I don’t think I’ve ever been in a more city-like city than Hong Kong. It’s miles and miles of skyscrapers, unrelenting traffic noise, and concrete. At first, it had a lot of anonymity vibes, but, after Id’ walked around for a couple of days, it felt almost user-friendly. Overhead foot paths cross giant boulevards and wind through high rise complexes. Quiet paths hug the harbor through green spaces and large parks. No garbage and no bad smells except the fish sauce. The public transportation is impressive. Buses, trams, subway trains, and escalators. Also ferries. Because Hong Kong’s commercial districts are located on different islands, there is a lot of back and forth across Victoria Harbor. For 80 cents, you can hop a Star Ferry and almost any time of night or day.

I’ve been to Hong Kong once before and returned to get a visa for mainland China. Even though Hong Kong is part of China, it’s governed with some of its own rules, and permits US citizens to visit without a visa. But China requires US citizens to get a visa. And the process for me — accustomed to just showing up anywhere after filling out an online form– was difficult

While waiting for my China visa to be processed, I enjoyed Hong Kong. I visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which is gorgeous and free. The art was not my kind of thing, but I loved the exhibit that invites visitors to take a “personality” test. Each personality has a room of artwork that is likely to appeal to that personality. According to the HKMOA, my personality is called “fashionista,” which is not how I would normally describe myself, but here is a painting for my alleged personality that I liked.

And here is an actual fashionista, who was the subject of a photo shoot at the museum.

During my walking around, I found a less formal expression of Hong’s Kong’s humanness — thousands of women gathered in small groups all over the center of the city. They sat on blankets on the ground, some behind barriers of cardboard boxes or in pup tents in subway halls and parks, along busy roads, and in the overhead foot paths — sharing stories, playing cards, giving each other pedicures, playing music, and eating together. I later learned that they are Indonesian and Filipina domestic workers who gather to support each other every Sunday. Wow.

Also humanizing this high-rise city is the Man Mo Temple. It’s Buddhist, Confucian and Tao, and named after two gods that represent the spiritual and the physical. Man is the god of literature and Mo is the god of martial arts. Being there was a lovely sensory experience. The temple has intricate carvings and statues, and the smell of incense and burning candles. Worshippers were praying, chanting, and shaking containers of bamboo sticks that are used for fortune-telling.

The temple is in a very cool neighborhood called Hollywood Road, full of murals, antique shops, cafes, and art galleries.

Here is a group of monks who stopped for a photo at a mural of old Chinese townhouses.

But then it was good bye to Hong Kong. I got my visa and I’m in China!