# How's Hong Kong these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-hong-kong-these-days/99856 "2002-03-24T15:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-hong-kong-these-days/99856/1 "2002-03-24T15:15:05Z")
I used to live there, left in '95, but still miss it terribly. I call upon Hong Kong dopers to come and tell me how things are going. Ley ho ma? How’s the atmosphere? How’s LegCo getting on? How’s the media? Where do you live? Ley-de yum bin-do aa? Mm goi sai! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-hong-kong-these-days/99856/2 "2002-03-25T09:16:33Z")
Nobody got anything to say? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-hong-kong-these-days/99856/3 "2002-03-25T10:41:30Z")
Sounds like you should check my [on-line HK diary](http://www.geocities.com/hkhemlock/papers.html). All your favorite restaurants and bars have probably closed. HK is always like that. Otherwise, the place looks much the same. A few more grotesque skyscrapers on the skyline. And taxis that run on LPG rather than diesel! Basically, HK is still coming to terms with the fact that the boom of the late 80s-90s was an aberration. It’s come as a rude shock. So there’s a huge amount of gloom and doom, bizarrely encouraged by a “we feel your pain” (unelected) government determined to be liked. There’s even a sense that Shanghai and Singapore - 2 places that superficially model themselves on HK but in reality have much less substance - are overtaking. OTOH, there’s a huge amount of beer being swilled in Lan Kwai Fong every evening, so someone somewhere is doing fine. The place has a history of bouncing back quite strongly. If it doesn’t do so in the coming 12 months, the pessimists may be right. Meanwhile, I’m an optimist. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-hong-kong-these-days/99856/4 "2002-03-25T18:09:29Z")
Nice site, **Hemlock**. Made me all misty-eyed. And I laughed a few times too. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-hong-kong-these-days/99856/5 "2002-03-26T07:21:33Z")
An western journalist is interviewing a Hong Kong resident: “So how do you feel about the current situation in Hong Kong?” “I can’t complain.” “Any problems with the transition to Chinese control?” “I can’t complain.” “How’s the economic situation been?” “I can’t complain.” “Any political difficulties you’ve heard about?” “I can’t complain.” “Do you feel you’ve lost any civil rights since the changeover?” “I can’t complain.” “Overall then, what do you think is the biggest difference now from the way things used to be?” “I can’t complain.” ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hows-hong-kong-these-days/99856/6 "2002-03-29T11:20:07Z")
I haven’t been there for a while now, but I have a feeling that late 80s-early 90s Hong Kong as we Westerners remember it is gone forever. Part of the HK’s charm for me then was its pervasive fin de siècle atmosphere. Wandering around Central, riding the Star Ferry back and forth, I felt I was really living in the moment given that the moment itself was so ephemeral. I would recommend that you check out the World of Lily Wong web site, but Larry Feign has stopped the strip (for the second and last time). I was surprised how upset I was to find out that Lily Wong was no more. One more artifact of a world that’s gone . . .