"Hello pretty lady, hello handsome man?!" We'd be flattered, but for the inevitable lines that follow... "You want copy watch? Rolex? Genuine handmade fake? Handbag? Suit - you need tailor, sir? DVDs? Foot massage??" Free trade is still alive and well in this little corner of China, and we meet it head-on whenever we venture out the doors of our hostel. There were plenty of street sellers in Beijing - but there they had official party guards on every corner keeping a watchful eye. Nothing of that sort here.
Coming to Hong Kong was always more of a practical necessity than anything else - but there's been plenty here to keep us amused during our short stay. Today started with a rather sweaty run around the park, followed by a long, late dim sum breakfast looking out towards the sky-scrappers. We even had a Sunday paper. Our chopstick skills were tested to the full trying to pickup tennis ball-sized steamed buns, but we're getting quite practiced by now... After a stroll around a gallery, we went to see a kung fu demonstration. There were no Bruce Lee style stunts, but plenty of colourful costumes, a dragon and middle-aged women wielding swords. These ladies should not be crossed.
We've been staying just a block up from the very grand sounding 'Chungking Mansions'. It may well have seemed like a mansion when it was built, but has long since been superseded by other man made wonders. It's now become a seedy looking tower block with reputedly Hong Kong's worst hostels filling 15 or so floors... Thankfully we've managed to find accommodation elsewhere - and while it's not the most salubrious place we've been, our windowless shoebox is at least ensuite... We're moving up the island tomorrow for two nights at a different hotel -who knows, we may even escape the street sellers. If not, we now know some middle-aged ladies who can keep them at bay.
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