Dim Sum Dialogues: The Chungking Mansions

by Stephen Greenwood on

This is Nadim.

Nadim is originally from Pakistan. He came to Hong Kong seven years ago with his wife and two children to find a better life. He tells me that he never envisioned his better life to be what he has today, but he’s happy, and enjoying moderate success selling mobile phones out of his shop.

The shop is actually a small stall, at most ten feet wide and four feet deep, situated in a maze of hallways perpetually bathed in dim fluorescent light. The stalls next to him sell a variety of cheap suitcases and even cheaper t-shirts and jackets. No one mentions the word ‘fake’, but it’s quite apparent that most of the items have emerged from a mysterious cloning lab in the heart of mainland China. Thirty footsteps down the hall brings you to the counter of a small Indian restaurant with fresh naan, thalis, curries, and samosas. Next to that is a convenience shop, stocked wall to wall with canned goods, bottled liquor, tobacco and candy. Ten more steps and you’ll be surrounded by head-high stacks of bootlegged Bollywood films.

Welcome to the Chungking Mansions.

The mansions are a series of five 17-story high blocks, connected by a two-level foyer with shops, food stalls, and currency exchange bureaus. On any given day an estimated 4,000 people live here, not including the backpackers that take advantage of an array of cheap guesthouses in the building, and the curious shoppers that wander through the halls. On a weekend, the five lines that form for the elevators in each block display Hong Kong’s multiculturalism at its best. Indian hawkers wait with their filipino girlfriends, young dreadlocked australians rub elbows with african women in brightly patterned dresses, and the chinese security guard carefully monitors the live CCTV footage that comes from inside the elevators.

Chungking, which means “great (and returning) prosperity” is just blocks away from the world-famous Peninsula Hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui, or “TST” district. TST’s waterfront property offers the best panoramic views of Hong Kong’s iconic skyline, making it some of the most prime real estate in the city. Yet the Chungking Mansions have avoided any signs of gentrification, and seem to be proudly surviving as the central hub for minority culture in Hong Kong. Moreover, it’s an important place of business – a living example of how a low-end globalized economy functions.

I stand outside the entrance to the building, chatting with one of the many touts that persistently offers tailoring services and “copy watches”. The favorite line among this crowd is “Hey boss, guess how much for a suit!”, with the occasional peddler that approaches us to offer a slew of drugs. The tout says to me, “See, you can find anything you need in Chungking Mansions. Anything from A to Zed – you tell me, I can find it within twenty minutes.” I consider testing his offer, but decline and watch as two young men struggle to maneuver four grossly overstuffed suitcases down the entrance’s steps.

The young men with the suitcases are most likely carrying mobile phones. Nadim told me that most of the business he sees is from wholesalers that buy these cheap phones in bulk, and take them back to countries like Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria. Apparently, one fifth of all of the mobile phones in sub Saharan Africa have passed through the Chungking Mansions at some point – and 70 percent of Kenya’s handsets come from here. Serious traders come to the Mansions with money and a destination, and everything else is handled for them.

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The mobile phone trade might be cheaper across the border in Guandong, but the trading laws and security of Hong Kong are more appealing to the Nigerians and Pakistanis that can’t easily obtain Chinese visas.

The Chungking Mansions have even been able to resist interference from the infamous Triad gangs – but still have issues with gangs of different nationalities that spar with one another. One restaurant owner tells me “These guys that deal drugs back here think they are big time dealers, but really they’re nothing – they are very small time in the scheme of things.”

The building has a bad history of electrical fires and suspicious activity. Signs can be seen at bars around Hong Kong advertising the disappearance of a female backpacker in March, last seen at an apartment in the Chungking Mansions. In 1988, a fire broke out and killed a Danish tourist. A series of arrests in the 90’s spurred the management to install 208 CCTV cameras throughout the building. Of course, it’s really not an extremeley dangerous place, but travelers that stay here should be aware of their surroundings, and shouldn’t entertain invitations into private rooms within the building.

A group of retired Americans in full tourist garb passes by Nadim’s stand, the fluorescent lighting only making their pale skin stand out more against the rest of their surroundings. I ask him what he thinks about tourists here, and he responds “I think it’s good – I don’t think you can come to Hong Kong and not see the Chungking Mansions. If you come to this city, and you don’t see this place, then you haven’t really seen Hong Kong.” Nadim has a valid point, and for a place that’s been dubbed “Asia’s World City”, you’d be hard pressed to find a better example of globalization in action.

