|
People always have questions about life in HK --
here's where I answer them. It's a long page, but hope it helps...
If you have a good question that you don't see here, email me (at the
address at the bottom of the page) and maybe I'll include it!!
Q: What's the weather like in Hong Kong?
A: People ask this more than anything
else. And I'm glad you asked -- because it's one of my only vices in HK: to
badmouth the weather... So here goes:
HK weather STINKS...
Seriously -- the weather in HK is just horrible to me. It's unbearably HOT and WET for 9 months of the year (basically
about 80 degrees (F) and higher from March thru November) -- so, for 9 straight months there is no break from the heat (outdoors).
It's
insufferable, and it constantly threatens to put me in a foul mood (and
condition!).
Then, from December thru February, there is usually a rather sudden switch to what they call
"winter" in HK. It's also WET, but CHILLY. Temperatures almost never
drop below, say, 55 degrees (F) -- but you need to understand that HK residential
buildings do NOT have HEAT. Like, seriously -- one of the most cosmopolitan
cities in the world, and no heat in your house!
Have you ever slept in a cave (underground) overnight? I have. The air is
thick and damp, and the wet chill seeps deep into your bones, and you will find it very
difficult to sleep at all, because you will be so miserable.
And THAT is what it's like to be in HK in the winter.
Honestly, in a city that I love to death, the WEATHER is about the only thing
I have to complain about. But -- *sigh* -- I do complain about it
constantly.
Q: What do you eat?
A: It is a cultural fact that people in
China have generally been known to eat anything and everything. There's
supposedly an old Chinese saying that goes something like, "Chinese will
eat anything with 4 legs except a table, and anything that flies except a
plane" -- spend any time in China and you'll understand that's this is
not meant to be a joke.
It's somehow difficult for Westerners (especially Americans) to believe, but
fact is there are almost no "off limits" animals in China -- snakes,
civet cats, pre-historic-looking sea creatures -- it's all fair game.
Having said that, it kind of bugs me when Americans in particular make jokes
about eating dogs or cats -- I mean, I get it, okay? -- something about seeing a
German shepherd in a cage at the market makes you want to "rescue" the
poor thing -- fine! -- and seeing the video where the guy hits the cat on the
head and then skins it alive and drops it in a pot of boiling water seems
profoundly disturbing -- yeah, okay, you don't like seeing that. I get
it.
But if you are HONEST, I mean, if you really think about it, you'll admit
that there is no reason to spare a dog from the butcher's knife, but then eat a
ham sandwich, for instance. Seriously -- you either EAT non-human animals, or
you DON'T -- I'm not sure there's a tenable position in between, where THIS
animal is "stupid" enough to get eaten, but THIS ONE is just "too
cute"...
Anyway, what you REALLY want to know is what do *I* eat, right?
But I'm already bored writing this answer. So I'll just say, I eat rice and
noodles. Bleh.
Q: What kinds of natural disasters typically hit
Hong Kong?
A: Well, we don't have earthquakes very often, but we *do* have
TYPHOONS (hurricanes) during August / September, and it's not uncommon for the
entire city to shut down as a big storm passes over. Sometimes the massive
and rapid rainfall causes really dangerous landslides, especially on Hong Kong
Island.
Oh, and I suppose I ought to mention the AIR POLLUTION, which is a kind of
chronic natural disaster. It's BAD. And when I say that, I need for you who've never been here
to understand that I don't mean it's bad relative to YOUR town. I mean it's bad
relative to anything humans have put themselves through in history.
Look at the photos below, both taken from my old apartment. The one on the
LEFT is what you see for about 10 to 14 random days out of a year, when heaven
comes down to earth and we can actually see the sun and something like a blue(-ish)
sky. You can see that it's not CLEAN, per
se -- the haze still almost obscures the mountains just a couple of miles
away -- but in contemporary HK terms, that's a pretty clear day. The photo on the RIGHT,
on the other hand, is the kind of sky we see more often than we care to admit (click to enlarge):
Please note: that's not FOG -- it's DIRT. And with every breath you
take (thanks, Sting!), that junk is going right down to fill the tiniest capillaries of
your lungs.
So we got THAT goin' for us, too!
|
