Lots of good movies and television options -- arguably the best I've experienced ona flight. I caught Brokeback Mountain and Tsotsi and Lady and the Tramp and a few others that I seem to have forgotten. My seat companion was fine -- talkative but not too much so, though he kept referring to his "lady friend" in Hong Kong, which both creeped me out and reminded me of a rule that my friend David Pottie and I decided should hold several years ago -- the only people who should be allowed to use the word "lady" or any of its variations are Beastie Boys and documented ironists.
The debarkation took a remarkably short amount of time, which was merciful given how long we had been on the flight. We ended up in a musty, barren area leading to passport control -- it smelled as if a typhoon had recently hit and soaked the rugs, but otherwise it had that pretty familiar international arrivals vibe of a long and undistinguished passageway before you actually get anywhere. The passport control process was easy -- too easy. Given that I am arriving on a security program to China, my thoughts were of how easy it would be to breach the Hong Kong airport. We ahd to get in a shuttle train to get from the gate to the airport. We arrived and crossed through a hallway across from the departure gates -- the only thing preventing us from crossing were flowers no more than a meter high. I'm sure they have people watching, but satill. Now I know that the passport process leaving the US is pretty rigorous, so in theory no undesirables would be on the plane, or at least none who had no documents. But I could not help but think that as thorough as the US recordkeeping process may be, it is hard to fathom that the US has more interest in keeping undesitrables out of Hong Kong than Hong Kong or China do.
The process was quick in any case, and before I knew it I was in Hong Kong. I had to arange for a hotel -- i did not do so beforehand because of visa issues. My visa to China had not arrived the day before I left, and I wanted to make sure that I was not on the hook for any hotel costs if I was delayed. In any case, I found my space at the Novotel Citygate and meandered my way to the proper waiting area to catch my shuttle. Most everyone spoke English well, so there were few hassles -- again, a welcome expetrience given that by this time I had been up for more than 24 hours.
It has been hot (in the 80s) and especially humid -- at or above 80% with some rain and lots of fog, ruining views. As I mentioned yesterday, the hotel is nice, and the television, always a good way to decompress after a long flight, has been good, with a balance of the familiar and the local, with lots of international channels (Italian, French, German) thrown in for flair. I've been able to stay very much on top of the World Cup, which has been enjoyable. I've caught World Cup fever, which is a lot better than catching Avian flu, which is enough of a concern here that there are signs in the train stations warning people about handling birds, especially poultry, and some people roam around wearing surgical masks as a sort of prophylaxis.
I went into the center city yesterday. At the train station I ran into an American guy, Dave, who was a bit chatty, but very nice, and experienced in international travel. He has lived in Beijing before and has just moved to Hong Kong as a contractor to do airplane repair. We wandered into the heart of Beijing together. It is a striking city architecturaly and geographically, and seems close to approaching its goal of being the Manhattan of Asia. The most striking aspect to me was the unapologetic sense of commerce that dominates the urban core. Pedestrians who randomly plop into the Central District find that everywhere they walk they encounter shopping mall after shopping mall, each one glitzier, flashier, more opulent than the one before it. I spent more time wandering through malls yesterday than I ever have outside of the US (The hotel is attached to a five-story galleria as well). I bought little, realized that the world of commerce brings the world pretty close together -- with the exception of the Cantonese characters and the sounds of China, by looking just at the products one could have been in London or Paris or Munich or New York.
I found this especially fascinating given Hong Kong's relationship with China. In 1997, of course, Hong Kong moved from its status as British protectorate into Chinese hands, and I have been curious all along to discover just how much China has tried to bring Hong Kong into the fold. The best way I have heard it phrased in two days here is that Hong Kong, as a "Special Administrative Region" has a certain level of autonomy embodied in the phrase "one country, two systems." One wonders if Hong Kong might lead the way toward a particular kind of Chinese capitalism, or if it will remain an outlier that the authorities in China would like to but cannot control.
One of the pleasures of travelling abroad is eating. Hong Kong has not disappointed on that score. I am already finding that my chopstick skills, always dubious, have improved dramatically. I tend to be an adventurous eater, and am not cowed by spiciness, which is good given that yesterday's lunch, a brothy noodle-pork concoction, was definitely worthy of the chili pepper designation on the menu. It was a good restaurant, and the fact that almost no one on staff spoke English and the clientele was solely local was a good sign. I provided some amusement, I think, as I tried to figure out what everything was, how to consume it, and how to keep it off of myself, since they only provided a sort of wet-nap equivalent rather than napkins. That was especially problematic given that the spices were making my nose and eyes run. In any case, all of the food I have eaten has been "authentic," whatever that means. I have eaten in self-conscioiusly "Chinese restaurants," which I assume here are known as "restaurants," as well as at the hotel bar while watching Trinidad and Tobago shock Sweden with a tie despite being undermanned, and have been pleased with the food. I hear I can get fried scorpion among other rarities in Beijing, so I am looking forward to that, though no dog or horse for me.
I fly to Beijing in a couple of hours to continue the adventure. My time here is running out, so I will sign off. No idea what internet access or blogging capacity I'll have from the Mainland, but I'll do what I can.
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