Sunday, October 5, 2008

Pinching Yourself


You know you're not on the Chinese mainland but in Hong Kong when:

- You can get from A to B in 20 minutes instead of an hour;

- Having three appointments in one evening is doable;

- The MTR trains come every two minutes and not at least five like in Beijing;

- Everyone from taxi drivers to store staff and fellow commuters are polite to you;

- The police doing roadside checks ask you to put on your seatbelt;

- There's no spitting in the streets -- not even the sound of horking is heard;

- Several pairs of chopsicks are on the lazy Susan for people to use so they don't infect the food with their own chopsticks;

- You ask for less oil in dishes and there really is less oil in them;

- Where food street stalls are, there's hardly any garbage on the ground, not even those wooden skewers;

- You can call the telephone directory assistance for a number wherever you are, whenever you want;

- You can speak Chinglish and everyone understands what you're saying;

- People don't jump the queue, but patiently wait in line;

- Hong Kongers take you to cleaner bathrooms than the ones you thought were already clean;

- Public washrooms are always stocked with toilet paper and soap;

- There are no squat toilets.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks to british colonialism the hong kongers are more westernized and better educated. they are rid of the chinese bad habits. but they have their draw backs too-greed, wealth oriented, short sighted, disciples of brand names, and 'some times naiive' too.

Anonymous said...

If you want to see contrast between Red Guard Chinese and HK'ers, you should meet my Red Guard cousins living in YVR.

T