Welcome To Wan Chai

2017 July 19

Today was my trip out of mainland China and into my ten-day stay in Hong Kong. The signs in the immigration area in the Hong Kong International Airport read “Travelers” instead of Shanghai’s “Foreigners”, which was an interesting change of perspective and set the tone for how I was going to be greeted by Hong Kong. From the moment I stepped off the plane, I stepped into a kind of paradise. Immediately after leaving arrivals, it was clear how well everything was organized and laid out. I could withdraw the HK dollars I needed and find transit to my hostel almost effortlessly. I bought a pass that got me a twenty-minute express train directly from the airport to Hong Kong city, and infinite metro uses for three days, which I used to take the local MTA to Wan Chai.

Absolutely the cleanest, most modern looking metro transit I’ve ever been in, with extremely helpful signs. Then I stepped out of the Wan Chai Station onto the street. Wan Chai is lined with small stores no wider than three paces. Most are air conditioned and open, and buses passing on the street create a vacuum that the cool air in the shops rush out to fill. The sidewalks are narrow and bustling with people, who almost all wear their bags on their stomachs instead of their backs. It’s impossible to not get hit from above by some air conditioning condensation from one of the many, many high rises. The city practically lives vertically. There is also this immediately apparent, insane contrast of modern/high tech and old/dilapidated. Wan Chai used to be a red-light district of sorts, and it has been gradually cleaned up, with shiny metal and glass high-rises placed right next to old concrete and plaster ones that looked like they might collapse at any moment.

I finally found the entrance to the hostel, which was essentially a door. And I happened to find it just as one of the eight people living in my room was walking in, so he was able to show me to the front desk, which was tucked away down a hallway on the second floor. Immediately I was greeted with English and air conditioning, and I just let out an involuntary, happy, sweaty sigh. I was led up to the thirteenth floor, then down a hallway to our suite.

The accommodations are honestly much better than I was expecting for one of the cheapest hostels I could find in this area. As my first hostel experience, I’m not sure if I just got lucky or I’m seeing things through rose-colored glasses, or if it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Probably a combination of the three. I have a secure place to store my stuff, it’s very clean, the people are extremely friendly, and I’ve already made a couple friends.

I got all my stuff squared away and decided to keep exploring for a bit since I was already sweaty. Ended up walking until I found this public park called Southorn Playground, where I sat on a railing and watched what looked like a high school soccer match. Then my stomach, again the arbiter of my decisions, made me go find this sweet dim sum place called ‘Heart to Heart’ on the street on my way back to the hostel. I managed to look silly again when they placed a bowl of hot water in front of me, and I just smiled. I looked up at the waitresses about a minute later, and they started to laugh and came over to show me that I had to wash the plate, bowl, spoon, and chopsticks with the water before I was served. I’ve never seen anything like that before! The food was really delicious too. I finally got back to the hostel, showered, and headed out to meet a guy I was introduced to and recommended to meet - a friend of my father, Arun. He suggested a jazz bar, and then proceeded to make sure that the rest of my time here in Hong Kong was all downhill after this night. Fantastic guy that I now call a friend. Tomorrow I wake up early to hike the Dragon’s Back trail on the South East side.