From 4 am to 6 am to 7am. Hong Kong will always be THE city to me, the city of all cities, that truly does not sleep at night, with an ever flowing traffic and on time trains by the minute, the most convenient city in the world, and inventor of the Octopus card, that remains the most useful single item a city needs to run smoothly. Or at least move the people along smoothly. Yet HK will never be what it once was, glamorous, cosmopolitan, a small big city of worldly small people. I say small, with affection. Hong Kongers live within limited ambitions of making a living, eating constantly and eating well, shopping for the latest name brands, and mahjong with their tight community of friends and family. No one has ambitions of saving the world or eliminating evil governments. They have little agendas, like, say, be allowed to speak Cantonese and English, have real history books instead of Communist revisions. Law and order, respect for public property, interpersonal civility. Really basic stuff. But with the onslaught of mainlanders and China rule, Kongers have gotten more aggressive, much more rude, if not downright cold. Where’s their future? They are on the road to obsolescence, if not downright slaughter. How can this vibrant, no nonsense, peaceful place of an international hub be preserved? It’s hard to fathom going from paradise to hell overnight when you haven’t done anything wrong.
Why should you care? Well, it is the only place in the world where ALL teas converge and all at the best quality yet.
Mandarin that, Beijing.
