Hong Kong, Day 1

[oyceter]

Alas for you all, the hotel has free wireless, which means I continue to babble. Double alas, Tiny Laptop seems to be very intractable about uploading pictures to LJ, so picture spam of Hong Kong scenery and food will have to come after I get back to Taiwan.

My last trip to Hong Kong was six years ago, and though I fell in love with the city, I also had two of the worst months of my life here. I wasn't sure how I'd feel coming back.

I still love the city, even though the urban glitz may turn some people off. I love the winding one-way streets and the red taxis and the British signs to look left or right for incoming traffic. I love the leafy green jungly mountains and how high rises jut out of them like cyborg titanium spikes; I love the combination of overgrown tropical nature and metal human geometry. I love looking into a street and finding it completely covered by small street stores selling cloth and fake brand name bags and dried fish snacks, so crowded that you can touch both sides with your arms, and emerging on the other side to find all of Central and Hong Kong's financial district laid out before you, neat and formal and co-existing with the mess just two feet away.

I'm better with the heat and humidity here. It's been six years, and I still associate the aggressive air conditioning with miserable, 17-hour workdays. The wall of humidity that hits when you step outside a building means freedom and time to gather myself in.

I love this city.

*

I always think food in Taiwan is good, and then I come here. There were things on the menu at dinner tonight that I've never seen, from three pages of medicinal soups to pig's pancreas soup with Chinese prayer beads, crocodile soup with dahurian angelina root and wolfberry root bark, and deep-fried crocodile belly.

My mom refused to order the crocodile belly, even though I wanted to try and my uncle said it was good.

*

I haven't been here a full day yet, and I've already found an English bookstore. It's one I used to make trips to on the weekends, only not. Same mall, more stores, one additional giant glass building, and it's not at all like wandering there by myself, lost and in search of the familiar.

The books are mostly boring, with a scattering of favorites that made me smile. No imported Lindholm, no Risen Empire, but yes to international magazines and books translated from Chinese.

I think I'll go back tomorrow and buy four or five of them; they're available on Amazon, but cheaper here.

*

It's a foreign country here, but not; it's part of China, but not; it's a former British colony, but not.

I can't understand what people are saying because they start out in Cantonese, but I can read everything—signs are in Mandarin/Canto and English. Sometimes I'm confused because the phrasing is Cantonese. I'm sad and happy that there is so much English: more bookstores and books for me, and yet, a visible imprint of colonization.

Speaking, though, Mandarin or English can be iffy at best. The further you get from Central, the more Cantonese it is, I assume, since Central is the financial district. I can't tell if Mandarin is gaining speakers while English is losing them; I would guess so given the state of government, but I also suspect English will be the default in the financial district for some time.

*

Kowloon and Hong Kong are the same and yet different, and both of them are one of my favorite cities in the world.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

What are you seeing different in customs, fashions, etc?

Cultural drift and eddy is so fascinating.

[oyceter]

For which cultures? (China or Taiwan or the US? Actually, I probably can't comment on China very well.)

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Yes! Chinese culture especially, but if you see anything left over from the British days, that would be interesting as well.

[oyceter]

Hrm. Shanghai feels more like Taipei than Hong Kong does; I suspect that's because of the hand of British colonialism. On the other hand, Hong Kong and Taipei feel much more cosmopolitan and finished than Shanghai; I visited HK and Shanghai six years ago, and while HK is basically the same, Shanghai is nearly unrecognizable.

Things in HK feel like they work better, though possibly I only think that because some of it's in English, so I don't personally have to struggle through language translations in my head. I feel HK and Taipei focus much more on fashion, at least from what I could tell of people in the street. Shanghai has more expats than HK and HK has more than Taipei.

Taiwan and HK feel like they have more developed senses of themselves, at least with regard to pop culture; both of them have pop cultures that have been around for some time (Taiwan's is more music-focused and isn't that great with TV or movies yet). Taiwan, much more than HK and China, is so much more Japanese. Or, not Japanese, but in love with Japan. Somewhat with Korea, especially because of the rise of kdramas, but there is just so much Japanese stuff around here, I suspect because of colonization.

HK does still feel somewhat British, especially their subway system and the way the bureaucracy and systems work. I generalize and say that Taiwan and China and HK all seem to be much closer to Europe than to the States, though much like in Europe, US pop culture is still massively present.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating--thank you.

[hysteriachan.livejournal.com]

I would so like to go back to Hong Kong and see it again. I mostly loved my one visit there, but I still don't think I appreciated it enough.

(I do not miss the terrifyingly huge spiders, though.)

[oyceter]

Heeee! Ohhh subtropical insect life, how I hate you.

I looove HK so much, and I can't quite pinpoint why! I think I fell in love with it on the cab ride over from the airport and seeing the island coming into sight.

[bravecows.livejournal.com]

Hong Kong! I envy you so hard!

Once I was in a Hong Kong bookstore and saw that they'd shelved Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy under the Travel section. That made me happy. :)

[oyceter]

Hee! Oh, awesome!

I love Hong Kong so much! And hopefully I will be able to go back next year too!

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

This is great! I for one am thrilled at your hotel's free wireless. (: Don't stop!

[oyceter]

I am sad I wasn't able to continue, but at least I got this entry out ;).

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Crocodile belly! I've had croc, but not its deep-fried belly.

[oyceter]

I know! I've had alligator, but not crocodile, and definitely not its belly!

[jiawen]

I'd love to go back to HK. Haven't been there for an appreciable time since my last visa run. I wonder if Mandarin is becoming more prevalent? A cab driver on one trip did surprisingly well in Mandarin, but other than that, I found my English to be more useful. How much has that changed, I wonder?

My collection of Iain Banks novels is almost entirely the British editions because my standard thing to do on a visa run was (after getting to the ROC/Taiwanese pseudo-embassy) to go to a mall (Admiralty Centre sounds right), hit the WH Smith's and then go to Hardee's for a chili dog and curly fries.

[oyceter]

I keep thinking Mandarin is becoming more prevalent now, especially because of the increase of Mainland Chinese tourists? It did seem to be more widely understood now than it was in 2002, but my memory could also be tricking me. But yeah, English still pretty useful.

[littlebutfierce]

Ohhhh I love Hong Kong!!

Re: humidity--the first time I ever cut my hair short was when I was in HK during August. I couldn't take it. I remember I picked out a hairdo from those glossy books they always have in hairdressers, & the guy told me he had to modify it because I "didn't have Asian hair" & I was like, "I'm half-Filipino, what do you mean my hair's not Asian???" Hahaha.

[oyceter]

I roll my eyes at your hairdresser!

I love Hong Kong so much! Even the humidity! Although probably that's because you don't have to go outside as much there, because of all the air conditioned subway stops...

[cofax7]

I thought Hong Kong was fascinating, and I really wouldn't mind going back someday. Preferably not in August, though: it was disgustingly hot.

[oyceter]

The heat is pretty killer, though I thought it was actually better than Taiwan and Shanghai, just because there are so many more air-conditioned places you can duck into!

[spacehawk.livejournal.com]

gaudior sent me to your site.

You might be interested in a new webzine I am starting, called Expanded Horizons, located here (http://www.expandedhorizons.net).

The situation has changed since I last updated this site a couple weeks ago. We now are able to pay, and we're paying $30 a story/essay. Official submissions guidelines will be up shortly. Our first issue will be launched in time for Gaylaxicon 2008 (October 10-13). We are open for submissions (and donations!).

If you're looking for a truly alternative SF market... here it is.

[oyceter]

Hi! Thanks for the tip; I'll definitely look the webzine over when I'm back in the US!