Hong Kong and Chongqing are very similar, so much so that many years ago when I woke up in the middle of the night and saw the night view across from me, I thought I was still in my hometown.
But perhaps it's because of the language barrier, Hong Kong is a considerate and thoughtful partner to me, with excellent professionalism and impeccable manners. However, I also understand that we don't have a deep bond, and once we complete our business, we go our separate ways.
But for me, this place is indeed filled with a familiar atmosphere, to the point that when I got off the bus at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, I had a feeling of "I'm back."
The flashy bus stops, the small buses that I'm afraid to take for fear of missing my stop, the salty sea breeze, the quiet subway cars, my understanding of them is so shallow. And before 1997, the atmosphere in Hong Kong should have been even more vibrant: several islands with uncertain futures, destinies sealed in the fortune-telling sticks at Wong Tai Sin Temple, a sense of rules lingering in the incense smoke around the statue of Guan Yu.
During the few hundred days I stayed in Hong Kong, I didn't participate much in the city's hustle and bustle. Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Victoria Harbour... these places are only visited when I receive friends who come to Hong Kong to play. The high expenses and my modest spending level have destined me to be more familiar with street markets, housing estates, and walled villages.
In the Hong Kong I am familiar with, tall buildings and the nightlife seem distant. What I come into contact with is the Hong Kong of the common people. There are many stalls selling beef offal, wonton noodles, and Hong Kong-style milk tea. Retail stalls sell socks and cheap clothes. Entertainment is just playing pool.
From school to society, it feels like I haven't experienced the process of going from the clouds to the mud, but rather walking close to the ground. Fortunately, this means there is very little resistance, to the point that the storms and waves that are known to others seem to have little to do with me. Passing through the complex atmosphere of Hong Kong, I feel as light as if I had never visited before.
This time, I had originally made a list of many places I had never been to before, but there were too many people making appointments, and even half a month in advance, I couldn't get an appointment. Only the Hong Kong Palace Museum was the only place I managed to make an appointment for.
Later, when I arrived at the place at ten o'clock in the morning, I found out that I didn't need to make an appointment and could buy tickets on-site. So, don't be discouraged if you didn't buy tickets online, try your luck at the venue.
Unlike the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Imperial Palace in Shenyang, and the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the Palace Museum in Hong Kong is more like an art gallery. The West Kowloon Cultural District even specifically explains that it has a cooperative relationship with the Palace Museum in Beijing, rather than being subordinate to it.
The exhibition halls are very narrative in their display style, and it can be seen that Hong Kong is a "seasoned curator" and is very friendly to beginners in history. There are a total of eight halls, including "Concrete as a Vessel," "The Forbidden City in All Its Splendor," and "Appreciating and Enjoying Together," each of which resonates with me.
In the "A Day in the Forbidden City" hall, all the stories about work and vigilance are about Emperor Yongzheng, accompanied by the "Difficult for the Emperor" seal as proof. The discussions about food, drink, and entertainment are all about Emperor Qianlong. Even under a certain copper filigree enamel hot pot exhibit, it is openly stated that Emperor Qianlong ate hot pot more than 200 times in one year in 1789.
In terms of aesthetics, Emperor Qianlong's painting style even reminds me of the rotating lights in a hair salon, with various colors and shapes. It can only be said that an emperor who has been in power for such a long time will inevitably fall in love with different styles at different stages, which is not surprising.
After visiting the exhibition, I stood on the terrace, looking at the sea and feeling the sea breeze. I finally experienced the perspective of a wealthy seaside mansion. The Star Ferry shuttles back and forth, reminding me of the scene when I first came to Hong Kong and excitedly took a boat to Tai O for fun. The travel records between Chongqing and Hong Kong during those days formed a continuous black line, and it turned out to be a story from many years ago.
When I lived in Hong Kong, I used Octopus Card every day. At that time, online payments on the mainland were not widely promoted, so I didn't feel any inconvenience. Even this time, in Macau, there are many places where online payments are accepted, but in Hong Kong, except for the MTR and some buses that have installed online payment tools, other places are still very inconvenient.
If you want to have a traditional Hong Kong-style breakfast in a tea restaurant, the cost is over 100 HKD, and you can only pay with an Octopus Card or cash. If you want to buy a siu mai at the subway entrance, the cost is over 30 HKD, but you are told that you can only pay with an Octopus Card. Even for buses, there are some that cannot be paid with online payment, and if you don't inquire about the route, you won't know in advance whether you can pay online, so you have to prepare coins yourself.
Before I returned to Hong Kong this time, I accidentally discovered that my undergraduate school had started collaborating with the Hong Kong judicial system. Everything is constantly moving forward, but I'm moving fast and dare not stop.
In Hong Kong, everyone is busy, so it's hard to look up and smile. Many people in Hong Kong, across generations, have only one goal - survival and making money. The Hong Kong government, whether during the colonial period or now, also has only one concept - development and making money.
Rather than saying that Hong Kong is a city, it is more like a company, where hired people gather together not for social ideals, but for personal livelihoods. "Beneath the Lion Rock" was born from Hong Kong's glorious beginning and has accompanied the people of Hong Kong through their peaks and lows.
Setting foot on this land again, when I saw the densely packed old residential buildings and towering skyscrapers, I suddenly felt that there was not much difference from Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Wuhan in mainland China. Has it been the people who have changed, or has the city changed?
On the high-speed train from West Kowloon to Chongqing, which had just opened not long ago, I encountered a beautiful sunset. From Guilin to Guiyang, from Guiyang to Zunyi, the round and fluffy little ball, golden and full, from the distant mountaintops to the buildings in the city's steel forest, from the charm of karst landforms to the hills of Guizhou, the train window is like an electronic photo frame, recording every frame of the spring sunset heading towards summer. I hope to become kinder and kinder because of the intelligence I gain.
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