Sirens dogged my jet-lagged attempts at sleep throughout my second night. Out of frustration, I stayed up to plan the next day with Google Maps and saw that pretty much all of Nathan Street north of Waterloo Road was closed. I didn’t think much of it.
I got up at 4AM and walked out into the cool yet humid Hong Kong air. In a period of two minutes, I had crossed Waterloo . . . and I distinctly remember walking underneath some bamboo scaffolding.
As I stroll through to the other side of the scaffolding, this scene unfolds itself across Nathan Street. . .
My jaw absolutely dropped. Nathan Street is arguably the most important thoroughfare in Kowloon, spanning 6 lanes of traffic. And to have it all blocked off?
Yes, I was absolutely naive to think that the protests were no longer a factor. I would spend the next 2-3 hours trying to document.
Travelling in 2019, one might think that Hong Kong was just about the protests but that is not true at all. It teems with life, with a vibrancy that I have not seen in other cities. While I was slightly affected by the protests, I wasn't really inconvenienced.
I left Hong Kong wishing the citizenry the best. Three years later with the benefit of hindsight, I feel a twinge of melancholy, knowing that the city has most likely changed forever.
Comments