Someone recently asked me – is it safe to travel to Hong Kong?

He visited Hong Kong in 2019 and loved it. However, what he’s seen since has been the crackdown on free speech. As an American, he was worried about visiting Hong Kong.

I also get asked if it’s safe to travel to the United States.

The answer to both questions is YES!

Take social media and what is hardly journalism these days with a grain of salt. Don’t get caught out by click-bait headlines, paid protests, rage-bait and bot-driven content, and just suspiciously divisive statements. Also, use different search engines – you’d be amazed by the difference in what’s offered. Or like this guy, ask a real person.

Also, I’m assuming that you want to visit Hong Kong and the US for pleasure and not activism.

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My Spring trip to Hong Kong:

Here’s why Hong Kong is a Must-Destination

Hong Kong is seriously one of the trippiest places in the world. It has such a unique history and evolution as a city that is like no other place. Hong Kong is a blend and startling contrast of East and West, opulence and grittiness, compliance and rebellion, walled estates and public housing, urban and country, lush and sterile…you get the picture.

If you want to understand a bit more about the humble origins and its meteoritic rise as a financial centre, I recommend a couple of books I read this last year. The Last Kings of Shanghai by Jonathan Kaufman and The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia.

In 1997, the British government returned Hong Kong to China. The city has changed quite dramatically if you speak to longtime residents so I recommend going sooner rather than later.

Off the Beaten Track in Hong Kong

Hong Kong being an ex-British colony, foreigners are generally no big deal. Yeah, the locals will call you gweilo. Sure, it can be a racial slur. Mostly, Hong Kongers refer to westerners as gweilo as a generic term. White westerners, that is. Gweilo translates to “ghost man”. I’ve been called the female equivalent, gweimui. Because, despite having lived in Hong Kong as a child, I grew up Canadian. Gweimui is much less derogatory than “banana”, I feel.

My point is that it’s completely safe for foreigners, and Americans, in Hong Kong. Expats are just a part of the fabric of society there, though arguably less and less, at least in the old colonial/expat ways. We have Third World kids and generations of expats born and raised who identify as Hong Kongers. Some are of mixed heritage; some British, Indian, Japanese… all definitely more Hongkie than me.

Aside from a murderous taxi driver spree (aka The Jars Murderer) in the 80s, Hong Kong is safe for solo female travellers too. Probably not as safe as Singapore though.

See the real Hong Kong

So wander, go far from the maddening crowd. Grab an octopus card and explore beyond the light show of Victoria Harbour, the easy shopping of Causeway Bay, the top ten sights that everyone else is instagramming…

• Get your fortune read at a temple. My mom said Wong Tai Sin.
• Take a mahjong lesson and go play in a hall. Bonus points for a real local parlour (and an almost seedy one)
• Shop at a wet market

Fortune Telling | Play mahjong | Shop at a wet market

Get Your Fortunes Read at a Temple

This ritual is quite interesting. You don’t have to believe it; do have respect for it. Otherwise, skip it.

Fortune-telling, be it using stalks, coins, or reading palms, is cultural for me. As a teenager, I learned to throw coins and read the I Ching at the temple my mom went to. It is still a common practice to consult for major milestones and events, such as marriage, career, family, and health.

At temples, you can find these bamboo cylinders. Inside are numbered sticks. Find a quiet spot and with a question in mind, gently shake it until one stick falls out. Go to the counter to get the answer you received from the heavens.

Temples to Visit for Fortune-telling in Hong Kong

• Man Mo Temple (Hollywood Road)
• Wong Tai Sin (they have an online divination stick enquiry where you input the number) – Wong Tai Sin MTR Station Exit B2
• Po Lin Monastery (Lantau Island, also see the famous Big Buddha – go for a day tour)

You can also get all kinds of fortune telling at the Temple Street Night Market in Kowloon. Check out the nearby Tin Hau Temple. Palm reading, face reading, Bazi, bird predictions, etc. While you’re here, sample local delights like fish balls, dragon’s beard candy, traditional cakes, herbal tea, and claypot rice. Okay, that’s just what I’d get. There are also many other cuisines to indulge in.

The easiest way to get to Temple Street Night Market is to take a taxi. Otherwise take the MTR on the Tsuen Wan Line. From Jordan Station, take Exit A. Walking toward Bowring Street on Jordan Road will take you to Temple Street. Take a right.

Play Mahjong in HOng Kong

My parents always joked about bringing home all potential spouses for a game of mahjong. It’s like that joke about dealing with slow wifi. But it’s not really a joke. You can tell a lot about a person in the way they play this game.

Mahjong is a big part of Chinese culture. We play it at Chinese New Year festivities, family gatherings, as social gatherings… At one point or another, my parents had their own mahjong circles of friends for weekly games. I don’t remember when we were taught to play. We don’t play for money at home though the stakes, like any game, can be very, very high. You’ll need to learn how to count.

