Yeah, so we spent a couple of weeks in Hong Kong. Quick intro: HK is a Chinese province. It was a British colony until 1997. Their relationship with China is quite complicated. They have a high degree of autonomy, with the “one country, two system” model. They have different languages (Cantonese vs Mandarin), different currencies, different passports… Long story…

Public transportation
For such a densely populated area, I was kinda sort of expecting lots of traffic jams. Weirdly though, traffic was quite decent – certainly a lot better than what we have in Bucharest. I think their public transportation system is responsible for this. The subway network is extensive, linking several islands and going all the way north to the border with China.

You have to get an Octopus card for the subway, as well as buses, trams, ferries, even some convenience stores and local attractions.

The subway seems built for volume. Imagine each hallway having lanes, so that people moving in opposite directions don’t intersect.

I remember something I found weird at first, but then I understood its logic and simplicity and I even got surprised by my initial reaction. Imagine you have two subway lines meeting in the same station. You’d normally have two halls, each for a line and its two platforms. Why? Just think, why have two platforms for the same line one next to the other? Yes, it seems simple to explain – “hall 1 for line 1, hall 2 for line 2”. But wouldn’t it be more efficient to have a platform from line 1 and a platform from line 2 both in hall 1? You make the pairing based on travel patterns. Imagine Piata Unirii station, you come from Militari, you get off the train and 10 meters in front you have the train towards Pipera. Think about this next time you’re changing stations.

Something else I found interesting: you can’t smoke in any public transportation area. Seems obvious, but they apply it to bus stops as well. So even for a stop that’s nothing more than a few lines of paint on the sidewalk, you’re not allowed to smoke withing that area. Pretty cool, huh?

Pollution
They show air quality in weather reports. During our stay, the AQHI was around 3-4 (out of 10). That’s better than I was expecting. The issues mainland China is dealing with don’t affect HK as much.

Queues
Everywhere. For anything. Restaurants. Elevators. Toilets. Parking. Tourist attractions (Victoria Peak at sunset). Public transportation (getting down from Victoria Peak after sunset). You name it. If there’s something worth queuing for, then it’s likely happening in Hong Kong.

How to ride an elevator
The area of Mong Kok has developed in a peculiar way. Everything is vertical. It’s one of the most densely populated places on Earth (130000 people/sqkm). It’s got a lot of shopping centers, but some don’t seem to have been build with business in mind. More like converted apartment buildings, with one apartment becoming a shoe store, another a restaurant, a third a guesthouse. Like some sort of unglamorous vertical mall accessible via only 2 or 4 elevators.

So you get in and wait for the elevator. There’s a queue for each elevator, since they normally serve different floors. If you don’t know the floor you’re interested in, there’s a big board with all the businesses and where they’re located. You wait your turn, take the elevator, buy whatever you came there for and then you want to get back down. Here’s the tricky part. It’s so crowded that by the time the elevator gets to your floor, it can be already full. So instead of calling it for descending, you call it for ascending, then you ride it up and back down. It gets a little more complicated when you’re at the top floor though..

Disinfected buttons
The first photo below is from a museum. You had to press a button in order to activate some toy trains. Saw something similar in several elevators. I guess people are careful about their health. Don’t know if it’s a rational fear or not. This would also explain why so many people wear face masks, despite the relatively clean air.

Our room
Saying it was small is misleading. Small is what you’d call a dorm room. Small is how you’d describe a typical apartment in Militari. No, this was ridiculous. It was the smallest you could make a room such that the bed is not stuck to all 4 walls (only 3). Half of our non-bed room space was used by our luggage, with the other half being used to open the door. The bathroom was a little larger (can’t believe I’m using that word here) than an average shower cabin. The bathroom was also the shower cabin. The towels were minuscule. Couldn’t probably fit larger ones in such a small place.

I must admit I was looking forward to the experience. It was indeed interesting. Makes you put some effort into organizing yourself and using the available space to its maximum. I guess that’s what locals do every day.

Google Translate
The mobile app has a feature where it translates images on the fly. So you’re pointing your phone at a Chinese menu and you get the translated version instantly. Check out an example below. Pretty neat huh? Now I know how to order a solid circle with rash omelette.

AC
During the summer, the weather in Hong Kong is hot and humid. Air conditioning becomes a basic human need (like food, shelter and wifi). But winters are quite pleasant. During our stay, temperatures ranged from a low of 14 to a high of about 22. So how is it possible to have 22 degrees outside and AC blasting 20 degrees inside? Well, I really don’t know. I’ve read several hypotheses and each one seems to hold some truth (otherwise they would be alternative facts).