Tag Archives: living abroad

Imagine Hong Kong: 8 Reasons it’s an (Almost) Perfect Utopia

Posted by expatlingo in Hong Kong and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

We took a lot of road trips when I was little. Long, multi-day drives across the big states of the American West. And what was the soundtrack to those roads trips? Here are just a few of the singer-songwriter ballads that are permanently burned into my mind:

  • “Sailing” by Christopher Cross
  • “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor
  • “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot
  • “Imagine” by John Lennon

What does this have to do with Hong Kong? 

From the dredges of my childhood mind, I’ve been inspired to compose a list of Eight Reasons Hong Kong might just be John Lennon’s Imagined Utopia. Check it out over on Expats Blog and leave an amusing comment there.

After you’ve commented over there, please come back and share the music that your parents couldn’t stop listening to.

This man looks like he's like to "Imagine" he's not at Hong Kong Disneyland, but in front of a Tsing Tao anywhere else in the world

This man looks like he’s like to “Imagine” he’s not at Hong Kong Disneyland, but in front of a Tsing Tao anywhere else in the world

Six Amusing Things Spotted in Hong Kong Yesterday

Posted by expatlingo in Hong Kong and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

In the Sichuan restaurant

1. Europeans craving bread and butter before mapo doufu. Three smartly dressed young German men asked the waitress at the Sichuan restaurant for bread to nibble on while waiting for their spicy, regional Chinese meal. She graciously showed them the steamed Chinese-style buns that she could offer them. They declined.

At the foot massage place

2. Notices and a pair of plastic feet.

Sign at foot massage place

On the train

3. A confused shirt. A boy going to his violin lesson wore a peach-colored polo shirt with the following written on the back in cursive “beach” font:

Green Bey Packers

California Life

Bowling

(Hint for non-Americans: Green Bay Packers is an American football team located far from California.)

4. “Just Do It” chatty Mainlander. A jolly, loud Mandarin speaker who punctuated every sentence with “dui bu dui?” (“right?”) was on his way to Guangzhou. He held a ten minute phone conversation on a single topic: whether or not the person on the other end of the line had already eaten. He wore black knock-off Nike basketball shoes branded “Dike” with an Air Jordan-esque neon-blue silhouette on the sides.

5. Two-years too late Hong Kong hipster. A young woman wore big, black and white plastic glasses without lenses. In the close quarters of the train, someone wearing genuine corrective eyewear might be tempted to reach over and poke her in the eye.

6. Shopper violating the MTR’s new 32 kg weight limit. She had a backpack of books, a handful of shopping bags, and a suitcase full of over-priced gluten free food. Her bags were in everyone’s way. She stared around the train carriage watching everyone and eavesdropping. She seemed fixated on some Guangdonger’s shoes and almost took a picture of a child’s back, but seemed to chicken out. One wonders why she didn’t have earbuds and a smartphone out like everyone else.

(The last one was, of course, me. The gluten free food, which I source from all over The Island and transport back to Tai Po, is for my six-year-old daughter with Celiac Disease.)

I lie to myself about pollution

Posted by expatlingo in Hong Kong and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

I spent a year deluding myself that the Tai Po District of Hong Kong was (relatively) wholesomely clean. Then I hiked up Cloudy Hill on a ‘clear’ day and fully realized that China’s industrial epicenter — Shenzhen — had been just over my shoulder:

View of Shenzhen from Hong Kong (Tai Po)

View toward Shenzhen from half-way up Cloudy Hill in Tai Po (Hong Kong).

The small houses in the front, are “village houses.” Next back, the taller apartment blocks, are in Fanling, which is still in Hong Kong. Then, squinting through the smog, the skyscrapers, are in Shenzhen, China.

Shenzhen had been there all along. Shenzhen, a city of 11 million (official) residents working in factories making all of the crap the world buys, is in my backyard.

Intellectually I knew that it was there, but the view from Cloudy Hill forced me to fully appreciate how close I am to China’s first “Special Economic Zone” and industrial engine of growth.

And forced me to appreciate its impact on air quality. Standing on Cloudy Hill, but looking away from Shenzhen and towards Hong Kong’s Sha Tin and Sai Kung districts, one still sees haze, but also a lovely blue patch in the sky:

View from Cloudy Hill, Tai Po toward Ma On Shan

View toward Ma On Shan (eastern New Territories) from Cloudy Hill in Tai Po.

Both of these pictures were taken within minutes of each other.

In Tai Po, I am certainly lucky to miss out on the higher levels of roadside pollution that exist in Central and Kowloon. The pollution readings in Tai Po are generally better than either of those areas.

But my hike up Cloudy Hill forced me to realize just how close I am to the manufacturing heartland of China. It seems I’ve swapped breathing bus fumes for breathing industrial emissions.

The border between Hong Kong and Mainland China is stark. The Hong Kong side is relatively rural, mountainous and green — the key to my delusion of wholesomeness. Just over the border, however, is instant urban jungle:

Source of satellite image: Google maps.

Border between Hong Kong and Mainland China. (Source of satellite image: Google maps.)

