Living and Living
Student in Hong Kong spend their leisure time on various
activities. While it is impossible to create a comprehensive list
of activities, there is a noticeable common interest in eating and
travelling among both local students and international students.
International students also populate the party districts in Lan
Kwai Fong, where locals are still in the minority. Most of the
interests can be met by Hong Kong, which makes it a liveable city
for students. Be forewarned, the following article is highly
subjective.
Dining
Students love eating in Hong Kong, which serves food from various
countries. Some places serve international food that has been
adopted to the local taste. Yet, there are plenty of very good and
affordable restaurants that offer food from south-east Asian
countries. Both locals and internationals love the local Hong Kong
cuisine; the locals know which places to go.
Singing Karaoke
Singing karaoke is popular with the local students; singing
generally is. Songs are in Cantonese only, and every local seems to
know the songs. It even seems like the Cantonese have been born as
natural singers, and the tonal language suggests that training
begins as a child with motivation supplied intrinsically. Karaoke
is a popular activity on birthdays.
Lan Kwai Fong
International students mostly do not share the interest in Karaoke
singing, and if they do they have, to put it mildly, trouble with
singing or even reading Cantonese. As any other bigger city in the
world, Hong Kong offers a canonical leisure time activity for
internationals and expatriates: Lan Kwai Fong, a party district.
Some taxi drivers say that the students' trips from Lan Kwai Fong
back to HKUST make up for a significant amount of their income.
Life in the Societies
Social life also takes place in the student societies. Here,
leisure activities and events are organized. These activities
include hiking trips or cycling. The latter activity is purely a
leisure activity in Hong Kong; even if able to cycle, no one dares
to take the bike as a means of transportation, and bicycles are
hired near extra-demarked bicycle paths.
Travelling
Whenever there is time and money to spare, local students,
international students, and exchange students love to travel. The
latter group enjoys of course the most freedom in this matter.
Food in Hong Kong.
Nightly skyline of Hong Kong
Decadent decoration in Macau, which is reachable by ferry from
Hong Kong (photo courtesy: Adam Resnick)