People-Watching in the Hong Kong Crowds

GRIP: The OPEN Classroom

Cover Image: Exploring Hong Kong’s waterfalls

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of sonder.

sonder (noun) – the strong feeling of realizing that every person you see has their own life story in which they are the most important person

Hong Kong is a city packed chock-full with life — 7.52 million souls haggling at street stalls, wandering along the bay gawking at the impressive skyline, striding through the MTR station on the way to budgeting sheets and cushy office chairs, or any of the millions of other activities the city offers its many residents or tourists. I’ve heard a lot of people describe New York City as all hustle and bustle, but I’ve never seen a hustle culture quite like Hong Kong’s. And from these bustling crowds, I’ve rapidly learned a few lessons about both the city and myself.

Lesson 1: Hong Kong rush hour never ends. No matter when I take the subway, it is always packed with new stories.

My first big culture shock was the MTR, Hong Kong’s rapid transit system. Clean, consistent, and convenient, the MTR quickly secured its place as the best transportation I’ve ever used. Not high praise if you consider that my previous hometowns’ transport systems — SEPTA and the LA Metro — aren’t known for any of those aforementioned qualities, but I promise, the MTR is amazing.

The first time I commuted to work, my journey started with trekking down several staircases. I escaped the thick humidity of the streets to immediately be confronted by hordes of people surging towards exits, entrances, and never-ending escalators. Because my phone couldn’t catch an internet signal underground if its life depended on it, I found a new hobby in people watching. Eyes glued to screens, dangling hands held together over escalator steps, and intermingled phrases from separate conversations are just some of the many components of the MTR mass migration every morning. Whether it’s early morning or late into the night, I’m never bored taking the subway.

Lesson 2: Even abroad, you can find home in other people’s stories.

I like spending my post-work hours drifting mindlessly through the street markets in Kowloon. Listening to aunties hawk their daily wares or bites to eat, it’s hard to keep my mind from drifting to my maternal grandmother – Korean, not Chinese, but possessing of the same forceful yet nurturing qualities that keep these older women’s stalls crowded. I fall down memory-filled rabbit holes like this one daily, with each new comforting interaction acting as a new white rabbit to chase. I see my rowing-obsessed grandfather in the old men with matching red hats peering out at the dragon boats in the harbor, or my older brother in the fellow hikers I see on the winding island trails. These strangers’ stories are unique from my family members’, to be sure, but I feel the echoes of my upbringing in so many of the new people I encounter that it’s hard not to feel homesick every so often.

Lesson 3: It sounds cheesy, but kindness prevails in so many everyday interactions.

One of my favorite ways to end the night in Hong Kong is walking along the Avenue of Stars, which is a convenient 15 minute walk from my apartment. My arrival to the city luckily coincided with the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival celebrations, including a drone show over the channel. Not only did I have a beautiful sight of the vivid lights reflecting in the choppy waters, I also found beauty in how the crowd interacted with each other. Space along the railing for a full view of the lights was unsurprisingly limited, and yet, after taking a photo, many people would back away to give others a chance to catch a glimpse. I saw strangers taking photos of couples, preteens holding umbrellas over their grandparents to ward off the drizzle, and flocks of tourists all pointing excitedly towards the new impressive shapes the drones were taking. From the cacophony of unintelligible sounds around me, I initially felt overwhelmed by the unfamiliarity. Seeing the familiar and kind gestures of the strangers all around, though, made up for any isolation I felt.

I’ve learned a lot from my internship, but most of all, I’ve learned that Hong Kong is noisy, crowded, and a great place to feel a part of a larger community even while by yourself. I expected to feel lonely, being over 5,000 miles from all my closest friends and family, but I’ve loved seeing how the lives of so many individuals intertwine with and reflect others.