It’s not hard to tell where the border is, is it?

Of course Tai Po is still cleaner than my former home of Zhuhai, a Chinese city whose sunset’s glowed a gorgeous orange-y red from industrial pollution:

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Zhuhai, China in 2005. (Photo source: my mom, Linda Brown)

For now, I’ll comfort myself with the knowledge that we’re entering the side of the year with relatively low air pollution. (With thanks to Phil at “Hong Kong (and Macau) Stuff” for pointing this out.)

Shirtless in Hong Kong: the giant bodies of outdoor advertising

Posted by expatlingo in Hong Kong, spotted and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Killing time in Tsim Sha Tsui, I leaned on the rail near the Star Ferry Pier and gazed at the sunset. It was only after standing there awhile that I noticed the giant Canon advertisement. And only after awhile longer that I wondered why the man holding the camera was shirtless:
Hong Kong outdoor camera ad

At Christmas time, I ducked into someplace in Causeway Bay for coffee and was greeted with this view of an enormous crotch and pair of breasts:

Hong Kong outdoor underwear ad

And last autumn, these giant photoshopped waifs — almost appearing to be made of elastic — appeared on Queen’s Road, Central:

Hong Kong outdoor slimming ad

I suppose the only thing that makes these advertisements odd, is that most people in Hong Kong are not very flashy and don’t actively display their sexuality. Young men and women wear jeans and sneakers like a uniform and a typical middle-age couple looks like this:

Hongkongers on the MTR

But I suppose they wouldn’t sell much.

(With thanks to my mom, Linda Brown, for snapping the last two photos.)

Hong Kong Wishing Festival: “The Hope Will Be Real*” (*even if your house won’t actually fill with gold)

Posted by expatlingo in Hong Kong and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

wishing placard and orange

I re-visited the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree this week, but unlike the deserted scene back in mid-December, it is now center-stage to the “Lam Tsuen Well-Wishing Festival.” We joined the many, many families visiting during this week’s Chinese New Year holiday.

The purpose of the festival is to make wishes for the new year. My daughter wished for a puppy (she meant toy puppy, right?), but most people wish for health, wealth, happiness, success, or romance.

Most attendees chose to make their wishes via the traditional “tie your wish to an orange and throw it into a tree branch” approach. An artificial tree is constructed for this purpose as the original Wishing Tree is supported by metal struts and off-limits for the time being as it recovers from many previous decades of wishing.

Temporary Wishing Tree

Artificial Wishing Tree

Wishers can buy an artificial orange with red wishing placard. Free-form wishes can be written on the blank side of the placard. The other side (pictured up top) contains a check-list of popular wishes. These standard wishes are quite interesting to read, so I’ve reproduced the English version here (complete with the occasional grammatical error):

I hope to receive a fortune

May my small capital makes a huge profit

May my house be full of gold and silver

May I receive profit from all sides

May I thrive and prosperous in business

May my basin and bowl full of fortune

May I have distinguished guests coming all year round

May this year usher in wealth and prosperity

May I have abundance of fortune year after year

May I have prosperity in all kinds of business

May I work successfully

May I be promoted to a higher position

May I make great progress in my studies

May I come in first in examinations

May I achieve the highest status possible

May there be perfect harmony between my partner and I

May I have abundant life

May I have a happy family

May I have peace in my whole family

May all my wishes come true

May I be youthful and beautiful

May I have good health

May I be energetic and vital in life

May I have success in dating

May I have my perfect match

May I give birth to a son

May there be peace and prosperity in my country and between all people

May we have world peace

May me country prosper and may the people be at peace

May I travel safely

May I have good luck and a long life

May I always have good luck and a long life

There are many other means of making wishes at the festival, including by floating candle:

IMG_6475

The grandest method is by large, ornate lantern:

IMG_6489

A lantern wishing for happiness

Some also paid special visits to statues for their Chinese Zodiac year, each of which held a piece of candy in its mouth in hope for a “sweet year.”

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Dragon holding a sweet for a “sweet year.”

Do well-wishers see all their dreams come true? The Wishing Festival itself hedges its bets with its motto:

“The Hope Will Be Real”

Colorful bamboo signage at the Wishing Festival

Jack Palance in a Singlet: Hong Kong “Aunties” and “Uncles” Occupy the Playground

Posted by expatlingo in Hong Kong and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hong Kong has an aging population. An aging population that lives in high-rise apartments. An aging population that likes to spend the morning outside in the park.

Some of them get together in groups to do expected things like tai chi or fan dances.

Some of them use the “fitness corner for the elderly” equipment found in most Hong Kong parks:

Hong Kong Parks photo

One of Hong Kong’s many “fitness corners for the elderly.” (Photo source: HK Leisure and Cultural Services Department)

But there is one sub-group that prefers to occupy the children’s playground equipment. Some simply sit on the benches and watch the children, but there are many characters among them who actively use the playground. I mainly enjoy interacting with this enigmatic group of park “aunties” and “uncles,” a cast of characters I’ve never seen outside of greater China.

