My chance encounters with people on the way here have all been very happy and helpful ones. Bank employees in Hong Kong were polite, if not always helpful, but random strangers went out of their way to assist the poor (ahem, older) American.

While waiting in the Hong Kong MTR station (on the wrong side, I might add), a woman about my age or somewhat younger launched into an elaborate exposition about maintaining one’s health, referring frequently to some expert whose name I never quite got. Her English was spotty, but the gist of her monologue was that one should stand up straight (my shoulder bag had me hunched over, I guess) and breathe fully through the nose and out through the mouth. She also advised eating correctly and drinking a lot of water.

Why she started into this discussion I can only guess (I was out of breath climbing stairs maybe), but I was standing on the platform intently studying my map of Hong Kong, trying to decide if I was on the northbound platform or the southbound. After letting her expound for a while, I asked if I were on the right platform. She said no, and then led me over to the other side of the station and into the train, all the while offering advice on eating, drinking and breathing. Mercifully, she did not follow me when I got off at my stop, but returned to the northbound side to go her way.

September 8th, 2008 | Tags: China, strangers' help, travel | Category: China, Commentary | Comments (5)

JISHOU, HUNAN, Sept. 2 — You would think getting to mainland China from Hong Kong would be a piece of cake. Well, it is, up to a point.

The problem is that Hong Kong is not completely part of the rest of China. Yet. When the British lease to Hong Kong ran out in 1999, the Chinese government vowed to keep Hong Kong’s freewheeling capitalist economy and society intact, after reunification. “One country, two systems,” was the slogan.

So, what does that mean, practically speaking? The vigorous mercantile and commercial economy of Hong Kong remains in place. (In fact, the mainland economy is doing a good job of imitating it.) The local government still holds elections as before — I saw campaign signs up everywhere, ads on the TV, and supporters in the street handing out flyers. As near as I could tell, Hong Kong is operating just as it had before the handover, without any sign of the Union Jack or Her Majesty the Queen anywhere, of course.

Hong Kong still has its own currency, so the Queen’s likeness still gets carried around in one’s pockets, but Hong Kong dollars cannot be spent officially in the rest of China. Likewise, Chinese yuan have to be exchanged for Hong Kong dollars if you expect to pay for anything. They are close to equal in value against the US dollar, but not exactly. One HK dollar does not equal one yuan.

September 2nd, 2008 | Tags: China, hong kong, travel | Category: China | Leave a comment