Reflections on Hong Kong

(Joseph)

Here I am: my first morning in Hong Kong. I have slept very little for the past three days, and yet (I think I speak for our group), we’re all extremely energized and excited to take this adventure together.

But before we get into Hong Kong, a few thoughts about the flight over. Our flight to San Francisco was, frankly, like any domestic flight within the U.S—cramped and humid with the musty smell of various bodily odors that accompany cramped quarters. In short: completely un-noteworthy. And slightly foul-smelling.

The flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong, however, was a different story. We were on a beautiful 747 (double-decker) that was three-quarters empty. Most of the passengers were told they could spread out and have their own rows, and most did. Yes, the flight was long, but the increased space made all the difference—at least for me. Between frequent short naps that will surely destroy any sense of sleeping patterns in my life for the next few days, I read the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy—ironic, because if there is one thing I know about the next eight weeks: we will not be going hungry. I also watched a fascinating recent documentary called Project Nim, about a chimpanzee who was taught sign language back in the 1970s (English lesson for the day: I use who instead of that because the film’s position was that Nim was treated like a human being only to tragically be returned to typical animal imprisonment and abuse later in his life). I recommend both book and film.

Then, a few hours into our flight, I opened the window to a majestic frozen tundra below us: Siberia (we were apparently flying at a low altitude for much of our flight, which gave us some spectacular views). It was truly breathtaking and awe-inspiring: thousands of miles of flat ice broken by the occasional iceberg. After a few hours of beautiful frozen nothing-ness, looking more closely, I saw what I think were small clusters of buildings (perhaps homes—does anyone really live out here?!) separated by many miles of road from other similar clusters. Perhaps the “road” was merely cracked ice and the “homes” an optical illusion, but I have quite an imagination, and I have no idea what the current population statistics in Siberia are (low, I imagine, since Trotsky’s overwhelming endorsement of Siberia as a “hot travel destination”). I took a bunch of video footage with my trusty HD camcorder, which will do no justice to the awesome view I had from my airplane window.

Landing: smooth. Hong Kong Airport: gorgeous and extremely efficient. Customs: easy. Baggage: not lost. Overall: much better than the grueling 15-hour flight we were all preparing for.
The shuttle to the hotel gave us an opportunity to take in our first Hong Kong sites: lots and lots of road and some of the tallest skyscrapers I’ve ever seen. I simply cannot imagine what life would be like living on the eighty-third floor of such a beast, but many Hong Kong citizens do just that. There are many similar tall beasts (or giant beehives, if you will) throughout the city. And, judging from the dozens of humungous (truly monstrous) cranes we saw along the way, there will be many more in coming years. It seems that Hong Kong has been taking steroids or working out quite a bit; it feels like such a massive, sturdy city—with millions, nay trillions, of lights. Move over, Times Square (Hello, light pollution?).

Walking into our hotel, the Hong Kong YMCA, we were shocked. This is nothing like what we think of as anything YMCA in the States. I hope to post some photos to the blog once I can figure that out. The rooms are modest but perfectly fine. We all had some trouble flicking on the lights in our rooms because of a feature I have never seen before in a hotel (or maybe I simply don’t frequent the hotel scene much): the room key needs to be inserted into a receiver to turn the electricity on and off; when people leave their rooms, they must remove the key from the receiver, which shuts off the electricity in the room when not in use. Such is one of a few “green features;” another is a note from the management that sheets are changed every other day instead of every day for guests staying longer than one night. With Hong Kong’s bustling metropolis draining the electrical equivalent of a few nuclear power plants, I guess someone in charge started to feel an environmental consciousness.

After a quick check in, around 10:00pm we all decided that we wanted to “hit the town” for an hour or so before we turned in (this group will not be stopped by mere jet-lag). First impression: Hong Kong is another city that never sleeps. Shops and restaurants were all still buzzing with business, even when we were walking back to the hotel around midnight. Lots of colorful Chinese New Year decorations abound; in fact, right outside my room window there is a huge light-up dragon with Happy New Year in bright red lights. There are English signs everywhere (even with street names like Salisbury Road and Hollywood Boulevard), but not much spoken English can be heard on the streets, which feel safe despite the immense flood of life pouring through the city's veins. Someone on every block is hawking fake Rolexes, ladies handbags, and fine custom-tailored suits.

Allen told me that Pizza Hut is considered fine dining in China, and we decided we just may try one out tomorrow, but for now, on our first night in Hong Kong, we found a nice little traditional noodle bar, and the food was delicious and relatively cheap. Good beginnings here...but maybe Pizza Hut tomorrow.