unfriendly hong kong
 

if you are planning to travel to travel to hong kong and you are of east indian or african descent, don't bother! the people there fawned all over white westerners, but cared nothing for my friends and me even though we are american citizens but are of east-indian descent. we were not seated in corners in restaurants and were not even allowed to sit on the terrace at the Peak Cafe while groups of chinese and whites were escorted one after the other outside to the prime seating. my friend was spit on one evening for no reason. i had a box thrown at me. people constantly railed against us for "being in their way" on sidewalks. we had difficulty getting cabs. it was awful, a complete waste of our money.

Hi - <BR> <BR>While I cannot comment on everything that happened to you, I can say this... <BR> <BR>The people in HK "rail" against everyone. That is just there way. It is a very crowded city and the locals bump into people all the time and no one ever says excuse me. It's just part of the culture. <BR> <BR>My husband and I have been there twice and we are about as white as can be and we got jostled and bumped all the time. <BR> <BR>Don't take that part too personally. <BR> <BR>Perhaps the people going onto the terrace at Peak Cafe (we also ate there) had prior reservations for the outside seating? <BR> <BR>Lynn <BR> <BR>:-)

The previous poster has a point. I am white and my husband is Chinese and when we are in Hong Kong we are both treated in a way that I consider to be very rude. My husband just laughs and says, "That's just the way they are." However, sometimes I become so cowed by the way they speak and act that I've had to retreat back to our hotel and lick my wounds. I guess that they don't all ascribe to the "Have a nice day!" theory of social intercourse, but then -- why should they? This is the way of life that works for them.

Please do not get offended. They are not the most polite people in the world. <BR>While at a resturant recently, I got plates literally thrown onto the table. <BR>Welcome to Hong Kong! This is basically <BR>the way they behave. <BR>Try calling them Hong Kees and they will probably kick your face! <BR>

I've been to HK once years ago and have been treated well, but I was with HK-Chinese friends. However, I've noticed that they don't like Indians (from India) and I've been told that it was because under British rule, Sikh policemen used to treat Chinese really badly - notices saying "forbidden to dogs and Chinese" were common in restaurants and bars. I've also noticed that in HK movies, the villains are very often Indians or Sikhs. <BR> <BR>Just my 2 cents.

Hi, <BR> <BR>I wouldn't take the way you were treated in HK to be related to your skin color. I am a blond-haired/green eyed American and my husband is a fair-skinned,and blue-eyed Swede and we found the shopkeepers, waiters, and hotel staff to be extremely rude, or simply indifferent. We scrapped any plans to purchase electronics in Hong Kong because every shop that we went in didn't seem to want to be bothered with our questions- and we were dressed very nicely, so it wasn't a matter of whether they thought we had enough money. I live 2.5 miles from Manhattan and think that the people there are much nicer than those we encountered in HK.

I was in Hong Kong last fall and found that most people were very friendly to us. One gentleman walked us directly to our bus stop when we stopped to ask him directions. I guess it all depends on where you stay and how you treat other people.

Last year I traveled to Tokyo (my first trip to the Far East) and had an absolutely wonderful, unforgettable time. I just found out about a wonderful deal to Hong Kong from a friend. However, I am quite disturbed at the idea that I will be confronted with unfriendly, rude people. I will be traveling by myself and now I am quite concerned. What is the truth? I am a young woman and although I travel by myself all of the time, I'm not interested in being mistreated 7000 miles away from home?

I traveled several times to Hong Kong solo, both for business and personal travel, and have always enjoyed myself. I'm sorry that the original poster had such a bad experience, particularly if it was racially motivated. However, I don't think you should be discouraged from traveling to Hong Kong as a solo female. <BR> <BR>Like a lot of cities, Hong Kong is crowded and full of stressed out people, so encountering a certain amount of rudeness does not surprise me. I could say the same thing about New York City where I live. However, I think both are worth visiting despite the occasional rudeness you may encounter.

I am white and have lived in Hong Kong for the past 7 years, I am also married to a Chinese man and work in a company where I am the only foreigner. I can honestly say that in all my years spent here I have never encountered any of the racial discrimination mentioned in the the above posts. I do agree that you are met with rudeness at times but like many others have stated it's not personal it's just the way people are here. In general the Hong Kongese are the friendliest people I know once they get used to you.

