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HK #1

Hong Kong

By Kai Bernstein

January 15^th, 2020

Please enjoy on a big display in fullscreen mode for the best experience.

I divided my Hong Kong experience into three blog posts. The first one is a rough overview of the city and some of my personal impressions. The second one emphasises on the unique architecture and the third one is about the people and features some street photography.

In this episode you'll see:

A bumpy start

The Cliché

Avenue of Stars

HKMoA

Kennedy Town

Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre

Sunset at the Waterfront

Neon Signs

A bumpy start (skip this if you only came for photos)

What's better than priority boarding?

- Being taken to the airplane back to Hong Kong by the police. After skipping every single waiting person while boarding in Shanghai to Hong Kong lead by a tall Chinese guardian, I felt important in a weird, unexpectedly good way. At least nobody knew what was going on. When we arrived at the airplane door the unemotional policeman handed me my passport and proceeded to wish me "good luck" in a fortune cookie manner. I had a row in the plane to myself and got all the looks.

My experience in Hong Kong was based on an immigration fail when arriving in China. Originally, I wanted to visit a friend in Shanghai, but due to a very unfortunate misunderstanding I wasn't allowed to enter.

As always, I was very thoughtful about planning my trip and took care of everything in advance. My local friend asked me prior to boarding my plane if I had applied for a visa and I confidently answered: “The 144h Transit Visa will do mate!”

When I arrived in Shanghai for my transit layover

My original plan was to fly from Frankfurt, Germany to Shanghai, China to visit an old school friend and his family. Afterwards I planned on proceeding my travels towards Australia.

I did my research and was 99% sure it would work out as long as I would enter Shanghai at one of the two valid airports. Both times - entering and leaving Shanghai - I was supposed to have a transit layover in Hong Kong.

For some reason you are not allowed to enter and leave Shanghai through the same city (Hong Kong in my case). That's why this layover broke my neck. Chinese immigration only considers your last/next boarding pass - not where you started your journey. I found this out the hard way.

When I arrived in Shanghai I proudly went to the ‘144h Transit Appliance' area because I had already done my registration online where the system told me 'You're good to go!' after entering my flight itinerary.

The immigration officer I had to pass before entering this area looked at my pre-filled form, turned around to his supervisor and showed her everything. Seconds later both shook their heads and pointed to the 'Visa on Arrival' (VoA) area. No words were wasted.

Ironically, I watched Lost in Translation during the flight and all of a sudden I completely understood what Bill Murray had to go through during the movie.

The immigration officer at the VoA area entered a few things into a computer, printed something, stamped it and called colleagues for reinforcement. All while I was still trying to figure out what was happening. One of the arriving officers then said:

“You will go back to Hong Kong, now.”

I’m pretty persistent and I tried to reason with the officers to find any possible solution so that I could enter Shanghai and see my friend - without success. At least they handed me a phone so I was able to call my friend who literally waited 100m away on the other side of the wall. He tried to have my back. The officers already had my bag.

Technically I then entered Shanghai because we crossed the border to book the very next flight out at the ticket counter. From there the police escorted me through the airport. Yes, they also followed me into the toilet to wait in front of my stall. Exclusive, I know!

Before I knew it I was back on Hong Kong soil because they made me use my ticket which I was supposed to take 6 days later.

They even wanted me to immediately take my connecting flight to Brisbane, Australia but this would have made my whole trip to China completely pointless. So I persisted again - this time successfully. After anxiously listening to the ticket agent calling her boss my request was granted.

Thankfully I was able to fight my way into leaving Hong Kong on the day I had originally planned which roughly gave me 6 days to recover from this bureaucratic nightmare.

When I finally exited the Hong Kong Airport I had talked to about 20 different officers and airline employees about my case. All of them gave me a good feeling at first but then disappeared behind closed doors and someone else took over and made me explain myself again. Next time you go to China - bring patience.

Just for your imagination: A solution would have been to fly from Hong Kong to Seoul, then back to Shanghai and then directly to Brisbane. Cost = a lot of CO2, a sleepless night and around 700€. Too much for me. Keep in mind – to bypass all of this I could have easily changed my booking in Shanghai so I wouldn't reenter Hong Kong.

