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The Purple Swellhead - An Elegant Bilingual Area
The Purple Swellhead - An Elegant Bilingual Area
Hello, here is my article that everybody has been anticipating. Being one of the most popular blogger on the Internet, I know many of you are interested in my daily life. So, this time I would like to share how I felt and what I experienced when working on a university project "The Langscape Of Hong Kong". (Yes, I made it to the City University of Hong Kong with two "A"s. One for the Use of English and another for the Chinese Culture! Cheers ~ :D )
In the project we had to analyse the use of language of a district and we decided to visit Wan Chai at once. Wan Chai is one of the most prosperous commercial centre in Hong Kong and is always my favourite district. As it was once the heart of the British governance, It comes as no surprise both English language and Chinese language co-exist in Wan Chai and every corner has a mixed culture of East and West. Considering this fact, where can possibly be more ideal for our project than Wan Chai ?
So it went on and we visited Wan Chai as planned a few days later. When we arrived there and started strolling around, Wan Chai was as elegant as what I expected. Its streets were crowded with blonds and Chinese. Also, we could hear most conversations were conducted partially, or sometimes even purely in English. While walking along the streets with my group mates, I really felt I am a part of Wan Chai. Perhaps, I already constructed a psychological connection with this West-East district by getting A grades for my English and Chinese a year ago.
When I was immersing myself into the unique mixed culture there, one of my silly-looking group-mates suggested us checking out the tenement houses in the Inner Urban Area. "Why should we?" I was enraged and shouted. "There are high-rise financial buildings, grand-built business complex and splendid residential flats so why do we need to look at those awful houses?" I continued to oppose and just a second later he gave up his stupid idea. He did not understand I just cannot stand those so-called traditional but indeed deteriorating houses. Just like what Conny, our tutor, told us visiting areas like that would be absolutely meaningless since the language use there will be solely Chinese whatsoever. Wan Chai is a modern and elegant bilingual district in my eyes and anything which does not adapt to the policy of 2 languages and 3 dialects should be abandoned !
Suddenly my rage was alleviated by a very interesting scenario: "Do you know the way to Wan Chai Market ?" A foreigner asked an old man. “Yes, ya see?”the old man pointed his finger to a narrow, crowded and messy street. What a surprise! An old man in Wan Chai could speak in English even though apparently he is not a social elite like me !
Afterwards, we followed a huge stream of people to Wan Chai Market. Probably, this is the coolest market I’ve ever seen. ‘Five dollars per catty’, ‘Fresh meat for sell’ the hawkers were yelling. I chatted with a local resident whose origin was the United States. I asked her which language did she usually use in the area and guess what ? She said she mostly spoke English with just a very little help of Putonghua.[1] It was because communicating in English was not something unusual in Wan Chai Market that even the hawkers could speak in English.What's more, leaflets being provided to customers were also written in English and Chinese. What a high educational level the people here had achieved !
Our mates wanted to wait awhile to see who else would come to the market. A couple minutes later, we saw a Pakistani speak to the owner of a meat store both in Putonghua and English! Though only simple phrases were spoken, it already meant a lot to me. I really love the harmonious atmosphere in this place. Each English word did cheer me up.
Then we went to have a walk on the streets near Wan Chai Market. You know what, numerous “dang pu” locate in these street and it was so exciting for us to discover the English name of "dang pu", that is "the pawn shop".(Ooops, an English word I didn't know.HeHe :P ) Pawn shops are one of the most significant local feature in Wan Chai district and undeniably, Wan chai is a tourist hotspot for all foreigners. In order to grab every business chance, even signs of these traditional shops were bilingual! Wherever you go, you will definitely experience the mixed culture. I was truly glad that our tradition willed to move on and fused with the western influence to such an extent.
