Chapter 25 Twenty-two who said Hong Kong has no culture?

Philip's letter to Andre: andre, After living in Hong Kong for two years and returning to Germany, I am really not used to it.Hong Kong is a super big city, and Crown Castle is a beautiful town. Of course, the difference is big enough, but I think the biggest difference is people's attitudes and cultural differences, which are really too big. You said that there are no cafes in Hong Kong, no places to hang out quietly, and there is no culture in Hong Kong.I think, Andre, you still don't understand Hong Kong.There are indeed very few cafes in Hong Kong, especially the kind of cafes that are very quiet and can make people spend a whole afternoon with a very emotional atmosphere.However, does this mean that "Hong Kong has no culture"?

After returning to Germany, my weekends were probably like this: I went home to have lunch after school, and then made an appointment with two or three classmates to meet in a small town cafe.In a quiet cafe, you will see a bunch of sixteen-year-olds chatting about life.After a few Cafe Macchiatos, it was probably dark, so we moved to a small bar for a few beers.Small town bars in Germany, you know, are also quiet and homey. On weekends in Hong Kong, I would never go home directly after school. About ten people in my party would first go to a busy dim sum shop to eat siu mai shrimp dumpling rice rolls.The porridge, noodles and noodle shop is really noisy. Everyone speaks in loud voices, but you are very happy, and you can still chat happily with the people around you.

After dim sum and a few plates of chow mein, we headed downtown in groups, shopping, looking at shop windows, and breaking into a bar later in the evening. Yes, it means "break in".In Germany, it is legal to drink beer at the age of sixteen, but in Hong Kong it is eighteen.So we think that although it is not "legal" for us German teenagers to enter bars in Hong Kong, it is "reasonable".Do you think the people guarding the bar door will block us?Let me tell you, we pretended not to look at him, just swaggered in like this, and were seldom blocked.I think, in the eyes of Hong Kong people, those of us European teenagers may look like twenty-year-olds at the age of sixteen.People often ask me which university I went to. When MM was teaching at City University, I said City University, and when MM came to Hong Kong University, I said Hong Kong University.

We order Coke, some people will drink beer.I occasionally drink a glass of beer (you don't have to talk to MM!) (Have you ever been to Deep Water Bay? There are often barbecues there. Throughout the afternoon and evening, Hong Kong people barbecue, talk and laugh, and laugh happily.) MM said that after she bought a bunch of books, she looked for coffee shops everywhere, but it was very difficult to find them, which were much different from those in Taipei or European cities.I would like to ask: what about in Germany?You try to find a restaurant for dinner at four in the afternoon.Can you eat it?Most German restaurants don't open fire between 2pm and 6pm - they have to rest!

Or, in Germany, you go out with your friends to find a late-night snack in the middle of the night, even if you think you are unlucky, the street seems to be dead. So, you only need to compare my German weekend with my Hong Kong weekend, and the cultural differences between the two sides are very clear.To be honest, I don't think Hong Kong has no culture at all. Overall, I like Hong Kong better than Germany.Hong Kong is a city that lives 24 hours a day, and something is always happening.Moreover, it is really easier to make friends in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong people are more cheerful than Germans.I have only lived in Hong Kong for two years and in Germany for 14 years, but I have far more friends in Hong Kong than in Germany.Yesterday I just chatted with an Italian who has lived in Germany for several years.Germany, she said, was too quiet, unbearably quiet.The Germans are so self-righteous and closed, they regard small things as big things.

I feel exactly the same as her, and I feel that the Chinese are really similar to the Italians: they are noisier than the Germans because they are more cheerful and open than the Germans. The only thing I don't like about Hong Kong is that its society is very divided.For example, in my circle of friends, they are all from international schools, that is to say, they are all children from rich families who can afford the frighteningly expensive tuition fees.In the past six months, your circle of contacts has been limited to European students at the University of Hong Kong, and there are almost no locals. You said that the reason is likely to be the barrier caused by language and cultural differences, but my own experience and observation are: the real division is whether you have money or not. Wire.

For example, I lived in Hong Kong for two full years, and I hardly knew anyone who lived in public housing.And our home is only five minutes away from the "Hua Fu" public housing estate.In comparison, the class differences in Germany are not so obvious, and people of different classes will be mixed together.Among my friends, there are rich families and really poor ones. I think if you live in Hong Kong longer, you may see the advantages and disadvantages of Hong Kong more clearly. philip