Ventures Dialogue

My first full day in Hong Kong has been a busy one.  Shuttled from one interview to the next, I’ve had the fortune of meeting many nice people, all of whom wish to see a greater number of Canadian businesses active here in Hong Kong.  Over the next few days I’ll share some of their insights.

But first, I’ve just come from the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest 2009 and what a show it was!  New and innovative designs presented by young local talents to a symphony of lights and music – it was an amazing show.  19 finalists were selected from nearly 200 entries to showcase their collections in front of a star studded group of judges from the industry and the media.  There was much awe among fashion officionados that organizer, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), was able to entice Ennio Capasa, a well known Italian fashion designer, and Japanese fashion designer Keita Maryama, to join the panel.

The show was divided into three categories:  Casual & Jeans-Wear Group, Contemporary Day-Wear Group and Party & Evening-Wear Group.  In addition, a special presentation was made by ex-winners and finalists of the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designer’s Contests from previous years.

It was a lavish display of texture, colour and sensuality and unlike anything I’ve seen before.  It had every element of a professional runway show that you might find in any of the fashion capitals of the world. It’s hard to believe that most of the designers are students just at the beginning of their careers.  If the excitement on the faces of tonight’s winners is any indication, these talented young designers hope the ranks of past winners who have created their own labels or become leading designers in the local fashion and garment industries.

Today has been a day of many firsts for me. 

• First time travelling to Asia
• First time flying business class
• First time watching the documentary March of the Penguins (on the plane)
• First time being met at an airport by someone with my name on a sign (I’ve always wanted to experience that)
• First time to lay eyes on Hong Kong 
• First time staying where when they turn down your bed they lay a kerchief on the floor and slippers at the ready

 With jetlag tugging at my eyelids, here is a smattering of first impressions.

1. It’s okay to wear your Lululemon yoga pants in Business Class! I agonized over this, wondering if I was going to look like a layabout among the many suited business people sharing the roomy front section of the Boeing 777 with me. But I need not have worried. People were wearing jeans, yoga pants, sweatshirts, ballcaps – all kinds of casual clothes. Whew! Am I glad I decided to opt for comfort!

2. Business class is definitely worth the money. All 5′2 of me could stretch out flat in my little reclining bed and the food and refreshments were quite satisfying. The toiletry bag was full of nifty things including some energizing foot spray which put a little sprite in my step after the mind numbing journey. Earlier in the flight in a clumsy effort to unfold the little eye mask a little energizing spray landed in my eye. This is not recommended.

3. Fifteen and a half hours is a long time in the air. It’s been quite a few years since I took such a long flight and I’d forgotten how slowly time creeps along. Almost as long as the journey must seem for the Emperor Penguins as they shuffle their way from the sea’s edge to their breeding grounds.

4. The March of the Penguins is a fabulous documentary by National Geographic. I laughed. I cried. I marvelled at their sacrifice for their offspring, their navigational prowess, and their innate sense of timing. Humans could learn much from their huddling behaviour on cold windswept terrain.  

5. Okay, so I didn’t find Mr. Hui, the driver picking me up, standing with my name in bold letters on a black and white sign. Mr. Hui was however, very informative on the half hour drive into the city from the airport, pointing out new residential areas, government subsidized apartment buildings, the bridge to Mainland China and the shipping harbour that we heard about from Carla Kearns in her series. Perhaps I was overrating the sign experience anyway.

6. I was quite surprised by the mountains surrounding Hong Kong, even though I’d seen so much of them in photos and research for the trip. The amount of green space still caught me off guard. One of the other first impressions, this one not a surprise, was the fact that in Hong Kong they build ‘up’. As compared to the way we’ve built ‘out’ in Canada. Towering apartment buildings or condos, of all shapes and even colours (like purple and green) greet you in clusters wherever the topography allows it. The traffic on the highways was extremely light, confirmed by my driver as a result of the fact that most people in Hong Kong don’t own cars. Public transit is excellent, made easier than in Canada due to the small footprint left by this city of about 7 million people.

One of the towering buildings in the downtown is my hotel, Island Shrangri-La where the service is out-of-this world, I have a real doorbell on my room (we don’t even have a doorbell on our house at home) and the staff think 15 above zero is cold! 

Sleep is calling me now at 8:40 p.m. Hong Kong time, and 7:45 a.m. Ontario time.  Until tomorrow.

After over a year of learning about the incredible business opportunities offered to Canadian businesses in Hong Kong, and sharing success stories with you, I’m going to experience Hong Kong for myself!

As editor of VENTURES, tomorrow I will begin the journey of a lifetime.  On Saturday I board an Air Canada flight which will deliver me to the famous Hong Kong International Airport to begin a week exploration of a city which I’ve been told is one of a kind.  I will try to travel light!!!

For a week I will soak up as much Hong Kong excitement as I can, and will meet with many people and organizations to learn more about the successful links between Canada and Hong Kong. 

Already I plan to chat with New York Fries (a Canadian company), Andrew Work of The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Canada’s Senior Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong, the head of the Canadian International School of Hong Kong, plus many other business people and government contacts.  I expect to gain lots of valuable information to share with VENTURES readers.

In between a vast array of interviews, I’ll also be able to pop into Fashion Week in Hong Kong for what I’m told will be a fashion show like I’ve never seen before.  And I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for interesting Hong Kong sites and sounds to share with all of you.  If my photos or stories bring to mind any of your own Hong Kong experiences, be sure to share with all the VENTURES readers!  

So, I’m off now to finish packing my bags!  Watch for my next post!

Photo provided by Laura Bell.