Hong Kong 香港, 我的印象

A post I saw on another blog complained about Hong Kong. It is true that Hong Kong hardly lives up to its English name of “Pearl of the Orient” and certainly does not live up to its Chinese name of 香港, which means literally “fragrant harbor.” But if one appreciates Hong Kong for what it is, it’s not a bad place. Fun shopping and dining.

I always thought of it as the Las Vegas of Asia, but that's not quite it. I remember when I first went over to East Asia, I took a break from studying/working in Taiwan in Hong Kong. I stayed in one of the inns crammed into the decaying mass of concrete that was the old Chung King Mansion and was wandering out on the streets at about 1:00 am. I saw this large crowd of people gathering around a street corner. When I looked around I saw a well-dressed businesswoman beating up on this guy who climbed over a barricade and ran away.

People from Guangzhou 廣州 don't act like those from Hong Kong. They are much nicer so it's not the cultural region of China. It's just the origin of Hong Kong that seems to influence things.

沒有歸屬感
People came from other places to make money quickly and hate the British. There is little in the way of culture, especially for a city of its size, just the sound of quick money being made. Think of the movie industry that used to be in Hong Kong and the types of movies they used to turn out: gangster movies, slapstick comedies and martial arts movies.

Things seem to be changing though. I notice a difference in the Hong Kong people I have met, but that is just my personal impression.