Here are a few of my own field observations:

Standard Elderly Playground User. Places shopping bag on play equipment. Proceeds to stretch and rub back on ladders, poles and other climbing features.

Jack Palance in a Singlet. Climbs up onto one of the playground platforms to perform his push-up routine. Children work their way around him to get to the top of the slide. Reason for using the playground platform rather than the cushioned playground flooring: unknown.

Jack Palance push-up

Like this, but at the top of the slide in a tank top.

Arm Pounding Auntie. To keep the sun off, she wears gloves and a visor. She stands at the edge of the playground, using one hand to pound and slap, up and down the other arm. (This activity is a rather common sight: insights solicited.) She offers an abundance of free parenting advice. She has never seen a properly clothed child as they are all either too cold or too hot.

Shadowboxing Uncle. Inches from the slide, he shuffles, jabs, and dodges punches coming from out of thin air.

Like this, but without the gloves and with shoes. (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

Chocolate Grandma. Does a few cursory stretches. Mainly talks to the children, commenting on which ones are good (“ho gwaai!”) and offering them sweets.

Grandpa Gorilla. He uses the glider (the thing children are supposed to use to glide back and forth between platforms) for his own personal swinging, gliding, and grunting routine. Because he is actually too tall for the equipment, he must bend his knees sharply up to keep his feet from dragging.

Any data points to add?

My accidental Chinese language partner the telemarketer

Posted by expatlingo in cartoon, languages and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

expatlingo telemarketing comic

Hong Kong telemarketers are like The Terminator: tell them you don’t understand Cantonese (in Cantonese) and they seamlessly apologize and switch instantly to Mandarin!

The first time it happened I wasn’t sure I could believe my ears, but sure enough that sing-song-y Cantonese switched immediately to crisp, sharp Mandarin and the sales pitch marched forward: an unstoppable marketing machine.

While the chance to “pass” as Chinese for a minute is amusing, the entertainment value is wearing thin. Does Hong Kong have a “do not call” list?

No Frolicking! Searching for authentic old Hong Kong

Posted by expatlingo in Hong Kong and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chi Lin Nunnery

Perhaps I’m among the few who finds the Chi Lin Nunnery and adjoining Nan Lian Gardens beautiful, but utterly soulless.

The site is intended to be a peaceful, spiritual place in the hustle of the city. A place for Buddhists to worship and the general public to quietly contemplate.

It’s a shame that it’s sterile, rule-bound and ultimately fake. After roaming the noisy temples of South Asia, Mainland China, and Hong Kong, it was all rather too quiet and rule-bound. No intoxicating scent of smokey incense? No jostling for the best prayer position? Not one speck of peeling paint? No donation boxes?

Maybe I started off on the wrong foot with a tired 5-year-old in-tow who wasn’t allowed to sit anywhere (“Missy, missy! Can’t sit there!”), wasn’t allowed to poke her head over the rail to better see the massive koi fish in the pond (“Missy, missy” followed by gesture down.), or linger and sip a drink (“Missy …” Sigh. Yes, we just saw the sign prohibiting drinking.).

No frolicking or running

Sign from Nan Lian Gardens. One hopes there is a Julie-Andrews-type nun at Chi Lin just waiting to break free and frolic!

I’ve also enjoyed so many truly special and unexpected visits to slightly grubby, but authentic historical places in Hong Kong’s quiet and remote New Territories recently, that a nunnery built-in the 1990s in the style of the Tang Dynasty flies too close to Disneyland.

So I gasped upon reading this morning that the nunnery is a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to today’s South China Morning Post, the powers that be are pushing for it, rather than truly historic Victoria Harbor, to be classified as a World Heritage Site: Helene Franchineau, “Harbour Heritage Snub: Historic Waterfront given thumbs down for nomination to Unesco list, with government officials favouring rebuilt nunnery at Diamond Hill,” South China Morning Post, 20/1/2013.

I found the quote from this Hong Kong-born man-on-the-street particularly telling:

“I have not heard about the Chi Lin Nunnery. I have been living in Australia for the past 20 years.”

Not surprising since the re-build of the nunnery was only completed in 1998. How can this be a historic place warranting preservation and special status?

IMG_0009

If you want to see really old Hong Kong, take the MTR a few more stops past those eight hills that divide Kowloon from the New Territories, hop on a mini-bus and you’ll have the chance to see some truly old Hong Kong! Within the last month I’ve visited and posted about old walled villages, wishing trees, temples, and ancient pagodas. Each of these places is marvelously authentic, soulful and a bit rough around the edges. Perfect.

New Territories praise aside, the highly accessible Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road in the heart of town also has more depth of feeling (to me) than the beautiful, but ultimately sterile, Chi Lin Nunnery (though I’m sure the actual nuns, who we never saw, don’t feel that way …).

Many more ideas on where to find obscure and authentically old Hong Kong are on the great blog “Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff.” Phil has visited and photographed many interesting places in all parts of Hong Kong (so you can see something interesting without crossing those eight hills after all if you’re short on time!). These are the places that need to be seen and more importantly, preserved.

And no one will care if you frolick a bit. They’ll be happy to see you.