So I went to Hong Kong for work recently.
Things you might not know about Hong Kong if you haven't been there (in no particular order)
* The elevator "close door" buttons WORK!
* All the street signs are in Chinese *AND* English (Former Crown Colony here!)
* If you're of European ancestry you are likely to be the tallest person in the elevator.
* As you walk down the street, you may get hit by a drop of rain, even when it's sunny. That's condensation from the omnipresent air conditioners.
* Also as you walk down the street, you will get intermittent blasts of refreshing A/C from open shop doors.
* That noodle shop that looks like a third-rate 50s diner, yet has a Michelin sticker in the window? Go ahead, go inside, it's AWESOME.
* The whole city is made of delicious.
* People will stand in front of their shops trying to hand you brochures or menus.
* In the morning people will hand you free newspapers, but they'll be in Chinese.
* The trams that run down Hennessy (and other streets, but this is the one I took) are too short inside for a six-foot westerner to stand up straight in. They are also amazingly cheap ($HK 2.30), and are called "ding-dings" from the bell they have.
* When a typhoon hits the city, tram riders are required to OPEN all the windows in the tram, so it doesn't blow over onto its side.
* The train from the airport to Central is fast, clean and frequent.
* The street food that looks like bubble-wrap made of dough? DELICIOUS.
* Major intersections have muted bells that change rhythm when it's safe to cross.
* It's pretty much safe to cross as soon as the light changes. Very few cars or busses try to push through on yellow.
* In some intersections you get a red/yellow just before the green.
* The streets are amazingly crowded with people, yet they seldom bump into each other, even when texting.
berry_k
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