I first went through Hong Kong in 2003 on a LOOONG stopover. I was 21 and mindblown. How can I be in Hong Kong.... Hong Kong is China.... How can I be in China? .......... (I was only 21)
My interest in the place probably goes back to reading Tai-Pan as a teenager at Qualicum one summer. A Chinese outpost, a British opium den, a naval and trading port where junks are side by side with Royal navy warships. Of course today opium smuggling carries the death penalty and the Royal navy doesn't get any closer than Cyprus but the city is still the largest port in the world and accounts for about a fifth of China's economy.
I went back in 2004 to actually see the city and it is what probably made me go back to school, so that I could get a job that would allow me to live in a place like that. While Daegu isn't exactly Hong Kong it is at least in the ballpark. I was back again in 2008 and 2009, both on the end of long trips, when both money and energy were low. I managed great times both ties, but that city is not one to be in on a budget. Its slogan in 2004 was "Asia's World City" and while Tokyo or Beijing may take exception to that it is true. It is just one of those places. However, it does make it slightly more expensive than a Bangkok or even a Seoul.
That is why I am looking forward to going this year with some money and a bit more time. It is a city that inspires. It has the feel of a great city, a feeling I have had in London and I am told you get in New York and Tokyo. I have done the sights but, like most great cities, the best parts about it are the side alleys, small local drinking and eating holes and getting in to the city.
One of the tallest buildings in the world
On Kowloon
The old clock tower, once the tallest building
in the colony (many years ago).
view from the Peak
at night.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.