Two Sides of One City: The Highlights and the Low Life of Hong Kong

I sit shivering and hunched over, on a tiny stool, big enough only for a kindergarten child. From the tiny table in front of me I clumsily shovel boiled rice into my mouth with chopsticks, occasionally grabbing some sticky lemon chicken. The cramped and crowded alleyway is a hive of activity: groups of Chinese people laughing, shouting, slurping up noodles and slugging bottles of beer, women crying out orders to the food vendors on their outdoor karts, the rumble of traffic and the electric buzzing of lights hanging over my head. Down by my feet, a group of sewer rats brazenly hunt for scraps of food, and from the corner of my eye I spot more rodents crawling over the food waiting to be cooked. I try not to look down at the filth all around me, take another chug of cheap local beer and continue my meal.

Just minutes away, in another world, gourmet restaurants and designer bars line the streets. The beautiful people sip fabulous cocktails and eat haute cuisine in the most salubrious of settings. Just two nights previously, I sat with them, enjoying delicious Italian food over a bottle of fine red wine.

This in Hong Kong, where East doesn’t just meet West, but where the grubby and the gorgeous sit side by side, and where filth and fabulous feed off each other. And to fully appreciate the city, you need to see both sides.

The Lap of Luxury

Hong Kong is home to some world class hotels: the Peninsula, the Mandarin Oriental, the Hong Kong Intercontinental, with their incredible views and luxury living. We didn’t stay in any of these, but we did stay in a real, bona fide hotel. It had stars and everything, three of them, to be precise, which is a huge step up from the hovels and hostels we have become accustomed to over the last ten months. Our room came replete with cable TV, bath tub – and enough hot water to actually fill it – hairdryer, bed big enough for three (but we didn’t have that much fun in HK), and an ambiance of class and money that made us feel distinctly out of place.

For four days we tasted the good life that Hong Kong has to offer: the Peak Tram and the tremendous views, the sky scrapers and shopping malls, art museums, cinemas, and the clean, sparkling, metropolis that presents itself to the casual observer who fails to scratch the surface.

The highlight of our four days of decadence was a meal in the SoHo district, which provided our first taste of real wine (Chinese and Vietnamese vino don’t exactly compare to wines of the Old World, or the New World, for that matter) and some incredible Western food.  We followed this with a trip to some nearby bars, where, to our absolute delight, we found BeerLao. For the first time in a long while, I felt civilised, and not an unemployed bum trying to see the world on peanuts, but a real adult.

Back to Reality

Four days flew by, and soon all that luxury was but a faint memory as we relocated Kowloon and the heart of backpackersville: Nathan Road.

Nathan Road is an area that completely epitomises the mixture of lifestyles that you find in Hong Kong. Where else can you walk out of a real Rolex store and be confronted with a man selling fakes from inside his coat pocket? Designer stores line the streets, while scam artists and hawkers pound the pavement peddling knock off goods to tourists and locals alike. Five star hotels inhabit the same space as 1960’s housing projects, and wealthy Westerners sip low fat mocha frappucinos in Starbucks, while immigrants sit in the street drinking booze from brown bags. And the smells from expensive eateries mingle with the unmistakable odour of urine coming from alleys and doorways – especially our doorway.

We stayed in Mirador Mansions. Don’t be fooled by the name; a stately home this was not. Imagine Nelson Mandela House on a bad day, with a thousand Del Boys all setting up shop on the ground floor, and you will get an idea of our accommodation. The 60’s era tower block was home to a bazaar on the ground level, where you could buy anything and everything, from knock-off iPhones to authentic Indian samosas. Some of the rooms above remained actual homes, but many had been turned into cramped and squalid guesthouses. Our ‘penthouse’ suite on the 16^th floor had enough room for a bed and a 1 m2 bathroom in the corner that was kept separate by a flimsy glass partition. As a bonus, it also came with the faint smell of fish. Security might have been an issue if it wasn’t for the security guards at night whose job appeared to be to check our resident status before letting us in, while allowing prostitutes to come and go as they pleased.

To clarify, I have stayed in nicer places, and for less money too. But they say it’s all about ‘location, location, location’ and Mirador was prime real estate in the respect. Nathan Road is right in the thick of the action, with great underground connections to the rest of the city. From our base here we set out to see the other side of Hong Kong and we were not disappointed.

Hong Kong Highlights

During our seven day stint we managed to burn through more cash than we would in a month in Laos, but sometimes it really is worth it. Our favourite activities, though, weren’t always the most expensive. One of the best things we did was simply walk around and soak up the atmosphere; staring up at the amazing skyline, particularly during the free light show, stumbling across strange alleyways and hidden corners, finding cheap little noodle shops that serve up culinary miracles everyday, and discovering markets selling the weird and the wonderful.

A particular treat was Kung Fu corner on Sunday afternoon in Kowloon Park, where we got to see a traditional Chinese dragon dance for free.

Of the things that we paid for, the Peak Tram was a must-see and worth the ride, although I’d advise bringing a packed lunch or eating before you get there, unless you’re happy with McDonalds.

The museum pass was also a sound investment for 30HKD: it gets you into all the museums for free, and is available to buy at any museum counter.

And finally, the world’s longest outdoor escalator might not rock everyone’s world, but I sure as hell loved it! Edinburgh should think about investing in one for all those lazy people who can’t quite handle the Royal Mile.

Special Note

Our adventures in Hong Kong were made possible by our parents. A special thanks to Scott’s Ma and Pa for the hotel contributions, and to my mum for her gift of a fancy meal.