All That is Wonderful About Halloween in Hong Kong

Hong Kong was recently voted the "most desirable travel hub in the world", where people traveling from Lagos to London or Buenos Aires to Boston would most love to hub through Hong Kong - albeit on the longest 'dog legs' known in air travel

And just why would this be? Well if you live in Hong Kong or have stayed here for a time you will agree that this ex British crown colony and now tributory of Beijing has more of one thing than any other city in the world - "Buzz"

Day and night and day things are happening, people are transiting, business is being transacted, sports is being competed in, and people are eating, drinking, gambling, and making love. Not necessarily in that order

It is truly Asia's world city. Where Gweilo ‘Taipans’ and China ‘Tycoons’ rub shoulders and eat roasted duck or yum char in local ‘Dai Pai Dongs’ with their office cleaner, or security guard, or friend's driver just over on the next table. It is a truly egalitarian society where the only measure that is made is your wealth, but more importantly how hard you work and what you can contribute

The Nav loves the HK 7's, sailing on the harbour, golf at Kai Sai Chau, shopping in Shenzen, partying in "The Fong" and "The Wanch"; the live theatre, the country parks, the beaches, the seafood, those dai pai dongs, and everything else about this geopraphically small city that punches way above its weight. But recently what he has really appreciated is how some foreign imports are helping to gel, glue, and gratify the Hong Kong population as one

There are the fireworks over Central and Disneyland, the marine attractions at Ocean Park, the harbour cruises, the night junk trips, the evening tram parties, the seafood restaurants on Llama island, and so much more besides. But Halloween "grabs" Hong Kong but once a year - literally by the short and curlies

The Nav asks what other party in the world allows you to dress up, party hard, and walk over to someone you really fancy and whisper in her (or often in this city his) ear "Hi, you'd never guess it from what I'm wearing, but I'm a horny devil !" without being slapped, smacked, or if you are inclined to be mano a mano - thumped

30 years ago there was only Cantonese food and ‘Jimmy's Kitchen’ - with some 'international' cuisine thrown in at the high-end hotels like ‘Toad in the Hole’ at the Excelsior or ‘Cocq-au-Vin' at The Peninsula. Now every cuisine from every culture from every nation is available. Steaks, fajitas, tapas, sushi, rendang, laksa, udon, curry, kangaroo. They are all here. And The Nav means every cuisine known to God!

And why? Its because for 3 generations HK Mums and Dads have been sending their kids to other countries to finish their education. And they have come back wordly, wiser, and with a taste for the exotic; whether that be 'mountain oysters', or 'sheep sweet meats', or 'juevos de toro'. Everything is represented in HK. And because of this these children of 'Mao's resistors' have also absorbed the main global party festivals - and they love them!

Christmas, and western New Year, and Valentines Day, and Mother's Day and Father's Day. They are all celebrated, not as an add on to Taosim or Confucianism, but as a way of connecting and spending time with that most valuable possession - family

Hong Kong'ers are like everyone else in this weird, wacky, wired world - they love their friends & family, and they love to have Fun! Across the open air town markets during the week before Halloween there are hordes of people buying for son, daughter, niece, nephew, husband, partner and grand-dad. Everything from vampires to witches to werewolves. It is a week of excitement that climaxes with "Trick or Treat" on the night - the little one's of Hong Kong carrying sacks of sweets Santa would be sanguine about, dental appointments the following week spiking for the year. And the adults then later partying to sunrise in "The Fong" and "The Wanch" - black eyed and bruised or not!

And everyone in Hong Kong of all ages, ethnicities, and incomes gets involved. Because Halloween is one of the few times that you are able to really show off your fashion-sense and your fetishes and nobody thinks twice about them. In other cities you might get mugged or arrested if you were wearing fish-net stockings. In Hong Kong CEO’s, industrialists, and leading entrepreneurs don’t bat an eye-lid - either as an admiror or as an admiree. Because in this town as they say, anything goes !

This is The Nav. Hoping that 'Guy Fawkes' never reaches Hong Kong - for the sake of the Legco Building