Hong Kong on the mountain

Hong Kong on the Mountain

Column: Travelogue Add Time: January 13, 2011 1:52:08 PM Source: Admin Clicks: 26

It's only a few minutes' drive from Hong Kong Customs to Shenzhen Customs. But once you enter Hong Kong Customs, you enter another world. First, your mobile phone immediately loses signal, making you instantly aware of the "one country, two systems" policy. Then, the roads, landscapes, and even people's faces are different from those in the mainland. Everything is both luxurious and quiet. I originally thought Hong Kong was a big city, but it turns out that there are mountains everywhere, giving me a sense of mountain tourism. Buildings are scattered here and there, all located halfway up the mountains, not at all crowded. The mountains and valleys are covered with trees, and it’s rare to see an area without greenery. I can't help but marvel that living in a place with both urban charm and natural beauty must be better than being a fairy. However, this feeling only lasts when you first enter Hong Kong. Once you start consuming within this society, it's a completely different experience. Here, mineral water costs 15 yuan per bottle, and a small bowl of beef noodles is 48 yuan. The high prices create instant pressure.

Our Hong Kong tour guide's surname is Cai. She's a forty-something woman who is quite pretentious. Summarizing her full mouthful of social philosophies and worldly experiences boils down to one principle: having money is good, enjoying life is good, spending is good; if you have money, you're the boss, if you don't, you're a loser. Although I don't like this kind of person, I believe she represents a large portion of Hong Kong citizens. With great survival pressure and many temptations, it's easy for people to view money as life itself. In Hong Kong, it's a society that mocks poverty but not prostitution. Compared to other places, the commodity economy and capitalist philosophy are more typical here. This is a place where East meets West, and also where Chinese and Western economies and cultures collide, blend, and become most intimate. Long-term British colonial rule has left deep imprints here. Unthinkable and incomprehensible foreign place names such as Sha Tin, Hung Hom, Hollywood Road, and Victoria reveal its westernized side. But temples and their thriving incense, along with a firm belief in Feng Shui, make one feel that traditional culture here is performed more authentically than on the mainland. Not only do they consult the Yellow Calendar for weddings and funerals, but they also hire Feng Shui masters for real estate and business decisions, almost to the point of calculating everything before stepping out the door. Every thing, in their eyes, has a Feng Shui explanation, even buying a necklace has many timing and luck factors.

Although they are so superstitious, the sex industry is very developed and can openly advertise in newspapers. It wasn’t until I came here that I understood why public telephone directories on the mainland are called "Yellow Pages." I initially thought it was because the paper was yellow, but here, the Yellow Pages is a thick book, half of which is a telephone directory and the other half is advertisements for the sex industry. There are not only texts but also illustrations, subtle ones and explicit ones, male services, female services, everything is available. No wonder there are Japanese sex tourism groups coming here. The simple word "tourism" originally contains such rich content. In this place where finance, trade, and tourism are pillar industries, I suddenly understand; above the rivers are green trees and blue skies, but below the rivers flows another world. Good and evil originally coexist and are shared. The world isn't all true, good, and beautiful, but it's also not entirely false, evil, and ugly.

Everyone says this is a shopping paradise. Jewelry, watches, and electronic products are indeed cheaper here than on the mainland, but other goods... Since pickled vegetables have gained this smelly skill, he dreams that one day roses will encounter trouble and come to ask him for help. Suddenly one day, he realized that even if he became a superhero with this stinky appearance, what impression would roses have of him? He then became very troubled. Originally, his skill wasn't as convenient as a weasel farting,... differently, mineral water is 15 yuan per bottle, a small bowl of beef noodles is 48 yuan, McDonald's is really the cheapest here, more than twenty yuan, and there are both thin and thick options, able to eat half full. During the days in Hong Kong, every day was eating grab-and-go rice, only eating eight-tenths full. When arriving in Macao, the stomach was immediately stretched too much. Just this short distance away, Macao is another world, a world far from impressions and propaganda.