So I seriously love Hong Kong. There's just something about a real city that I can't get enough of. And I'm not talking about a city that builds outward until it is basically just urban sprawl. Or a city like some of those Midwest US cities, that you can't even see on the horizon as you're pulling off the highway into town. Not judging those cities, I'm just saying Hong Kong is a city city, with everything from glimmering skyscrapers from afar to a certain grittiness when you get up close, and with commuters moving with a purpose to people relaxing on a park bench to escape the afternoon heat. I just capital-L love this city. So, here, in no particular order are the 3 things that would make me move here in a heartbeat.
1. Hong Kong has some uncannily awesome urban planning.
Imagine if you commuted every day to work (which is obviously not one of my current problems, but it will certainly be again in the not-too-distant future) in your suit and heels, carrying your briefcase and dabbing your sweaty forehead with a handkerchief, but instead of having to hoof it 15 blocks, you could step on an escalator. And then another. And then a moving walkway. And then suddenly you're at your air conditioned office building. And you've never had to open one of those ubiquitous umbrellas once.
This is real life for the lucky people in Hong Kong and it's called the Central mid-levels escalator. Coming from such a crowded part of the US, where we can barely get our act together and keep the PATH running every day, it boggles my mind in the best way possible that someone invented this brilliant system that moves more than 50,000 people almost one kilometer a day. Seriously, Wikipedia this thing, because I want to shake the hand of the genius who knew there had to be a better way to get to work in the morning and then made it happen.
And that's not to mention how this city has absolutely perfected their subway system, the MTR. While it may not show up every 2 minutes without fail like Moscow's does, or may not be so clean you could eat off it like Sydney's always appears to be, Hong Kong's MTR is the best subway system I have ever ridden on. Their Octopus card puts New York's pathetic Metrocard to shame for ease of use and refilling. Every traincar's mapping system lays out not only the upcoming stop on your own line, but whichever line they connect to plus all those stops, while also pointing out which side the door will open on. And the exiting system is so beautifully executed, you never find yourself at street level wondering if your facing uptown or down. Hong Kong MTR, you can do no wrong.
2. The food! How have I not mentioned the food yet!
Those lovely delicacies are BBQ pork buns from Tim Ho Wan*, which were the pinnacle of my foodie experience in HK, but I loved just about everything I put in my mouth. Egg tarts. Rice noodle rolls. Milk tea. And can we talk about how cheap this all is? Now I know there are plenty of pricey restaurants if that's your bag, you certainly don't have to frequent them to have deliciousness at every meal.
*Tim Ho Wan was the only restaurant that I knew I had to try in HK. Seriously, just google dim sum in Hong Kong and 90% of the entries are about this place, which apparently is the cheapest Michellin started restaurant in the country. And in my opinion, it absolutely lived up to the hype.
3. For a city with so much hustle and bustle, there's a surprising amount of green space.
That's Statue Square, which is just one of the many squares and parks where you'll see people eating lunch, taking a morning tai chi class, or reading the paper. It's almost unbelievable that for a city that appears so crammed in, how many green spaces and gardens their actually are. Out of the many I sampled while hiding in the shade from the hot sun, Charter Garden was my preferred choice, but I'm sure every local has their favorite bench in their favorite park.
And, bonus! A haiku ode to one of the few things I would actually change about Hong Kong if I had my way, lest you go to bed tonight thinking this is the world's perfect city:
But, those umbrellas
Torpedoing my eyeballs
In the rain or shine