Hong Kong

Last week I made the traditional foreigner's visa trek to Hong Kong. It's pretty much impossible for a foreigner to get a work visa before entering China, but it's also not possible to get said visa switched in mainland China. Thus, every foreigner ever mobs the Hong Kong visa office on a daily basis to get their various visas switched to more Kosher kinds. 

This was about half of the line waiting to get into the visa office. That's a lot of laowai. 

I fell in love with the city so quickly that I was a little frightened. How is it possible to feel such an instant and deep connection with a place? I loved seeing the diversity of colors, lives, and views. The financial district is crammed against the port, which buts up against the wealthy enclaves, which overlook traditional fishermen on the bay. British ownership is still keenly evident in Hong Kong. Everyone speaks at least conversational English. City planning is very European. But the soul of the city is still Chinese.

The city feels like a love child of London and Shanghai. 

And I am always a sucker for a city shrouded in mist.

Not to mention they specialize in my favorite foods.

In short, I want to live there forever. It took moving to Yuncheng for me to realize finally that I am a city girl at heart. I love the dense feeling of people crammed together. The bustle of it all is heady and intoxicating. People watching is the best in big cities, and there is every kind of food you could ever dream. If only Hong Kong were cheaper. It's still cheap-ish by Western standards, but definitely about five times more expensive than Yuncheng. I came back so broke my wallet squeaks. That's an exaggeration, I was actually quite careful, but I still spent an absurd amount of money for 36 hours. Probably because I drank lots of this:

Hong Kong was so wonderful, in fact, that I have been experiencing a good deal of culture fatigue since I've been back. Or perhaps it's more accurately called Yuncheng fatigue? I had finally arrived at a place where I had come to terms with my life for the next year. And then Hong Kong reminded me of what I really want from life. I will re-adjust, I am sure, but I miss having nice things. This is my year of simple living. It will not kill me, in fact, it's probably very healthy (I mean, I've lost a ton of weight), but I need to let Hong Kong motivate me. I have a new goal or at least a dream, and I need to let it give me power, not cause me to mope. I am in a good place, I am working towards my goals, I am extremely fortunate.