Ventures Dialogue

Now back in Canada after a busy and satisfying trip, I thought I’d share a few more impressions of Hong Kong.

One of the clear differences between Hong Kong and Canada is the sheer number of people in a relatively small place.  The population of about 7 million lives in a small part of Hong Kong.  As I said in my first post, it has caused the city to build up instead of out.  Schools for instance, occupy buildings of multiple floors.  The Canadian International School which I’ll write about in a later story, has 9 floors and is built on a narrow piece of land.  Stores and restaurants can be found on upper floors of a building which give no hint as to commercial space on the ground floor levels, leaving you to wonder how people ever find them. 

In fact, there are stores and market stalls everywhere.  I’ve never seen so many.  Every luxury brand in the world appears to be present in the market, with many locations throughout the city.  Local businesses sell every kind of product imaginable in what, not unlike in Toronto, seem to be themed areas.  For instance, from the window of my car, I observed an area with nothing but sewing items:  buttons by the thousands in one block, fabric swatches displayed from floor to ceiling in another, tiny commercial spaces filled with spools of threads of every colour.  In another part of the city one tiny store after another was displaying lighting fixtures of every shape, colour and size, and so on.  The photo above is from the open market stalls in the SoHo area which sell meats and vegetables as well as other merchandise.

The population density is among the highest in the world, leaving the streets crowded and busy.  The city never sleeps.  Workers in Hong Kong work longer days than most Canadians, with a typical day ending closer to 7 p.m.  Stores are open late into the night.  Some areas of town, entertainment districts or open street market areas, don’t even wake up until 10.  Unfortunately, I would need a much lighter daytime schedule in order to indulge in this kind of late night exploration.  I had to satisfy myself with one night at Lan Quai Fong, the famous bar and entertainment district started by Canadian Allan Zemen, and an evening trip to Macau, Hong Kong’s playground and an Asian Las Vegas.

The image of Hong Kong as a busy, cosmopolitan city with high population density creates a false perception that it is just a concrete jungle.  In fact, Hong Kong is surrounded by green hills and hiking trails, beautiful tucked away islands, beaches and spectacular views.  Duncan Mavin, the National Post Asia Correspondent, explained that he can be on a hiking trail in 20 minutes from his home and walk for hours while seeing only a handful of people.  Right inside the city is a place called The Peak (formerly Victoria Peak) which offers a loop trail around the top of the peak and stunning views.  In a guided three hour walk (Guide Martin Heyes pictured above) I drank in the fresh air and the bird’s eye view of the business district below.

One of the first impressions I shared a week ago was the lack of automobiles.  Indeed, only one in fourteen people own a car.  But I realized as the week wore on that my arrival on Sunday created a bit of a false impression of the absence of traffic.  It was much different during the work week with lots of traffic moving at a quick pace throughout the city. 

Despite all of these differences, Canadians seem to feel very much at home very quickly in Hong Kong.  First of all, English is the dominant language of business. Getting around is made easier with signs in English as well and the British influence carries on in other ways including the legal system.

But in addition, there are so many Canadians and other expatriates in Hong Kong that people seem quickly to fall into social circles.  Before the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Canada was one of the preferred destinations for families who feared what might follow the handover.  Tiananmen Square was still very fresh in their minds.  Many Hong Kong people remain in Canada but others have returned to the place of their birth.  In addition, many other Canadians have been attracted by the exotic location and unique opportunities.

The expat community appears to be small and well connected.  Altogether, there are 220,000 Canadian passport holders in Hong Kong.  I’ve pictured two Canadians whom I met in Macao.  Neil P. Johnston (L) is Vice President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Macao and Founding Governor of the International School of Macao.  And Samson Leong lo Kei (R) is a lecturer at the Institute for Tourism Studies and operates a boutique hotel staffed by hospitality students.  Samson stays connected to Toronto by listening to 98.1 CHFI on the internet!