip.