Thanks Shawn! You're right about Hong Kong's sarcastic sense of humour. People here are cynical to a fault and they don't take things too seriously. There's some kind of deep-rooted skepticism in Hongkongers' attitudes to things that I find both appealing and frustrating – people aren't gullible or over-earnest, but they don't really commit to anything either. That's changing as the cultural and political situation becomes more polarized, though.
I think you'd be disappointed about the risk-averseness. I'd say Hong Kong is just as risk-averse as Japan, it just manifests itself in different ways. Things here tend to follow a formula – one person paves the way and everyone else follows. Based on my limited experience of Tokyo it seems like there's more room for people who just want to do their own thing. Or maybe it just feels that way because it's such a big city, there's inevitably going to be a lot of random stuff.
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Originally Posted by destroycreate
Curious here, can you please explain what you mean that Tokyo doesn't have "alive energy"? Tokyo looks so frenetic and pulsating in every thread I've seen.
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I actually find Tokyo to be a very relaxed city. Even when it's busy, people are very calm and collected. And it's quiet – literally. People talk softly, there's very little traffic noise and outside the main commercial areas it is surprisingly sedate.
By comparison, Hong Kong is super intense – noisy people, noisy traffic, crowds everywhere, very little patience, a short collective attention span.
Taipei is like a magical cross between Hong Kong and Tokyo: Chinese grit with Japanese order, a little bit of frenetic energy balanced by an undercurrent of contemplation. It's a more literary and intellectual city than Hong Kong.
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