"Keeweechic's Hong Kong SAR" a Hong Kong Travel Page by keeweechic

I spent 2 years living and working in Hong Kong and loved every minute of it. I was lucky to be living there through the history making time of the Hand Over back to China and all the celebrations that entailed. I fell in love with Hong Kong the very first time I went there and when I had to opportunity to go and live and work there, it was an experience I could not turn down. I spent many non-working hours just walking the little back streets and local areas of Hong Kong and being a 'local'. I loved the old decrepit old buildings with vegetation sprouting out of every crack, the dripping aircon units overhead, the old shop houses crammed full from floor to ceiling with everything imaginable, and non-imaginable. Seeing the character etched faces of the old people who were bent over from many years of hard work performing their Tai Chi at 6.30am in local parks.

"To know the road ahead, ask those coming back"
Chinese Proverb

In contrast, the progress of the ever changing skyline of uniquely modern and mirrored towers which could challenge any budding architect. I loved being able to walk out my door and having everything open and 'alive' with activity, being a female out on my own and feeling safe. The people never ceased to amaze me. While sometimes thought of as being rude in their mannerisms, I only found them to be very helpful. I was truly amazed by the men there. I never really thought of them as being romantic or affectionate (and I apologise for that misconception) but I found it lovely to see couples young and old, walking holding hands, to find out the dollar amount of roses bought by men on Valentines day and letter and poems written by men to their sweethearts. I was also stunned by the amount of compliments I got in the street, on trains. They were not 'pick up lines', but genuine comments by old and young, who made them and then continued walking. They threw me to start, but after the 'caution - warning! warning!' passed, they made me smile and but I came to have a very different opinion about the people.

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