East v.s West – which is the best?

Hong Kong v.s New York, which one do you prefer? Two world cities but one winner. Here ladies and gents, here comes the way I score in the big city challenge.

Atmosphere

Hong Kong – New York (1-0)

Easy one. Hong Kong is to me a more genuine city than New York. The old chinese with a modern touch or the American? I do every day pick the first one. Both cities are perfect to walk in, there are green areas, they are easy to navigate in, have high rising skyscrapers but NYC feels more like a movie scene so 1-0 to HKG. There you still can find a lot of hidden treasures although the city is very developed.

Skyline

Hong Kong – New York (0-1)

The skyline in HKG nearby the harbor is magnificent. Or when taking a walk around the peak and you find all tall buildings staring on you. It is picture perfection. But sorry HKG, NYC had the twin towers which I was lucky to visit before they collapsed. Nowadays the Freedom tower at Ground Zero, Empire state building and a whole bunch of other high rise buildings makes the skyline complete. And the bridges. HKG also have loads of arty bridges that I was happy to run over during the marathon, but Brooklyn bridge is more iconic. NYC you win the battle of the skyline.

Nature

Hong Kong – New York (1-0)

With beaches and mountains just a subway or bus ride from the city center there can only be one winner in this category. NYC (referred to here as Manhattan) is surrounded by water but were are the beaches? the green areas other than Central Park? The city center in HKG is actually quite green filled with lovely flowers and parks in addition to the surrounding mountains and outlaying islands. The only drawback if you ask me is the smoggy weather in HKG that often results in blurry hikes. But you can’t have it all.

Shopping

Hong Kong – New York (1-0)

Don’t count on going to HKG or NYC to do any great bargains. You can of course do it if you invest time in your shopping. NYC has a huge assortment but it is rather expensive and the city tax is also higher than at other places in the US. If you go for the sales season you can really find good stuff to good prices in NYC but I prefer doing my shopping in HKG if I choose between these cities. HKG have many local brands and amazing arty stores and just walking around looking at things at markets or stores with useless but fun stuff is far more entertaining than going to GAP store no 465.

Food

Hong Kong – New York (1-0)

In NYC there are not that many unique authentic foods instead it is a collection of the hip and trendy things from all over the world. Well, I usually stick to chains anyway but the dumplings from local places in HKG is worth more to me than any chain or trendy place in NYC. And HKG has my favorite streetfood, takoyaki that is rather difficult to find.

Affordability

Hong Kong – New York (1-0)

Neither place is cheap to live in. Alcohol is rather expensive at both places, transportation is cheaper in HKG, for the same price you get a better hotel in Hong Kong, food is cheaper in HKG and doing things like visiting Disneyworld in HKG v.s going to an amusement park in NYC would make you more well off by visiting a park in HKG. In my opinion you get more for the same amount of money in HKG than in NYC.

The winner is…

Hong Kong. 5 versus one point. Now you know where I would go if I only had to pick one place. HKG. Simply said because you get everything there. Which city of the two is the winner of your battle?

/ Pernilla that is missing Asia