What is mahjong? and How to Play

This is a four-player tile game. (You can play with three people as well.) And it is not the memory game you see on phone apps. You “wash” (or shuffle) the tiles by moving them (tile down) on the table. Then each player stacks two tiles to make a wall segment of eighteen tiles long. The four segments form a closed square in the middle. The dealer/host throws the dice to determine where to open the wall. This is where each player takes turn drawing a tile from. First they draw to make a hand of 13 (Cantonese style) or 16 (Taiwanese style) tiles.

The game is to see who is the first to make complete sets out of their tiles. This may be three or four of a kind, runs of threes, all the seasons, etc. Aside from taking from the centre, a player can also grab one of the tiles others discard. Oh yes, never forget to discard a tile after you draw one. There is no oopsies or do-overs. If this happens, just try not to discard someone’s winning tile. If you do, your chips go to them. Otherwise, everyone else also has to fork over. Fortunes can change quickly at the mahjong table.

At some point, the tension and anticipation rise as everyone is just waiting for that winning tile.

Mahjong Suits

There are 144 tiles. Be sure you know which mahjong style you are playing and what the rules are. American mahjong plays with Jokers. Cantonese tiles are bigger than Taiwanese tiles and they play with a different number of tiles in their hand. Cantonese mahjong is 13 tiles, winning with a 14th and Taiwanese is playing with 16 tiles, winning with a 17th draw. We grew up playing Taiwanese mahjong.

144 is made up of four sets of the three suits (108), four sets of the Winds (16), four sets of the Arrows (12), and one set of each of the two bonus tiles (8).

The three suits are bamboo (索子), circle (筒子), and characters (萬子). The character is 萬 which means ten thousand.

Each suit has nine tiles. If you’re not familiar with Chinese, you may want a sheet showing the numbers. For the other suits, you just count. The 1 from the circle suit has one circle. The 1 from the bamboo suit has a bird sitting on a stick/string.

Other suits (Honor tiles)

• Winds (four directions – East 東風, South 南風, West 西風, and North 北風)
• Arrows or Dragons (red, white, and green)
• Bonus (four flowers and four seasons)

Types of Sets

• three consecutive tiles of the same suit (call “shung” when pulling from the centre to create a sequence)
• three of a kind (call “pong” to grab one from the centre to add to your pair)
• four of a kind (call “kong” – don’t forget to take a bonus tile and discard one)
• pair

Scoring

For me this is the most complicated part and like crib, I still get help. We go by house rules and there is a sheet that lists out how each set is scored. Some scoring includes if you have the Wind tile that matches the direction of the round you’re playing, all four flowers or seasons, and all four of the Honour or Arrows. There are some hands that score higher, such as having all pairs and three of a kind.

You can sign up for lessons and play at different venues such as associations and clubs, like American Women’s Associations (Sheung Wan) and American Club. The Australian Association of Hong Kong (mid-levels) offers games to members and non-members. Learn as you play. Glocal Mahjong offers all kinds of workshops, from basics to strategizing and scoring, and covers Cantonese, Taiwanese, and Japanese Riichi mahjong.

If you have a group of friends, you can also rent a table or room at a public mahjong parlour.

Try these books to get started.

Shop at a Wet Market

Wet markets are messy. It wasn’t my favourite, following my mom on her trips to wet markets. It was always, well, wet. My early childhood memories are of how noisy, smelly, and crowded they were. Full of caged birds.

Things have changed. New rules. Many wet markets have been modernized and some are indoors. They are found in all neighbourhoods. It’s called wet markets because they use water to cool and clean.

Living in Singapore, I also shopped for some things at wet markets.

When I was in Hong Kong earlier this year, on the way to the mini bus stand in Causeway Bay, we stopped at a market, already closing. There, my mom bought fruits, nuts, and zong. You’ve probably seen them. Wrapped inside bamboo leaves secured by red string is glutinous rice shaped into a triangle. Inside are all kinds of fillings like meat and red bean paste. So, savoury and sweet options. I like the plain ones that you eat with a bit of sugar and also the red bean paste zong.

We associate the zong or zongzi with Dragon Boat Festivals because of Qu Yuan’s story. He was exiled because of his advice to the king not to be allies with the state of Qin. When Qin did conquer the kingdom, he committed suicide for his failure. People dropped rice dumplings into the river in hopes that the fish would those instead of their beloved statesman. So on the same day each year, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people would do the same.

A trip to wet markets in Hong Kong is a cultural experience. The largest is Kowloon City Market, located at 100 Nga Tsin Wai Road. There’s also a food market on the top floor.

Other easily-accessible markets on the Hong Kong side include:

• Wan Chai Market, 258 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai
• Chun Yeung Street Market, 91-103 Chun Yeung Street, North Point

The cheapest markets are further afield in New Territories, like Yuen Long.

If you’re staying in a serviced apartment, grab some fresh produce and meats to try a traditional Chinese recipe. Maybe a black-skinned chicken for a herbal broth. Some of my favourite veggies are water spinach (or Morning Glory), bok choy, bitter melon, and winter melon. Or maybe grab some spices to bring home from your trip.

Tips on shopping at a wet market-

• Be sure to bring cash. Some businesses do take the Octopus card.
• Bargain and negotiate
• Go early for the most selection
• Try local foods. Don’t be shy and ask about it.