The vast numbers of people in East Asia always amaze me. Leaving western Europe behind and coming to any of the countries along the shore of the China sea produces real culture shock. There are people everywhere, rushing about with a purposeful look in their eyes. Yesterday Jos, my host here, took me to the Flower market in Kowloon. As it's coming up to Chinese New Year, the citizens of Hong Kong were out in force buying all kinds of flowers. They were of every imaginable sort, many completely unfamiliar. As a present for Sarah, I bought a pot of lucky gourds, which look a bit like lemons. There were growing in a pot shaped like an Ox, in honour of the coming year of the Ox.
After that we walked through the bird market, surrounded by endless twittering from a thousand cages. I don't really like caged birds and was tempted to rush through the market opening the locks but I don't think I would have got far like that.
After the market, we went to Sham Shui Po, home to the electronics street market, a very long street with stalls on either side selling everything from torches to tripods, from cameras to cellphones. It's impossible to know who buys all this stuff, just as it is impossible to imagine how the thousands of fabric shops next to the electronics market make a living. Look into any of these shops and there's at least a couple of industrial sewing machines whirring away, making up anything from curtains to trousers.
The day continued with a trip to the fish market (mostly crustaceans from all over the world, flown in to satisfy the Hong Kong population's appetite for fish) then a meal of giant prawns, cockles and scallops at a neighbouring restaurant.
Of course this all had to be walked off so a ferry and a taxi took us up to the top of Hong Kong island, where we walked down through the green forest, past reservoirs, back to the concrete jungle of the city.
It was quite a day.
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