I personally would never go back to Hong Kong. I don't think it's any different from any other huge, crowded, bustling city, though. People are in a rush and they can be rude. Even in Tokyo, which is supposed to be one of the friendliest places, people can be very rude. So I think it is just the "big city mentality" that everyone has experience. For the woman that is taking a side trip there from Tokyo, I would just spend the extra time in Tokyo!

I'm a long-time (10 years) HK resident who's very American, very white and very tall, so I stick out all over the place here. <BR> <BR>I love HK and don't like to hear a bad word said about it, but behavior in public here is something most non-HK people will have to get used to. <BR> <BR>Yes, people here can seem astonishingly rude, particulary to Americans who have quite deep-seated "smile and a have a nice day" expecations for public exchanges. There's not a lot of that here, except in good hotels and some restaurants and clothing stores where staff are explicitly trained to do so. <BR> <BR>My wife is HK Chinese, and she's explained to me that there's little expection for *public* politeness here, i.e. you need not treat strangers with anything other than indifference. And indifference is just what it usually is, not personally-directed rudeness of any sort. <BR> <BR>Once you're introduced to someone from HK, however, the whole outlook changes. You are no longer a stranger to that person now, and he or she will give you gifts, pick up the tab for expensive dinners, and generally show you a combat-ready level of hospitality. But that doesn't generally happen if you're here as a tourist. <BR> <BR>Frankly, a lot of cultures are like this. <BR> <BR>You should definitely *not* miss out on visiting HK on this account!! If you want unfailingly pleasant encounters with service staff and people on the street, visit Minneapolis. <BR>

An addendum to my previous post: one other thing potential HK visitors should keep in mind is that it's one of the world's very safest cities. Street crime is almost nonexistent; you can go where you please, when you please. This, to me at least, can make up for a lot of petty perceived rudeness.

slknudsen: <BR>Next time you travel overseas, try being a traveler instead of a tourist. <BR>You do come off as quite racist. <BR>John

I have been in H.K. on business about a dozen times. I agree that indifference is about the nicest you can expect. However, I have found taxi drivers to be downright crude & nasty. Now I don't think it is being a "tourist" (cf. the vaulted "Traveller" sniff, sniff) to expect that a man you are paying handsomely for a ride should not be so insolent and brutish that it ruins an hour of your life. It's common to make excuses and justifications, but they ARE rude - still I would not let that keep me away (p.s. H.K. is boring & not worth more than a max 2 day stay).

Well, I've been following this thread long enough, so I'll just throw in my 2 cents. <BR>I did not find the people of Hong Kong to be at all rude. <BR>Those that I spoke to were polite and helpful, and a handful were friendly. Those that I ignored (which includes, of course, the thousands of people that I passed on the streets) also ignored me. Suprise! <BR>If you expect everyone you meet to smile and say "Have a nice day", get over it! That's not the norm in most cities. <BR>Of course, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, so I'm just happy if a passer-by doesn't mug me.

This post is for JKK, if you think HK is boring then you need to get a life as you obviously haven't got one.

I have just returned from a holiday in HK and had primed myself beforehand by reading some of the useful comments and suggestions on this forum. From the comments in this particular debate, I had expected to be received in HK by sour faces and rudeness and had warned my partner to beware. I was so pleasantly suprised to find that we did not encounter any such thing. Maybe because I have lived previously in New York I have become to the efficient brashness of New Yorkers but this is as far as I could come to saying something negative about the people we met in Hong Kong. Yes, in hotels and expensive restaurants, staff all over the world are trained to be polite and Hong Kong is no exception, but we also ate in HK$10 noodle houses, travelled in all kinds of public transport, shopped in the markets, etc. and, even when nobody spoke english, we were still treated with kindness. We are both white and so I cannot comment on the attitude of hong-kongese (?) to non-whites but I wanted to just add my pennies-worth. We travel alot in the region as we live in South Asia and out holiday in HK was one of the best we have had. I would certainly agree with Ross that noone should miss out on seeing HK if they get the chance - the skyline at night is one of the most beautiful I have seen. <BR>