1 July Protests

Friday 1 July was a public holiday to commemorate the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong back to China in 1997. While I was escaping the summer heat by the pool, thousands of locals took to the street to protest in the annual 1 July March.
 

©Epochtimes

Unlike residents from the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong residents enjoy the right to protest and the 1 July March provides an opportunity for Hong Kong residents to channel their demand for democracy and a variety of other political concerns. This years protest focused mainly on high property prices, the increasing poverty gap and proposed anti-democratic legislation.

Since the handover back to China Hong Kong is governed under the principle of “one country, two systems”. Under this principle, Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China and maintains a “high degree of autonomy” in all matters except foreign relations and military defence. Despite the fact that the handover agreement guarantees that Hong Kong will retain its capitaist economic system and civil liberties for at least 50 years, increasing criticims is being voiced against the political rule and anti-democratic legislations.

©Reuters

During the sweltering evening heat thousands of protesters marched through the streets of downtown Hong Kong, although the exact number of protesters is unclear. According protest organisers almost 220,000 people joined in the demonstration, however the police estimate  the amount at only 50,000. More than 200 protesters were arrested during the protests.
 

©AP

In response to the protest, the Hong Kong government released a statement on Friday night saying that it will better address the needs of the people but it remains to be seen if anything will happen.

Walking your dog Hong Kong style

How to walk your dog Hong Kong style:
- Step one, while still in your apartment put the dog in the dog stroller.
- Step two, take the elevator down and push the dog, still in the stroller, 300 meter to the dog walking area.
- Step three, lift the dog out of the stroller and let it do its deed.
- Step four, if desired, take a walk while pushing your dog in the stroller.
- Step five, roll the dog back to the appartment and go back inside.

The dog stroller guarantees minimal physical activity for your dog and will keep your dog clean and protected from any broken glass, trash or other hazards on the sidewalk. Your dog will also have a good view of the environment and his unfortunate fellow canines that actually have to walk.

Do you live in urban areas and are you worried that their dog will relieve itself on the sidewalk? This women will show you what to do:

Buddha’s and Buns

One of the great things of living in a place that is at the crossroads of Asian and Western cultures is that you get double public holidays. On one hand we get all the Western holidays like Christmas and Easter but we also get all the Asian public holidays including the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year and yesterday, Buddha’s Birthday.

On Buddha’s Birthday, Buddha statues all around Hong Kong (and the rest of Asia) receive special treatment and are given a bath. It is said that this bathing ritual particular impressive and important at the Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, home to the world’s biggest outdoor seated Buddha. While I live on Lantua Island, I was put off by the massive queues and crowds trying to make their way up to the monestry. As it was one of the first really warm and sunny days in Hong Kong I decided to do some bathing myself and spend the day at the pool instead. I'm sure Buddha enjoyed his bathing as much as I did!

Buddha’s birthday public holiday is the ultimate embodiment of Hong Kong’s mixed cultures and spiritualities, as it also coincides with the Taoist Bun Festival on Cheung Chau Island. This festival is probably one of Hong Kong craziest with thousands of locals and tourist descending on the tiny island of Cheung Chau to watch men and women scramble up the side of a 18 meter ‘bun tower’ to pull off as many bread buns as they can. Originally, hundreds would climb up the tower but as a result of some serious incidents in the past - including the collapsing of the tower and people getting crushed - the event has been toned down in recent years with only 12 people participating in the final climb.

 
Another major part of the festival is the parade with floats and dragon dances through the streets of the Island. A highlight of the parade are the floats with children, dressed up as gods and hoisted up on a pole making it look like they are floating.

Happy Buddha and Bun day to all Buddhist and Taoists!

See you next time

sources:
http://gohongkong.about.com/od/hongkongfestivals/p/buddhasbirthday.htm
http://gohongkong.about.com/od/hongkongfestivals/a/cheungchau.htm)

Posh Paper Offerings

Yesterday, locals here in Hong Kong celebrated the Ching Ming Festival, a public holiday dedicated specifically to ancestor worshipping. Ancestor worshipping is a Chinese tradition that dates back thousands of years and is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead continue to live in the natural world and have the power to influence the fortune and fate of the living. The goal of worshipping ancestors is therefore to ensure the continued well-being of the ancestors and at times to ask for special favours or assistance.

On Ching Ming, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, Chinese families remember and honour their ancestors at their graves or burial grounds. They gather together to pray, sweep the tombs, burn incense, make offerings of tea, wine, food and burn joss paper offerings.

Joss paper, or ghost money, are sheets of paper that are burned to enable the deceased to have all they need in the afterlife. Traditionally the joss paper is made from rice or bamboo and resembles real money.

Traditional Joss paper

However, more contemporary varieties of joss paper include paper credit cards, cheques and a variety of paper accessories such as clothes, food, houses, cars and even servants! In the days leading up to the festival you’ll find many shops around Hong Kong displaying the most amazing paper items. Below you can see some of the more interesting paper assecories I came across.

Cans of coke

A car

A suit

Designer tie and socks
(note how they misspelled Louis Vuitton, very typical!!)

A whole suckling pig

A plate of sushi

Teeth, toothpase and toothbrush

Even a massage chair!

Not bad, seems like they have everything they need in the afterlife!

