travel to a cosmopolitan city full of riches

Jonathan was born in the Val d’Oise, he did all his schooling and studies in Paris. And he had time to enjoy his life in the capital! What he valued most was the city’s cultural heritage. Museums, architectures, theaters… All occasions are good for cultural enrichment.

He now works for a French company in the digital transformation sector in Hong Kong, independent city located in the south-east of China.

The language barrier was not a problem for him. Jonathan learned the Cantonese with his parents, he also talks Mandarin and English, after having lived in Beijing and London a few years ago. The biggest shock for him was the difference in climate. Jonathan arrived in August … The tropical climate with more than 35 ° C and a lot of humidity has changed it from that of France!

What appeals to him about Hong Kong is his cosmopolitan aspect, with its large French community, and its past as a former English colony. In this very Chinese town culturally rich, he feels comfortable. And there is the city, but also the nature, accessible 5 minutes by car or metro, from any part of the city.

Hong Kong is a city that never stops and where you never get bored, according to him. Whether it is from a cultural, artistic, historical, gastronomic point of view and even at the level of nature, there is everything! We can go to Beach in just 30 minutes by car, and if you prefer the Trek where the bike, there are 60 km cycle paths that run throughout the northern part of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong people are particularly open minded. The fact that the city is an “international hub” in terms of travel (apart from COVID), Jonathan was able to meet many people from very different backgrounds and cultural backgrounds. And everyone live together ! And if he wants to find a little bit of France, he goes to the Stanley district, often frequented by French people. He can even find supers croissants, bread, brioches, and even Kouign-amanns in quality bakeries.

As for local gastronomy, the very popular dish here is the dim sum, a small steamed ravioli that can be enjoyed anywhere, at all meals, and with many different tastes. For breakfast, we tend to eat Bo Lo Bao or pineapple brioches, a kind of milk bun, accompanied by milk tea mixed with coffee.

We find a lot of rotisseries which offer pork, duck or glazed goose. There are also a lot of covered markets, where there is always a floor with small restaurants with stalls where people can help themselves and eat at large tables all around. In winter there are even small street vendors sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and quail eggs, grilled in the street.

If we feel like going on vacation to Hong Kong, Jonathan advises to visit the chinese gardens north of Kowloon, the Chi Lin nunnery, the Sha Tin district with its Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery or the Lai Chi Kok garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And as soon as he returns to Paris, he always returns to the theater and enjoys the incomparable restaurants and pastries of the capital!