Hong Kong nights not for the sleepy
Intrepid traveller Sandile Luthuli is on a lifelong mission to see the entire world. He says there’s no limit to how far and wide he’ll travel, claiming he has dedicated his life to travelling to all 195 countries in the world. This week’s feature is the last in a series about his four-week trip across Asia dubbed #AJourneyToTheFarEast taking in Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau
Back home, when the clock strikes 10pm, I’m usually in bed, deep into whatever piece of literature has me captivated for that week. Nowhere out in the streets.
How can I be out? For the night doesn’t belong to the general public in my country but to certain undesirable elements of the population.
It is my first night in Hong Kong; my last stop in my monthlong #JourneyToTheFarEast travel. It’s 10pm and I find myself having to navigate my way through a mass human migration, after-work rush hour.
At this time of the night the city is alive and buzzing with the general population making their way back home after the day’s work but not before grabbing beef tripe or intestine skewers for dinner from the many street food corners.
Food considered to be peculiar to most people in the modern world like offal (intestine, tripe, heart and kidneys) is everyday food for Hong Kong citizens.
One of the most fascinating things about the city is the intertwining of the new and the old; street food stalls and markets in amongst skyscrapers housing some of the biggest global conglomerates. At ground level on the main streets of world-famous buildings like the 118-storey International Commerce Centre and the 315m-high Bank of China Tower are markets run by the older generation selling everything from fruit and nuts to meat, fish and traditional herbal remedies. In the midst of all that is the new generation, clad in expensive designer suits with cellphones glued to their ears’ busy negotiating and closing multibillion dollar deals, yet queuing for offal like everyone else.
As the gateway to Asia, Hong Kong has over the decades become a significant trade and finance powerhouse, attracting traders and financiers from all over. Its financial muscle growth has resulted in a population boom to the point of where it’s now struggling to house its people. The lack of suitable land to build on means the only way to build is up. Tall and skinny buildings crammed in just over a thousand square-kilometres make it the territory with the largest number of skyscrapers in the world.
In between my five-night stay in Hong Kong, I slotted in an overnight visit to Macau, the Las Vegas of the East. I’ve never seen so many casinos in my life before.
I found that not much really goes on in Macau if you’re not a gambler. I couldn’t wait to get back to Hong Kong.
Food considered to be peculiar to most people in the modern world ) is everyday food for Hong Kong citizens