Coronavirus and tourism

I was off to visit my grandmother who lives out in the New Territories when I saw an incredible sight out of the bus window.  I pulled my phone out as quickly as I could and tried to take a photo as best as I could as what I saw quickly flew out of view.

Inside one of the container terminals along there harbour, were dozens of tour buses all mothballed away.  The combination of protests and coronavirus had first reduced, then completely eliminated the need for these tour buses.  Normally, they would spend their time constantly ferrying mainland Chinese tourists in and out of Hong Kong.  The spending habits of the Chinese tourists had driven the Hong Kong economy for years and these buses had effectively been the arteries which let their money flow.

The buses have disappeared from our streets for a while and I like most, had assumed they were all parked somewhere in China.  Seeing all these buses now parked and out of use in this container terminal, I could only imagine how many more were now sitting unused in some parking lot somewhere in China.

It's back

It's not a great that I've kind of become accustomed to the sound of sirens.  In part, this is just a result of living and working in a densely populated city.  Sadly, another one of the reasons has been because of the protests.  There seems to have been a flurry of activity lately in the lead up to legislative debate about the introduction of laws regarding the Chinese flag and anthem.  Anger has built up on both sides and threats of action have been growing.

I was sitting in the office when I heard the sirens start.  At first I barely noticed them, but then I heard them get louder.  There were lots of them as well.  I went to the window and looked out.  Hundreds of people were slowly walking down the road.

The protesters looked to be slowly moving from Causeway Bay towards what I could only assume to be LegCo.  The traffic ground to a halt and soon the horns started.  The interesting times experienced in Hong Kong seem to be continuing.

Coronavirus and hotel death

Getting a hotel room in Hong Kong used to be painfully expensive.  A room on the island would always cost over HKD1,000 a night and even a room in one of the decrepit hostels in Chunking Mansion or Miramar Mansion would cost more than HKD200 a night.  Those prices are now a thing of the past.  The hotel industry had already been devastated by the ongoing protests, but now it seems as though there is almost nothing left as the coronavirus means that all travel has effectively ground to a halt.  The few travellers left coming through Hong Kong are now able to get hotels on the island for under HKD200 a night.  One friend who was staying in a hotel on the island even noted with confidence that even with those prices, he was the only person on the entire floor.

Walking along Nathan Rd, through the heart of Kowloon one evening, I could see very clearly the devastation on Hong Kong's hotel industry.  Looking up at the windows of many of the hotels you could see floor after floor of blackened rooms.  The few lights that were on seem to come from utility rooms.

Further along the road, other hotels weren't doing much better.  There were only a few scattered lights on the entire building.  Rumours have been coming out that some of the most famous hotels in Hong Kong are down to single digit room occupancy.  On top of that, many of the activities associated with some of the big hotels are also struggling.  The high tea at the Peninsula Hotel is often touted as one of the highlights of any trip to Hong Kong, and it used to require a long line up.  Now, it's easy to walk in and get a table, with sittings often only half full at best.

It's gotten so bad in fact that I have friends living in Hong Kong who have decided to stop renting apartments altogether, but have instead opted to move into hotels for the time being.  The price of a hotel is now far cheaper than renting your own place and you even have the added benefit of having someone turnover your room everyday!

Coronavirus and restaurant death

Hong Kong's restaurant industry has been crushed.

The six months of protests had already beaten the industry to a pulp, but it looks like the coronavirus has been the knockout punch for many of them.  The tourists are all gone and local Hong Kongers have stopped going out.

 Everywhere you go, you see boarded up shops and previously popular restaurants closed down.

During these tough times, it's been reported that some landlords have been accommodating with rental reductions, but it seems like these haven't been that big and most others haven't offered anything at all.  It's an incredible thing, that you would have landlords during this time who are so naive to the fact that their tenants are in this state of distress.  Surely having lower rental income would be better than having no income at all?  What also surprises me is that there must then be a thought from these landlords that losing their tenant will simply mean replacing that tenant with someone else.

I'm not sure who these businesses will be.  The nightlife and the restaurant business in Hong Kong simply isn't as vibrant as it once was.  It really isn't the case that one closing down will merely open up a space for several others to fight over.  Most people would also be smart enough to wait a while before committing any of their time and resources to starting any businesses during this time.

This doesn't feel like a flash in the pan problem.  This feels like something that's going to continue on for quite a while.  Even after everything goes "back to normal" from the point of view of the virus, there is still the risk of the protests restarting.  With all of this uncertainty, surely any landlord should be holding onto their tenants for dear life?

It happened again

The Starbucks near my work has been vandalised to varying degrees about 4 or 5 times.

Everytime, it gets cleaned up, rebuilt and then reopened.

Walking past it this morning I noticed that it had been attacked again.

Starbucks in Hong Kong is run by the local Hong Kong company Maxims and the daughter of one of their founders made some unfortunate comments about the nature of the Hong Kong protests.  This lead to a quick reaction from the protesters against all things Maxims (including Starbucks).

I feel bad for the employees of this Starbucks, but I also can't understand why they haven't put in place some better security after all of this vandalism.  Surely by now they must have realised that this location needed some better metal gates or something like that?

Yau Ma Tei

Stan wanted to go buy some kitchen equipment so I agreed to follow him to Yau Ma Tei.  There's an area around Shanghai street that is famous for its stores full of kitchen equipment for both commercial and home kitchens.  We walked around for a few hours and found what we needed and other stuff that we definitely didn't need.  I found for myself a large cast iron grill, something I had always wanted.

As we walked around Yau Ma Tei, we were both a bit surprised by how quiet it was.  The protests in Hong Kong had been going on for months now, and the impact on the streets was very obvious.  Areas that should have been bustling and busy were deserted.  It felt at times like we were in the film "Inception", walking down an empty street.

Eventually we found an area that had a bit more life.  We walked into the Yau Ma Tei fruit and vegetable market to stock up on some supplies.  Produce was cheaper than normal and even though it was lively, it was still far less busy than it normally would be.

As it got later, we decided to get some dinner.  We weren't too far away from some of Yau Ma Tei's famous claypot rice restaurants.  The lines at these restaurants used to go around the block.  Now, the restaurants are half empty.  The loss of the mainland Chinese tourists has hit these restaurants hard.

We ate our fill of the fragrant rice.  Cooked slowly over coals, the top if fluffy and the bottom develops a crispy crust.  There's an almost roasted flavour to the rice that always goes well with the various meats and condiments you chose to top it.

I felt bad for the wait staff.  They seemed a bit sadder than normal.  I could only imagine the stress that they must be going through in this period with the potential loss of income and employment from these difficult times.