Wednesday, July 31, 2013

27,000 steps in Hong Kong

That's approximately how many steps I took (recorded via Jawbone Up) while meandering through Hong Kong for a day. This was enough to take me through Sheung Wan, Central, Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Hung Hom areas. Walking around Hong Kong has been quite convenient for the most part with lots of sights close by, and public transportation was very easy to use. Weather is hot (high 89°F) and humid (69%) with a couple bouts of rain lasting for minutes at a time.

Sky Terrace 428 at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

As a Korean American who speaks primarily English and barely passable Korean, I was worried about the language barrier in China. Even in Hong Kong where nearly half the population are English speakers, that's still more than half the time when I would speak to someone and, unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to understand each other. In one instance, I asked a waitress for the check (in English), and she gave me a piece of paper with her name on it (not sure if I missed something...). Fortunately, there's usually been someone close by -- either a friend or someone passing through -- who speaks English. Unfortunately, the percentage of English speakers in mainland China drops to 0.83%. Next stop: Guǎngzhōu, China.