Goodbye Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Hello, Luxury Bus?
In a world where an 8-year-old boy is beaten to death by a gang of thugs for a video game, and the world’s wealthiest man (Bill Gates ) is revealed to have been in bed with the CIA, the world is clearly a very troubled place.
Yet, as these tales demonstrate, there’s one place in the world that isn’t quite as troubled as many might think.
In fact, one could say that this place is thriving in some ways that the rest of the world is not. And as a consequence, this place is about to become even more of a part of our lives than it already is.
This place is Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is a former British Crown colony that is now one of the most diverse, fascinating and exciting cities on earth.
It is also, in many ways, the world’s model of what a city could become if everyone took the chance to move from the countryside and into the city – if everyone moved from a world where the very best cars come with a “piano” sound system and “Bollywood” movies to a world where the very best cars come with a “Star Trek” console – and the very best movie soundtracks come with live music.
And what is Hong Kong’s most famous export?
Food.
Hong Kong is the world’s largest exporter of vegetables, fruits and fish. It is also one of the world’s largest exporters of shrimp. It’s probably the world’s biggest exporter of fresh fish, with more than 200,000 tons per year.
Hong Kong is also the world’s only place in the world where an entire country is made up of food. There is little left to trade in between the farmers in Shatin, the growers in Pui Chau and the fisherfolk in Hong Kong Island, and none whatsoever between the food companies and the retailers, the restaurants, the food stores.
And what is Hong Kong’s most famous export?
Pork.
The Hong Kong government estimates that about 40 percent of the pork in this country comes from what was once rural areas in neighboring China.
And that is the other great