Our first week of Hong Kong is already over, but with all the site visits and activities we've planned, it feels like we've been here forever. One of our most interesting and early visits was an exploration of Chung King Mansions with a lecture by Gordon Matthews, an anthropologist who has been studying the interaction of cultures in the mansions for a number of years.
According to him, about 120 different nationalities pass through the structures each year and for the most part, they live together in harmony. Many of the people who live there do so temporarily, traveling to Hong Kong to set up a business (usually mobile phones), earn money, and return to their hometowns as heroes. One interesting point that Matthews made: even though the mansions have been part of Hong Kong culture for so long, many people fear the place and never venture inside. Even though our program is business-oriented, it was nice to do something that not even many natives are adventurous enough to do during our stay here.
It was also interesting to see that, although Chung King Mansions provides the cheapest rent in probably all of Hong Kong, its located on Nathan Road just a couple blocks away from the famous Peninsula hotel and giant flagship stores of brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Burberry.
We explored the rest of Nathan Road for a while as well, and that's where Jaclyn and I found our first bubble tea house (where we got some insane mango drink that I just randomly pointed to on the menu) as well as some of the famous Hong Kong custom-made tailor shops that I might return to later in the trip for a couple fittings. Another surprise: some lovely smelly durian in the grocery store side by side with mangosteens.
In terms of nights out, we've been frequenting Lan Kwai Fong and the expat bars, where there's no cover charge at the clubs and of course, the drinking age is only 18. Sorry, but there won't be any pictures of those excursions unless you can view my facebook, mainly because my Nikon is too heavy to lug around with me when all I want to do is dance.
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