Another option would have been to change my flight before entering Shanghai in Hong Kong. ANY TIME before being in Shanghai. The only problem – I had no idea and they didn’t let me do it after I arrived. I wonder how much this was influenced by the current political situation between Hong Kong and China.

End of the story, the airline paid a huge fine, I lost money and more importantly a few great days with my old school friend and his family.

Nonetheless, all of this provided me with the chance to explore this extraordinary city. Without further ado - enjoy my visual representation of mind-blowing Hong Kong - a city surrounded by China.

The Cliché

On my first walk through the megacity I passed the stereotypical Hong Kong scene – stretched, brightly colored houses with little windows and laundry hanging from racks outside. In the middle of the houses was a colorful sports field with children playing and old people watching.

Hong Kong felt to me like a mix of some of the Asian metropolises I visited in the past. The way shops are organized and the chaotic power poles reminded me of Taipei. The over-punctual public transport and the workaholic mindset of the business district of Tokyo. The aged facades and the smell of food everywhere of Hanoi. All of this mixed with some British leftovers: left-hand driving and English road markings and street signs.

On the rail you can see the handprints of the stars

Avenue of Stars

I made my way to the waterfront where I had a first glimpse onto the iconic Hong Kong Island skyline. Skyscrapers and huge business-complexes as far as the eye can see. The Avenue of the Stars - located along the waterfront - shows some of the most famous Hong Kong celebrities and offers a nice walk along the architectural interesting buildings. Here you can take a break, sit down and watch the boats cross the river.

HKMoA

The Hong Kong Museum of Art was the highlight of my first day. I spent a few hours looking through every single exhibition. So much great art and very inspirational work!

I really enjoy seeing the life work of an artist exhibited chronologically. Like the one of Wu Guanzhong. It calms me down to see where they have been around my age and how much time still lied ahead of them. A subtle reminder: The journey is the destination.

A book from the sky by Xu Bing was just one of many admission free exhibitions at HKMoA. It looked like a classic text but it was made up entirely of fictional characters. Created and printed between 1987-1991, it contains over 4000 pseudo characters which resemble traditional Chinese ones.

It felt good to me to not be the only person who couldn't read nor understand a word for a change. Everyone could come up with an interpretation for themselves this way.

A few smartphone snapshots of the exhibitions I got to see:

The following images are just a few details and snapshots from all around the city:

Nobody spoke English and I couldn't read the hyroglyphs on the menu. So I got a surprise vegan lunch that I enjoyed with this lovely old lady that joined me.

The subway is usually quiet and air cooled

Beautiful trees and birds all around the Park

A parking lot next to expensive malls by the water

Kennedy Town

I usually tend to go to less touristy places when I'm in a new city and I like to go on little adventures where I wander the city and follow my gut feeling. Driven by the slowly setting sun this approach took me further west past the last subway (MTR) stop on Hong Kong Island all the way to Kennedy Town which became one of my favorite parts of the city.

Insider tip:

Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre

I found a real gem! This is a 'must do' if you’re into art and expressing feelings via craft. This place screamed ‘artsy’ from every pore and featured many up and coming artist. You’ll find everything from inspiring ceramic work and exhibitions to interactive pieces that invite you to participate. From an artist sketching the same stone for 30 days in a row in a rural area of China to an installation of shoe molds on a steel beam, to over 2.5 hours of highly experimental video footage. There are workshops to learn how to work with ceramics and clay, a rooftop cinema and many possibilities to meet and talk to the artists themselves in their own little studios.

Many art pieces located in and around the studio complex.

Without expecting anything I put my head through the curtain of an interesting looking pottery studio and ended up having a long and interesting conversation with Choi. She is an artist from Hong Kong and she gave me many insights on how she creates her art. I peppered her with questions about her craft, the life in the city and her thoughts on the political situation.

This is what the studio looked like:

Here and there you can see artworks influenced by the current political situation.

Sunset at the Waterfront

Afterwards I went back to the waterfront to catch the last glimpses of sunlight.

Neon Signs

Hong Kong is believed to be the city with the highest light pollution in the world. Personally, couldn't see a difference to Tokyo or Saigon but it's definitely up there.