Hong Kong, How Small Can It Be?

Despite its financial prowess and spectacular night views, Hong Kong is a small city through and through, jam-packed with people vying for space and air.

According to Hong Kong SAR government statistics, Hong Kong's population was about 6.94 million in mid-2005. The population density was 6 420 people per square kilometer.(Sorry, I don’t have the latest data for 2007 offhand.) If you have a hard time picturing the density, here’s some visual aid.

A picture of a small hotel room in Hong Kong.

It's a room for two.

I recently went to Hong Kong for a simultaneous interpreting assignment, which typically requires at least a team of two interpreters. The translation firm booked the hotel room for my interpreting partner and me.

In our line of work, all traveling and accommodation expenses should be covered by clients. When working with a client directly, an interpreter normally gets to stay in the same hotel as the client. If an interpreter gets an interpreting assignment through a translation firm, the translation firm will take a cut in the interpreter's pay. If the translation firm is responsible for hotel booking, it usually books a room in the cheapest hotel, which is inconveniently far from the conference venue.

I really don't mind staying in small hotels, as long as they are clean and safe. However, I was surprised to see how small my hotel room was in Hong Kong. I have not stayed in such a small hotel room before.

When we asked a shop owner for directions, the shop owner said condescendingly,"You must be from Chinese Mainland (non-Hong Kong part of China). Only mainlanders stay in that hotel."

I didn't book the hotel. Should I be offended?

Well, I just feel lucky that I don't live in Hong Kong.

That its-bitsy hotel room costs more than RMB500 per night. At this price, I can stay at a five-star hotel in the "mainland"!

It's not that people from the mainland are much poorer than people in Hong Kong. It's just that we get paid much less and we also pay much less for everything. One can find a decent room with ample space in Guangzhou at about RMB100-150 in a budget hotel.

I thought Guangzhou was packed. I ain 't seen nothing yet! @___@