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Hong Kong: Not Just a Simple Visit

Evan Siegel

Hong Kong: Not Just a Simple Visit

Have you ever traveled anywhere? I have visited almost every state in the country and I have seen Canada and Mexico. But none of those places compared to Hong Kong and the experience which I shared there with my fellow students.

Traveling to Hong Kong gave me a confidence that traveling to the other countries in North America never did. While most signs in Hong Kong are in English, it is a very different environment. It is the densest city I have ever been to in my life, as you can see in the photos. The public transportation is unlike anything I have ever seen. Not only do they have a complex and awesome rail system, but a ferry system as well. The ferries are used for crossing the bay that Hong Kong developed around, as you can also see in the photos. The food! Oh the food! I fully indulged, going places where most of my fellow students dared not go! I enjoyed intestine, chicken feet, and coagulated blood. Okay, that last one was pretty weird. Enjoying a culture’s food is a good way to get to know them and to have some delicious meals in the process.

Iphone 6-12 018Enough with the food, this experience expanded my mind. It gave me a world perspective on issues. What I mean is, our culture has a tendency to be ethnocentric. We approach things in a western mind set. We think we should impose our will and our ideas on other cultures, when in reality it depends on context of the area; the local politics, environment and economy. Hong Kong, for example, just recently discovered the great American art of filibustering. This has uniquely changed the politics there. It has essentially stalled their political system from getting things through the process of law (sound familiar?).

Hong Kong used to be a British colony. As a colony, it had defined boundaries separate from China. As a result the mountainous areas were restricted from being developed to ensure they continued to collect necessary water supplies for the city. This practice continues today, although it is mostly symbolic as they buy most of their water from China. These areas are restricted from urban growth and are considered national parks. As part of the hand off agreement, from England to China, they retain a quasi-separate government which is allowed to make their own laws. They still have a defined boundary separate from China, although they are a part of China. As a result, Hong Kong is running out of space to put their trash. They could build trash incinerators and make energy from their trash, but no one wants that near their residence. Their landfills are running out of room but the legislative body there is not taking action (filibustering). The places where they could put new landfills are limited due to residency of the population and the restricted land areas. So what is someone to do? This is just one of the many issues facing people there and just like most societies it is complex.

While over there ASU and Hong Kong students were subjected to a semester class in just two weeks! Sounds rough right? It was, but a good kind of rough. We would wake up every day and have a jam packed schedule where we would go on field trips and have multiple lectures every day. At the end of everything we made a presentation and a poster of a policy recommendation for a local sustainability issue. While we absorbed a lot of information, it didn’t all sink in immediately. As time has gone by I have thought more about the issues and realized a few things. The complexity of sustainability issues and how much they are all intertwined didn’t really sink in until later. These are real issues that cities all around the world are dealing with. Some are the same, but many are different. Cities can learn from each other by sharing what they have done. This provides great opportunities for cities around the world, not only for education, but for cultural purposes as well. We can build lasting friendships, ones which will carry all of us into the future, and maybe solve some of our most challenging issues.

While writing this, it has been hard to put into words the entire impact of this experience. I know the tools I have learned and the experience will be with me for the rest of my life. This opened up my mind to other countries and parts of the world. I consider things on a global scale rather than a local one. It makes me realize that there are just so many people on this planet and the issues are real. Humans are having an impact on the world. We have to be responsible for our actions and do our best. We aren’t perfect but we can be better. The most important thing about traveling abroad, though, was that I had a lot of fun. I got to meet new people, new cultures, and make new friends. Just that alone made it worth it, but there is so much more.