Hong Kong: the life and soul of the party

It surprised me to hear my friend Katie complain about Hong Kong. "People here don't read," she said, "they only care about money and shopping." I was drinking with Katie and her two friends at a small bar hidden in a side alley off Hollywood Boulevard. All three were born in Hong Kong but grew up in Canada.

"It's true," Katie's friend Nancy chimed in. "Look at how many bookstores we have in Hong Kong."

It was surprising to hear Hong Kong residents stereotyping the city. Hong Kong had not been a city easy for me to like. When I first visited in 1993, it felt like the concoction of a dream - where people looked the same as me and yet we couldn't communicate. Back then, few Hong Kongers spoke Mandarin, except for the assistants at jewelry shops catering to mainland tourists. And the streets were overrun by luxury brands, quite intimidating for a country bumpkin from Sichuan.