A month in China
First full day in HK, and "full" might be an understatement. Today, I walked at least 8 miles, rode the Star Ferry (twice), learned the metro system, bought a cheap digital camera (US$120), went to Victoria Peak, rode aboard a sampan, ate dim sum, shopped at Stanley Market, and met an English girl who took me out for dinner. The restaurant served pan-Pacific fusion cuisine -- that kind that's sort of a staple in San Francisco, but it was good. The real story, though, is that afterwards, we went pub crawling in Lan Kwai Fong.
First, let me say that the English influence is felt everywhere in Hong Kong -- from colonial architecture to Marks & Spencer to drunk Brits. Lan Kwai Fong is a cordoned off set of streets that is something like Chinatown meets New Orleans (except with a British rather than French influence). Under the heavy glow of neon and paper lanterns, crowds spill out unto the streets from pubs and karaoke bars. You have the ubiquitous drunk Englishman still in his suit from work slowly relaxing his tie, Australian expats leading the charge to order another round, tourists from every corner of the world milling about agog and bemused, and upwardly mobile Chinese twentysomethings still deciding whether to fashion themselves after teen-punk Japanese rock stars or their preppy British colleagues.
Tonight, I saw a Chinese Elvis play "Suspicious Minds" in a white sequence jumper. I saw a Chinese waiter in a Scottish quilt serving beer at a pub. I saw an American MBA from Chicago vomit onstage during the second verse of his karaoke rendition of (and this is no joke) "Tequila Sunrise." I'm going to go to bed now and try very hard not to forget that any of this happened.
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