The high price of low cost airlines

by Scott Carmichael on

Low cost airlines are awesome – they have completely changed the way people fly, but they also helped redesign the entire aviation world, sending a powerful wakeup call to the legacy carriers.

There is however a nasty side to them – in their drive to cut costs and keep prices low, they have started to alienate customers and take on a very nasty attitude.

When flying with a low cost carrier, you need to pay very close attention to their rules, regulations and fees.

A good example of the inflexibility of the low cost carriers (Ryanair in particular) comes from The Netherlands. When Mrs. Raaijmakers and her family arrived at Weeze Niederrehin airport, she was told that since she had not checked in online, she’d have to pay a EUR160 airport check-in fee (about $230). Since she did not have that kind of cash, the airline simply told her that her family could not fly with them, and departed without her.

Now in the defense of Ryanair, these rules are spelled out quite clearly, and are published right on the main page at Ryanair.com. That said – to tell a passenger that they can either pay, or miss their flight seems quite rude. A Ryanair spokesperson said that the airline is “sick and tired of people who don’t read the rules”, and that “not paying means not flying”.

Because Mrs. Raaijmakers will arrive later at her destination, she and her husband are going to lose their jobs (in a bar). When confronted with this, Ryanair said “that is not our problem”.

I’m not one to blame the consumer, and it doesn’t seem right to blame Ryanair for this either, but it really should be a valuable lesson for anyone trying to save some money by picking a low cost carrier – the hidden cost is that not paying attention will cost you a lot more in the long run. Things that make sense on legacy carriers (like checking in at the airport) do not work with the low cost carriers, so be sure to read their site and check up on user experiences on aviation web sites before clicking “buy now”.
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Budget adventures near New York

by Kraig Becker on

In these difficult economic conditions we’re all looking for ways to save some money while still putting a little adventure into our lives. Now more than ever we need a distraction from the daily grind that won’t empty our pocket books. Fortunately, the New York Daily News is here to help, with some great suggestions for cheap adventures close to NYC.

The inexpensive escapse come in a variety of flavors, ranging from an epic mountain bike ride in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania to taking in the beauty of upstate New York via hot air balloon. Each of the suggestions includes a nice description of what to expect on the day long adventure, as well as some tips for stretching your dollars, such as the use of budget hotels, complimentary continental breakfasts, and unadvertised specials.

An example of one of the unexpected outdoor adventures includes a trip to New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest, which offers a tree-top canopy tour that put visitors at elevations between 1600 and 3000 feet as they fly through the scenic forest on ten zip lines and two suspension bridges. The travel package costs $115 but in addition to the canopy tour, travelers get a night’s stay at the historic Mount Washington Resort, a round of golf, and a visit to the hotel’s spa.

Each of the other budget adventures offer similar amenities on the cheap and with plenty of summer still ahead, it’s never too late to put a little adventure into your life. And at these prices, how can you resist?

Galley Gossip: How flying standby can make you religious

by Heather Poole on
Dear Heather,
I read your post about flight attendant buddy passes and I think you forgot the best part about flying standby. You become a much more religious person. Why? Because when you fly standby you tend to pray a lot…
It all starts when your alarm goes off at 2 AM. “Please God let the loads on the aircraft be light and let me be the first on the stand by list.”
Then when you get to the airport and see your name on the list, you start the second round of prayers. “Please Lord let me make this flight, please!” Most likely you won’t make the flight, but you will get rolled over to the next flight, and so on and so on until you FINALLY hear what you’ve been wanting to hear all day…your name called! YES!
By this time it’s usually late in the afternoon. You’re given a boarding card and immediately start praying again, “Thank you Lord Jesus for this boarding pass.” You make a mental note to go to church more often!
While opening and shutting several full overhead bins, the flight attendant makes the PA that everyone must take a seat so the flight can depart on time. You begin to panic and pray for an empty bin, because as a non-rev you were the very last person to board and the flight is full, full, full. After you find a bin, and thank God, you take your seat, a middle seat located in the last row, and though you should be happy and jumping for joy, you’re not out of the woods just yet! In fact, as an experienced non-rev standby passenger you will not stop praying until that cabin door is closed!

Oh no! Now the gate agent is walking down the aircraft aisle. The praying and sweating are going into overdrive. You try not to make eye contact with the agent as he/she walks down the aisle. The praying continues at a furious pace, “Please don’t let the gate agent come to me, please God, please!”

Your heart is racing faster and faster as the agent gets closer and closer and that’s when it happens. He/she stops, looks you square in the eye, and says, “we have a revenue passenger that needs your seat. Please collect your belongings and follow me.”

