Shanghai'd

Hong Kong.


I hear the comparison made often that Shanghai is like Xianggang was 10 or 20 years ago. After our weekend trip there, it's clear Shanghai still has a long way to go if it wants to fulfill that prediction any time soon.

Stepping off the plane from the mainland was like getting hit with a refreshing wave of ... coherence. And order. And things-just-making-sense-courtesy-of-the-English-ness. A few noticeable differences from Shanghai:

- people boarding the subway orderly waited for the other passengers to "alight" (I love British English) before rushing on
- clean-burning LPG taxis
- no littering, spitting, or smoking (all punishable by 100+ HKD fine)
- the express train from the airport actually goes somewhere useful, like downtown!
- the concept of waiting in line is understood and applied
- the Rolex shop on the corner isn't selling fakes
- no "lao wai" calls (unless I just didn't understand it in Cantonese)

As always, check out the Hong Kong photo set on my Flickr page.