Wednesday, May 31, 2006
May 31: Even more Hong Kong
Today is a bank holiday in HK, because of the annual Dragon Boat Festival. A bunch of dragon boat racing takes place in the town of Stanley on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Lots of people have the day off. It's a big party. I went to Stanley to check it out.
The verdict: the spectator area is way too far away to appreciate dragon boat racing. I think you have to be doing it to really enjoy it. Plus, it was hot and crowded. I watched a few races and left. The good news, of course, is that the ride into Stanley is quite scenic and the town itself is quite nice. Beaches, cafes, hills, trees, etc. Very nice.
Since I still had half an afternoon to go, I went to the remote settlement of Shek O, also on the island. "remote" in this case means "45 minutes by public transit from the financial centre of Asia". For comparison's sake, I sat for more than 8 hours on a bus from Kunming to Lijiang, and that's not "far" by Chinese standards.
The verdict on Shek O is that it's really very nice. It's tiny (3000 people live there), has a nice beach. You can go for a little walk onto a peninsula outside the town and soak in some ocean air. Plus, to get here you take a scenic, winding mountain road and enjoy some really nice scenery that is literally around the bend from.... the financial centre of Asia.
All this leads me to one conclusion: I really like Hong Kong, and I think I'd enjoy living here someday. Maybe in a few years I can be an expat in HK. What sets Hong Kong apart from other places I've really liked is that it has a nice mix of greenery and nature and pretty things, while at the same time being a very vibrant, very active, very fast-paced place. Oh, and there would be work for me here. This is a market difference from, say, Juneau AK - where the scenery is terrific but there's nothing for me to do work-wise.
Also, consider this: Hong Kong is very centrally located within Asia. It's a stone-throw away from places like Lijiang (through a flight out of Shenzhen). It's a 5-hr flight to Delhi, and probably a 4-hr flight to Kathmandu. It's close to Australia and Japan. About the only thing I couldn't do here is ski, but then again an airplane can take me to New Zealand or Japan or even northern China for a ski fix.
Plus, if I was ever to move here for work I think the cost of living thing wouldn't be such a big issue. It seems like a lot of people here seem to do pretty well for themselves.
The verdict: the spectator area is way too far away to appreciate dragon boat racing. I think you have to be doing it to really enjoy it. Plus, it was hot and crowded. I watched a few races and left. The good news, of course, is that the ride into Stanley is quite scenic and the town itself is quite nice. Beaches, cafes, hills, trees, etc. Very nice.
Since I still had half an afternoon to go, I went to the remote settlement of Shek O, also on the island. "remote" in this case means "45 minutes by public transit from the financial centre of Asia". For comparison's sake, I sat for more than 8 hours on a bus from Kunming to Lijiang, and that's not "far" by Chinese standards.
The verdict on Shek O is that it's really very nice. It's tiny (3000 people live there), has a nice beach. You can go for a little walk onto a peninsula outside the town and soak in some ocean air. Plus, to get here you take a scenic, winding mountain road and enjoy some really nice scenery that is literally around the bend from.... the financial centre of Asia.
All this leads me to one conclusion: I really like Hong Kong, and I think I'd enjoy living here someday. Maybe in a few years I can be an expat in HK. What sets Hong Kong apart from other places I've really liked is that it has a nice mix of greenery and nature and pretty things, while at the same time being a very vibrant, very active, very fast-paced place. Oh, and there would be work for me here. This is a market difference from, say, Juneau AK - where the scenery is terrific but there's nothing for me to do work-wise.
Also, consider this: Hong Kong is very centrally located within Asia. It's a stone-throw away from places like Lijiang (through a flight out of Shenzhen). It's a 5-hr flight to Delhi, and probably a 4-hr flight to Kathmandu. It's close to Australia and Japan. About the only thing I couldn't do here is ski, but then again an airplane can take me to New Zealand or Japan or even northern China for a ski fix.
Plus, if I was ever to move here for work I think the cost of living thing wouldn't be such a big issue. It seems like a lot of people here seem to do pretty well for themselves.
# posted by Alex Perel @ 8:20 AM 