Then it’s on to the next gate where the praying and waiting start all over again!

Mark, an optometrist / wannabe flight attendant

Dear Mark,

Holy Moley, Mark, I will pray that you never have to non-rev travel again! But you’re right, non-reving is a stressful experience, one I dread each and every month, which is why I almost always buy a seat whenever I travel with my three-year-old son.

Whenever people find out I’m a flight attendant and start hinting around for a buddy pass, I just shake my head and think to myself, are you crazy! Because seriously, it’s just crazy to non-rev when you can buy a ticket for cheap on-line for cheap these days. Especially if you prefer to actually arrive at your destination, not spend the entire day rolling from gate to gate.

And now a question for you, Mister Wannabe Flight Attendant, why, oh why, would you want to be a flight attendant? I know you’re crazy because you’ve been non-reving – by choice, but just how crazy are you? Please tell me this flight attendant thing is just a fantasy and not something you’d actually do, not when you’ve got a fantastic job already. I mean do you really want to wear the pin striped apron and serve chocolate chip cookies at 30,000 feet? Because honestly, I wouldn’t mind wearing the white robe with the thesescope while asking people to read the last line.

Hmmm…are you thinking what I’m thinking? Maybe, just maybe, we should get together (during Halloween of course!) and swap uniforms. Call me.

Thanks for the letter. I couldn’t have explained non-rev travel better.

Happy Travels,

Heather, a wannabe doctor who will be praying to get on a flight next week

Photo courtesy of (meditation) Joe Shlabotnik, (doctor) Curt

Great American Road Trip: Ghost towns of Montana: Bannack

by Jamie Rhein on

Not far from Dillon, Montana is the turn off for Bannack. If you happen to be on I-15, take the trip up State Highway 278. We almost didn’t because of the feeling that we had to be at our destination sooner than later. Instead of paying attention to that feeling, we followed the notion that if we didn’t go to Bannack now, then when?

Bannack is one of Montana’s ghost towns with a rough and tumble past that is linked to Montana’s early mining history and statehood.

Back in 1862, a group of men led by a fellow named John White found gold along the banks of a creek where Lewis and Clark had passed by earlier. These fellows didn’t know a thing about Lewis and Clark’s visit, or that Lewis and Clark had named the creek Willow Creek. Because grasshoppers were everywhere, White and his fellow prospectors named the gold rich waters Grasshopper Creek.

While we were slapping away the relentless mosquitoes as we wandered in and out of the abandoned, weathered buildings, I thought Mosquito Creek would have been a good fit. But, back to the gold.

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Not long after news got out that gold had been found, people rushed to the area. Four hundred had arrived by fall and by spring, 3,000 people were looking for their fortunes.

As the population of people eking out a living swelled, so did the types of ways people made money. The buildings still there show the range of lifestyles and wealth. A hotel, boarding house, stores, a school house, jail, a church, a bootlegger’s cabin and miners’ cabins are some of the buildings that still line the boardwalks on either side of the dirt main street and wind up the hills and down towards the creek.

One of the great aspects of this state park is that you can meander in and out of buildings on your own, and at your own pace. Structures vary as to how intact they are which adds to the sense of abandonment and mystery.

The gallows up the narrow grassy path in back of the hotel add to the aura of just how rough life in a mining town can be. To add to the shudder effect, whoever stayed in the jail had a view of the gallows as a reminder of what might be in store.

In 1863, for example, Bannack’s sheriff, a guy named Henry Plummer was the ring leader a group of criminal cronies called “The Innocents.” They had a habit of terrorizing people. In January 1864, sick of the nonsense, a vigilante group formed to capture the sheriff. He was hanged from the gallows. So were his crooked pals.

On a more upside note of the law, the first governor of Montana, Sidney Edgerton, along with his wife and children arrived from Ohio to set up a residence in Bannack.

While I was talking with the state park guide at the visitor’s center, he told me that Europeans are quite interested in the history of the American west. According to him, this is because so much occurred in the United States in such a short amount of time. In a place like Bannack, it’s possible to see the life and death of a town that occurred in not much more than 100 years. For Americans, a trip to Bannack is a way to find out what hard scrabble means and appreciate part of U.S. history that is being kept alive by people who continue to tell the story and keep the buildings from falling apart entirely.

Although we didn’t camp here–ours was a two-hour visit, there are lovely camp sites that are first come, first serve. It’s also possible to learn how to pan for gold. We bought some in the gift shop in the visitor’s center. It was easier and faster.

[Gallery photos by Jamie Rhein. Others from State Park Web site]