Sunday, November 19, 2006
Hong Kong Culture Shock
"What is that smell? No, I really want to know what could smell that poorly and still be allowed in public." This is my thought process as I walk down a sidewalk in Mong Kok. Mong Kok is home of some of the best shopping and worst smells in Hong Kong. At the moment I'm not interested in dried chicken feet or the raw Sting Rays which are producing the stench, I have come for one purpose: The Ladies Market. The Ladies Market stretches over more city blocks than I care to count, yet each stand holds new things to see and more vendors to haggle with over prices.
It's about 7pm in the evening and the entire city is really starting to speed up. The market doesn't reach it's full potential until the sun has seceded which means I'm right on time. The prices seem reasonable at first glance, but I have read enough about Hong Kong to know that in places like this the sticker price means no more than the "Rolex" brand stamped on the watches. "Hello sir, you like a watch? Have a look." Fully expecting this man before me, all of 5' 3", to open up his stand to reveal a multitude of fakes I was surprised to be handed a magazine and told to follow his petite assistant to see the timepieces themselves. Now I'm on a guided tour through allies and back streets while I have no clue where I'm going.
After treking up two flights of stairs we finally enter an overflowing apartment entryway full of purses, handbags, watches and various other supposed designer items. To my right there is a entire table of watches which, if genuine, would all be the the $2000US and up range. I survey the table and find my targets. "How much for these" I ask. "Very good price, only $1280." In fact this is not a good price and I have no intension of paying anything near it. Fifteen minutes later I'm out the door for under 70% the quoted price.
Back out on the strip now and I'm in the spirit of the location. I'm now stopping to haggle over things I don't even want, its a game. After purchasing a few beeds and necklaces for acquaintances and distant relatives back home and I'm feeling like a local. It's now 8pm and personal space is a distant memory. Although this can seem aggressive and hostile at first, after a little on-the-job training I'm fitting into the bustle of people quite well now. In the states a push in the back is a sign of violence, here its simply a busy sidewalk. With sometimes literally no empty space around this is prime real estate for pick pockets and I clutch my belongings closely.
After I've haggled a ridiculous hat from $70HK to $20HK I decide to have a local meal. Actually I order a snack by mistake and it turns out to be a couple of pieces of pork on a stick. Rejuvenated I go back out into the market once more in search of a local futbol jersey. All the walking has really taken its toll and I think I feel a blister in the early stages of development. This is a sign for me to head home before I end up with more silk jackets than I can carry.
I take the train home and then hop a bus to my room in the International house and find my roommate Erik already there. Erik had previously been to Mong Kok and experienced the madness first hand. Erik finds to noise of the Hong Kong streets to be quite different than his home in Sweden. I can also see his point and find the atmosphere of the ladies market to be reminiscent of a Las Vegas casino, with no windows or any indication of an outside world. We both enjoyed our time there and make plans to go back the next time we are in dire need of some real Hong Kong culture.
As we are both Westerners, Erik and I shared an initial common discomfort with the lack of personal space. This discomfort eventually became adaptation and new found confidence in a foreign land. I am glad to be in Hong Kong. The people are fast paced but still find time to give directions and guidance to puzzled Americans like myself.
It's about 7pm in the evening and the entire city is really starting to speed up. The market doesn't reach it's full potential until the sun has seceded which means I'm right on time. The prices seem reasonable at first glance, but I have read enough about Hong Kong to know that in places like this the sticker price means no more than the "Rolex" brand stamped on the watches. "Hello sir, you like a watch? Have a look." Fully expecting this man before me, all of 5' 3", to open up his stand to reveal a multitude of fakes I was surprised to be handed a magazine and told to follow his petite assistant to see the timepieces themselves. Now I'm on a guided tour through allies and back streets while I have no clue where I'm going.
After treking up two flights of stairs we finally enter an overflowing apartment entryway full of purses, handbags, watches and various other supposed designer items. To my right there is a entire table of watches which, if genuine, would all be the the $2000US and up range. I survey the table and find my targets. "How much for these" I ask. "Very good price, only $1280." In fact this is not a good price and I have no intension of paying anything near it. Fifteen minutes later I'm out the door for under 70% the quoted price.
Back out on the strip now and I'm in the spirit of the location. I'm now stopping to haggle over things I don't even want, its a game. After purchasing a few beeds and necklaces for acquaintances and distant relatives back home and I'm feeling like a local. It's now 8pm and personal space is a distant memory. Although this can seem aggressive and hostile at first, after a little on-the-job training I'm fitting into the bustle of people quite well now. In the states a push in the back is a sign of violence, here its simply a busy sidewalk. With sometimes literally no empty space around this is prime real estate for pick pockets and I clutch my belongings closely.
After I've haggled a ridiculous hat from $70HK to $20HK I decide to have a local meal. Actually I order a snack by mistake and it turns out to be a couple of pieces of pork on a stick. Rejuvenated I go back out into the market once more in search of a local futbol jersey. All the walking has really taken its toll and I think I feel a blister in the early stages of development. This is a sign for me to head home before I end up with more silk jackets than I can carry.
I take the train home and then hop a bus to my room in the International house and find my roommate Erik already there. Erik had previously been to Mong Kok and experienced the madness first hand. Erik finds to noise of the Hong Kong streets to be quite different than his home in Sweden. I can also see his point and find the atmosphere of the ladies market to be reminiscent of a Las Vegas casino, with no windows or any indication of an outside world. We both enjoyed our time there and make plans to go back the next time we are in dire need of some real Hong Kong culture.
As we are both Westerners, Erik and I shared an initial common discomfort with the lack of personal space. This discomfort eventually became adaptation and new found confidence in a foreign land. I am glad to be in Hong Kong. The people are fast paced but still find time to give directions and guidance to puzzled Americans like myself.
# posted by A. J. Stivers @ 9:08 PM 
