Hong Kong used to be an open port to China for trade. Ever since the China takeover in ‘97, China has opened up for trade again, leaving Hong Kong as a middleman. Businesses have generally all stopped trading through Hong Kong, since it costs more to go through such a middleman. As a result, the Hong Kong economy has collapsed, and is now heavily dependent on tourism and information trading. That explains why I see so many commercials on visiting Hong Kong back home.

The shopping is great, due to the large tourism industry. Everything is tax free, and is generally cheaper than the equivalent from back home. I was able to find a red turtleneck for $30 that would have cost me $60 (not including tax) in Canada. The stitching is roughly the same quality, and there was an immediate two-hour 50% off sale on anything red, so I got it for $15 instead. I also bought a Seiko Criteria Kinetic Auto Relay watch, which powers itself on the movement of the wearer. The auto relay function automatically sets the date/time, which is useful for when the watch is taken off and runs out of power, so that the date/time don’t need to be set again. It’s only been five days and I’ve already spent more than I thought I would the entire trip. Going into debt has never been this much fun.