I'm leaving soon for an eight-day week in Kowloon, then another long week in Singapore. Here's why, and what I hope to learn.
First, I really like getting confused, shaken out of my thinking patterns. It's a challenge to be unable to read or speak to any meaningful degree, and yet to survive and have fun in the process. As an urbanite who likes to walk and look around, I really like spending time in the great cities of Asia.
It will be my third time in Hong Kong -- first was on the train out of Guangzhou five years ago, part of a three-week tour group, and I had a day and a half on my own based out of Causeway Bay. About three years ago I had five days out of Tsim Sha Tsui, and though I walked and saw a lot, there were many things left undone.
This time I'm particularly interested in the nature and history of Hong Kong. People say Hong Kong doesn't have much of either, but I think that's mostly said of Hong Kong Island and the harborside parts of Kowloon. But Hong Kong also contains northern Kowloon, the New Territories, the outlying islands. There's a lot of natural beauty. It's also easier to see how time has changed an area, once you get out of the constant urban renewal.
Singapore? I've never been. I like the food of Macau, so understanding the food of Singapore seemed interesting. I don't know much about Malay accordion, but what I've heard has reached me deeply. And I've always been sort of concerned about the Straits of Malacca, particularly after 9/11. But it wasn't until I learned of the great linguistic, religious, and cultural heterogeneity of Singapore that I became really driven.
Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist all have lively communities in Singapore, all co-existing. The English brought in the Christian traditions, so churches, mosques and temples all are community fixtures. English and Mandarin are official languages, but Tamil, Malay, Hokkien and more are all officially recognized or part of everyday life. The cross-currents have created Singlish, where sentence patterns of one language mix with the vocabulary of a second, the intonation or cultural referents of a third.
It sounds like a heck of a place. And they've done it against remarkable odds, guiding a swampy British outpost with a fortunate location into a post-colonial territory, driven from its relatively monocultural neighboring states, to become a small city-state with one of the highest growth patterns in recorded history. Like Israel and Taiwan, Singapore has achieved much, against great odds. I want to learn more.
Things I want to do in Hong Kong? I've never been to Lion Rock, I don't understand the old airport, I haven't even stumbled across Beacon Hill. I haven't taken the MTR to the end of the line, have only visited Man Mo and the Temple St. Tin Ho temples. Negotiating the menu at restaurants and street stalls is still a challenge. I went to Lamma Island one night, but not Cheng Chau, and my only experience of Lantau is the airport. I want stinky tofu. I'm not sure what's at the old Shaw Brothers lot at Clearwater Bay, nor if their new lot at Junk Bay is open, nor whether the old Golden Harvest lot near Hollywood is accessible. There's Broadcast Row up near Lion Rock. The old walled city of Kowloon has been torn down, but there are still walled villages in the New Territories. I want to see the dividing line between the pre-1898 British and Chinese territories. Bruce Lee's old home at 41 Cumberland is in dispute, but Jackie Chan's still at 145 Waterloo. I want to watch a Hong Kong movie in the Golden Harvest theatre on Nathan Rd. I want to negotiate conversations in Cantonese. I want to hear the local radio stations.
Singapore? The food is a big draw... the longtime crossroads Indian and Chinese trade routes, the varied European influences... and a casual eating scene rather than just formal restaurants. An orienting bumboat up the river... the night zoo, birdpark, and rain forest... silks in Little India, canes from Malacca... find out what they play on the local radio stations... maybe even do a little recreational littering, if I feel daring. But mostly I want to see how so complex a mosaic of cultures actually works, to hear different languages, different religions, different cuisines, different perspectives all together.
In both I hope to find early-morning TaiChi-like activities in parks. I'm still blown away by what I saw in Beijing's Tiantan park and others, and haven't seen such physical activity to the same degree elsewhere. I exercise and juggle with a cane each day, and also like manipulating rope, and it would be great to watch some stick or rope-dart practitioners in their natural environment. But mainland China may be a special case of widespread appreciation of skill arts.
And museums... both Hong Kong and Singapore have cultural museums which provide depth on how each society came to be, the different influences. I'm not keen on fine art museums, but cultural museums can be very interesting.
In both, I also want to beat the heat... I was unprepared for my first few days in Taiwan last September being above 90F degrees, and have rethought my kit since then. Hong Kong shouldn't be that hot by this time of year, although both it and Singapore will have drizzles and thunderstorms in April.
Language is another driver. My Mandarin is so-so, and the last few months I've been studying Cantonese, and I can read a little Simplified, a little less Traditional characters. In Hong Kong the street language is Cantonese, the business language is English, the state language Mandarin... in Singapore English is most common, and Mandarin is also official, but there's a whole bunch of languages spoken in extended-family situations. The last time I was in Hong Kong I had been on a three-month Cantonese intensive and got _very_ confused when someone spoke Mandarin; this time I hope I can just use the various skills I've developed, and practice them.
I "know" people in Hong Kong and Singapore through the web-development conversations, but haven't connected with any on this trip... I sorta know people like to show off their hometown to appreciative visitors, but I don't like to risk imposing on people, and usually stay pretty solo. I feel a bit guilty about this, but that's the way I'm built.
I've been reading histories, language guides, cultural guides, more the past half year. Still don't feel fully prepared though. I've snipped out the best parts of guidebooks to make light travelling packages.
For Hong Kong, I've found two great books:
Jason Wordie wrote "Streets: Exploring Kowloon", a follow up even better than his previous book on Hong Kong Island... I've got a review up at Amazon with more.
And Patricia Lim's "Discovering Hong Kong's Heritage: The New Territories" is just an awesome set of historic/cultural works north of Kowloon. I lucked across it only recently, and it was exactly what I was seeking.
So, that's what I'm about on this trip. I want to get confused, beat the heat, eat and eat, walk and talk, maybe even spin a rope if it doesn't get too weird. I want to understand the cultural and historical influences which make the real Hong Kong tick, and understand how the people of Singapore have accomplished so much, so quickly. I want to see the diversity. It will be challenging, but fun, and I feel fortunate to be able to learn this.
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