Chapter 9 Chapter two
Basically, I settled my life in Hong Kong, walked into the ordinary, interviewed when I should interview, and ate and drank when I should eat and drink. In addition, if I want to live my life with a little purpose, I can walk into many corners of this society as I like. , I feel that we must first learn to walk, and "walking" naturally includes taking a car, as well as knowing where to go and how to go.
"Riding a car" also has to learn?Some people's disdain (such as my unkind friends) may be thrown over.
Yes, in the city of Hong Kong, it doesn't matter whether people can drive or not, what matters is whether they can use public transportation.This is not what mainlanders imagine: Hong Kong is a modern society where everyone drives their own beautiful car when going out.no.Quite senior company employees go to work, wearing suits and queuing up on the street every day for the bus, which is not uncommon.
Hong Kong's public transportation is highly developed, but taxi fares are extremely expensive. If mainlanders stay here permanently, they will not use the public transportation system.The reason why I want to say "walking" is to learn in Hong Kong is not to bury Hong Kong people here, accusing them of designing their own urban transportation in a cunning way many years ago, but there are so many "buses" and "minibuses" in Hong Kong. Earthworms, the station signs are tall and small, and the name of the station seems to be difficult for outsiders. Not only are the Chinese characters as small as fingernails, but if the vehicles arriving at the station see no one waving to get on the bus, the station will And it happened that no one was ringing the bell to get off the bus, so it didn't stop, and there was no conductor on the bus.So at first I went out in Hong Kong and wanted to save some money by taking the bus. I asked my husband what stop should I get off at a certain place?The husband didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "How should I put it, who knows where the bus you're taking stops and doesn't stop?"
Forced to do nothing, we took the subway if we couldn’t get on the bus.
The subway in Hong Kong can be said to extend in all directions, and the signs are sober, but compared with the price in the mainland, it is also expensive. Most of the road sections are still running underground, with no sunlight or street view, which cannot satisfy the first glance of me, a foreigner. Desire, so don't worry.
Fortunately, in addition to buses and subways, the civilian class in Hong Kong also has a more popular means of transportation, which is the "ding-dong car". Hong Kong people call it "ding-ding car", and the official name is "tramcar".This kind of thing carries a hundred years of vicissitudes, shuttles through the forest of buildings in the metropolis every day, and communicates the ancient and the modern in series. In my opinion, it is simply a "living fossil" that rolls on the road——
In fact, Hong Kong's "jingle car" was first born in 1904. There were only 26 cars at the beginning, and only the rich could afford it.Later, after hundreds of years of hard work, the "jingle car" has changed from the single layer of the first generation, the open top of the second generation, the upper layer of the third generation with a canvas tent, the upper layer of the fourth generation is fully sealed, and the millennium of the fifth generation. New trams and Wuyi models have evolved to this day, but their appearance still embodies ancient concepts.Now, Hong Kong runs from Shau Kei Wan to Kennedy Town, across the entire east and west of Hong Kong Island. 163 trams are busy back and forth every day, carrying about 240,000 passengers on average. Cheers from Hong Kong citizens and "dwellers" like me.
Once, someone moved to let this "old antique" out of the stage of history because of the "jingle car" occupying the road, which was slow and noisy. However, it was immediately strongly opposed by the citizens.For more than 100 years, Hong Kong people have been accustomed to the sound of "jingle cars". In more than 100 years, Hong Kong has developed from a remote fishing village into a modern metropolis full of skyscrapers and colorful neon lights. The 16 kilometers of tramway have not changed. The "Ding Dong car" is of high quality and low price. It can run from 6 o'clock in the morning to 1 o'clock in the morning of the next day. No matter which station you get up from, the adult fare is 2 yuan, and children and the elderly only need half price, 250 meters There is only one station, and passengers can get on and off when they want, and they are very comfortable.
I love "jingle car", the purpose of the beginning is very simple: to save money.A two-dollar coin, maybe a meal a hundred years ago, but a hundred years from now, not to mention Hong Kong, but mainlanders, who cares?However, why is it that Hong Kong is already a materially developed society with high prices, but why can the "jingle car" charge such a low price?One day when I was sitting in the car, I suddenly thought of this question, so I asked a young man who was an "official worker". The patent tax is exempted, so the "jingle car" has not been able to increase the price too much.Oh, it turns out that Hong Kong's urban traffic, under a microscope, is a bit like the blood flowing quickly in the human body. The "jingle car" is a special kind of red blood cell. The government deliberately nourishes and protects it. This kind of intention has been persisted century.
The two-dollar "jingle car" can take me to see the unfamiliar Hong Kong in all directions, high and low (today there are still two nostalgic "sightseeing trams" in Hong Kong), so when I get on the car, I always like Run to the second floor, follow the ancient spiral staircase, hold on to the wooden handrails tightly, and when you reach the second floor, you must grab the seat in the front, and push down the pull-type glass window as hard as possible with both hands, so that When the car moved, the wind blew from the front, and the city of Hong Kong Island flowed slowly in front of me. Sitting in the car was almost like jogging on the street.Whenever this kind of moment comes, I can imagine: the group of Hong Kong people a hundred years ago, sitting on the "jingle car", their state is a bit similar to me today?How can there be any big difference between the primitive and the modern?I came to Hong Kong a hundred years later. Although I live in a different era from my ancestors, I can feel the present and the past at the same time.
The mystery of "jingle car" lies not only in its history, but also in its sound.
For a long time, I didn't know where the "jingle" sound of the "jingle car" came from. I searched everywhere on and off the car, but I couldn't solve the mystery.Later, "don't be ashamed to ask", I learned that the secret of the "voice" of the "jingle car" turned out to be at the driver's feet, and it was hidden in a small copper button.This small "brass button" is called "foot bell". When the driver starts, arrives at a station or reminds passers-by to avoid, just tap the "foot bell" with his foot a few times, and a series of pleasant sounds will resound in all directions. ——The century-old sound without horns drags deep into people's ears, which makes people feel like a world away, and the sound is still very clear and penetrating, so proud that it completely ignores any modern existence. by his side...