In Beijing I was told by some expat software engineers that Hong Kong doesn’t really count as China. At the time, I was a bit upset by that answer. I came across the world to be part of China and I felt that living in Hong Kong should count. Now I understand so much better what they were talking about. China and Hong Kong are worlds apart.
So I’m back in mainland China for two days. Last time we were here in Guangzhou, we only stayed for a few hours. We arrived from Shanghai and found a driver to take us to Zhuhai. This time I’m in Guangzhou for two days for an open source conference. And I’m hoping I have other excuses to come back to the mainland.
I really love living in Hong Kong but there are a few things I miss about mainland even though we only spent a month living there. There’s an energy in China that’s missing in Hong Kong. It’s people clamoring for progress, racing to emerge as a superpower. In a sense, Hong Kong has already arrived, while China is still early in its journey.
And of course there’s the language. It’s so nice to speak and hear Mandarin again. And China can be a bit better on the wallet too.
But there are drawbacks too. From dirty cities to thick red tape, China is still not an easy place to make a home. Despite all the economic changes, it’s still difficult to setup a business in China. Eventually we determined that there was no way we could, as a small self-funded startup, open an office at this point in mainland China. Hong Kong is much, much easier in that respect.
I’ll definitely enjoy these two days in China, but I’ll also be looking forward to going back home, to Hong Kong.
no photo this time. I need to wait until I get back in order to browse flickr.
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