Ciao

Under Construction

Walking through Hong Kong, you can’t help but notice the bamboo scaffolding covered with green netting all over town. While bamboo scaffolding has largely been banished from most high-rise construction sites in other Asian countries, the practice continues throughout Hong Kong.

The sight of the skyscraper tall bamboo scaffolding is pretty amazing and to my unfamiliar eye it looks very unsafe and flimsy. Particularly when you see that the bottom of the bamboo skeleton is resting on the diagonally cut ends of the bamboo and that the bamboo components are hold together by a thin piece of plastic.

But no matter how unsettling it may look, it is argued that bamboo is in fact very strong and surprisingly functional. Defenders of bamboo scaffolding argue that it is strong, extremely lightweight, flexible, cost-effective and eco-friendly as bamboo is the fastest growing type of wood. Bamboo also has an advantage over other types of scaffolding in typhoon prone areas such as Hong Kong as bamboo bends in high winds, while steel scaffolding breaks.

Despite these arguments in favour of bamboo scaffolding, bamboo scaffolding has been banned from many other countries mainly for safety and environmental reasons. It remains to be seen whether it will also be banned from Hong Kong or if the sight of buildings clad in green netting and bamboo scaffolding will remain part of the Hong Kong skyline.

Bye for now!

Ridiculous Hong Kong Rent

Hong Kong is well known for being an expensive city to live in but in the past year things have gotten a little bit worse with average rental costs jumping by 22% according to a recent report by ECA International. This makes Hong Kong the third most expensive city to live in after Tokyo and Moscow.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s most populated cities with more than 7 million people living in less than 500 square miles. Many residents therefore find themselves living in tiny apartments in one of Hong Kong’s many high rise apartment buildings.

Average rental prices can differ significantly depending on the area, size and the amount of luxury that you are after. If you have a very limited budget but are adamant to live close to where it’s all happening, you’ll probably find yourself living in the tiniest one room apartments. You’ll most likely have an electric hot plate on a table as a kitchen and in some cases you might even have to share a coin-operated bathroom with the rest of your floor. On the other end of the housing scale you can find the most amazing luxury apartments on the Peak and in the Midlevels with harbour views and facilities. In between these extremes most expats on average incomes will find that they need to make a choice between location and space and sacrifice one for the other. 

In our case we sacrificed location for space and
live in a wonderful apartment with a great pool
but a bit of a commute into city

Hong Kong may only be the third most expensive when it comes to average rental prices, but when you look at luxury apartments, Hong Kong rentals are found to be the most expensive in the world. An average two-bedroom apartment in Hong Kong costs about US$2,830 (HK$22,074 or €2059 euro) a month. However, when it comes to luxury rents in desirable expat areas, Hong Kong beats Tokyo by 30% with an average rent of US$16,700 (HK$1,3m or €121,413) a month!  With an average median income of US$2,246 (HK$17,500 or €1,624) per month you can imagine that this is far beyond the reach of the average Hong Kong resident and that you have to be on a pretty decent expat package to be able to afford such accommodation! I wish.


Not everyone lives in high rises.
These fishing families in Tai O still live in traditional stilt houses on the water.

Check out this video on youtube to see how one local architect has found a solution for his small 33 square feet apartment.

Ciao!

Sources:
http://www.eca-international.com/news/press_releases/7310/Rents_up_22_per_cent_in_Hong_Kong_as_confidence_returns_to_Asia_http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=1&art_id=108132&sid=31310001&con_type=1&d_str=20110216
http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/population.pdf

Odd Asian Eye Tape

Hong Kong never ceases to surprise me. Not a week goes by without seeing, hearing, reading or smelling something strange. Take for example the other week when I was browsing through Sasa, a Hong Kong cosmetics chain. Lined between the fruit shaped lip balms and Hello Kitty shower gels, I stumbled upon a rack of strange looking packages. On closer inspection these turned out to contain eye tape. Eye tape, how very odd!

After some research into this eye tape I learned that many Asian women desire to change the appearance of their eyelids.

Eyelids can generally be divided into two categories: the single eyelid and the double eyelid. With single eyelids, the eyelid is pretty much hidden by a skin fold that covers the eyelid. The amount of skin that falls over the eyelid varies, but most Asians have such single eyelids (eye A to G). Most Caucasians on the other hand have so-called double eyelids, whereby the eyelid is largely visible due to a crease in the eyelid (Eye H).

Whether it is an attempt for Asian women to look more Western or just to have their eyes to look more ‘open’, many Asian women are taking steps to have their mono eyelids changed to double eyelids and it is reported that Asian double eyelid surgery, also known as blepharoplasties, are the most common aesthetic cosmetic procedure in many parts of East Asia. But now, thanks to eye tape, Asian women no longer have to undergo surgery to obtain a double eye-lid.

While I personally have a double eyelid and definitely don’t need these stickers I decided to give the tape a shot for the sake of this article. Each package consists of approximately 30 oval shaped stickers that are to be applied just above the eye lashes thereby pushing the eyelid skin slightly back and creating a double eyelid. I have renewed respect for women who regularly wear this tape as it is not only difficult to apply, but it is also a rather uncomfortable feeling to have the stickers on your eye.

To be honest I don’t think it makes much difference and that single eyelids are perfectly beautiful but I guess at the end of the day, like with many things, it’s a matter of personal preference. Either way, I find the concept entertaining and I can add eye tape to my list of funny things I came across in Hong Kong.

See you soon!