Some people say lightning doesn't strike twice... I recently found out that it does. Last night, I missed my flight again. I planned to have breakfast in Hong Kong, dinner in Bangkok. I guess I'll have to save that for another time. The city doesn't want me to leave just yet. There is something magical about Hong Kong. Often we travel to places in our dreams. This morning I woke up in a 19th century castle by the sea. For a moment I wasn't sure whether I'm in the dream world or the real world. The word "deceptive" describes Hong Kong pretty well for me.
There is an age old problem of representing 3D space on 2D plane. People try to do this more often than you'd think. The obvious example is the map. On a piece of map, Hong Kong looks incredibly small and easy to navigate. In reality, this is the farthest from the truth. The uneven geography and mountainous terrain added many layers and complexity to the city. The curvy streets and intertwining roads made navigation less boring and mistakes more frequent. What appeared to be a 10 meter walk turned out to be a long climb along a steep slope!
Certainly there is a vertical dimension to Hong Kong that is often misrepresented. Those who have been to Hong Kong can attest, the city taller than it is wide. Hong Kong is densely planted with skyscrapers. The list below may come as shocking, the list ranks world's cities by the number of skyscrapers. Hong Kong tops the chart with over 2,300 buildings over 100m, totaling 333km!
Backpacking through the financial district of Hong Kong earlier this evening was awe-inspiring, yet I've only scratched the surface of this magical city. In the next four months I'll look deeper and unravel dimensions beyond the physical space.
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| Three outstanding buildings |
Hong Kong
New York City
Tokyo
Shanghai
Dubai
Toronto
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