As we kept walking, the smell of fried food stimulated our stomachs. We decided to find out where the smell came from.And believe it or not, we saw a food menu written in English! Right in this Asian district, there are various types of restaurants and most of them provided food menu in both Chinese and English. Moreover, waiters there could speak fluent English. In other words, being bilingual was one of the requirements for working in Wan Chai no matter you were just a waiter, a sale or hawker. Again, this is another piece of evidence proving that English was ubiquitous and essential in Wan Chai, where western influence is heavy. I guess that everyone shares the same feeling with me. How wonderful Wan Chai is and how important it is to be bilingually capable there! (Cough, two "A"s here~~~ :D )
Also, How could you neglect the road signs in Wan Chai? ‘Fleming Road’, "Hennessy Road", "Thomson Road"……. What beautiful and elegant road signs they are comparing with those in Shum Sui Po which are named ‘Apliu Street’ and '*** Wah Street'! In Wan Chai, Most road signs are named to commemorate our former governors of Hong Kong. It apparently shows how splendid the prestige our former governors of Hong Kong had and how deep they influenced us. Through the road signs, you would realize we are so proud of our colonial history and our then British citizenship.
Thanks to the grace brought by the empire of United Kingdom a hundred and fifty years ago, Wan Chai becomes the district that has the most magnificent Langscape in Hong Kong. It is so modern and so globalized that the two greatest Languages in the world - Chinese and English co-exist harmoniously. It also sets up examples of what 2 languages and 3 dialects should be. Being one of the greatest language students in the university, I will offer my talents to Hong Kong, helping it create more districts like the grand bilingual Wan Chai !
Hello, here is my article that everybody has been anticipating. Being one of the most popular blogger on the Internet, I know many of you are interested in my daily life. So, this time I would like to share how I felt and what I experienced when working on a university project "The Langscape Of Hong Kong". (Yes, I made it to the City University of Hong Kong with two "A"s. One for the Use of English and another for the Chinese Culture! Cheers ~ :D )In the project we had to analyse the use of language of a district and we decided to visit Wan Chai at once. Wan Chai is one of the most prosperous commercial centre in Hong Kong and is always my favourite district. As it was once the heart of the British governance, It comes as no surprise both English language and Chinese language co-exist in Wan Chai and every corner has a mixed culture of East and West. Considering this fact, where can possibly be more ideal for our project than Wan Chai ?
So it went on and we visited Wan Chai as planned a few days later. When we arrived there and started strolling around, Wan Chai was as elegant as what I expected. Its streets were crowded with blonds and Chinese. Also, we could hear most conversations were conducted partially, or sometimes even purely in English. While walking along the streets with my group mates, I really felt I am a part of Wan Chai. Perhaps, I already constructed a psychological connection with this West-East district by getting A grades for my English and Chinese a year ago.
When I was immersing myself into the unique mixed culture there, one of my silly-looking group-mates suggested us checking out the tenement houses in the Inner Urban Area. "Why should we?" I was enraged and shouted. "There are high-rise financial buildings, grand-built business complex and splendid residential flats so why do we need to look at those awful houses?" I continued to oppose and just a second later he gave up his stupid idea. He did not understand I just cannot stand those so-called traditional but indeed deteriorating houses. Just like what Conny, our tutor, told us visiting areas like that would be absolutely meaningless since the language use there will be solely Chinese whatsoever. Wan Chai is a modern and elegant bilingual district in my eyes and anything which does not adapt to the policy of 2 languages and 3 dialects should be abandoned !
Suddenly my rage was alleviated by a very interesting scenario: "Do you know the way to Wan Chai Market ?" A foreigner asked an old man. “Yes, ya see?”the old man pointed his finger to a narrow, crowded and messy street. What a surprise! An old man in Wan Chai could speak in English even though apparently he is not a social elite like me !
Afterwards, we followed a huge stream of people to Wan Chai Market. Probably, this is the coolest market I’ve ever seen. ‘Five dollars per catty’, ‘Fresh meat for sell’ the hawkers were yelling. I chatted with a local resident whose origin was the United States. I asked her which language did she usually use in the area and guess what ? She said she mostly spoke English with just a very little help of Putonghua.[1] It was because communicating in English was not something unusual in Wan Chai Market that even the hawkers could speak in English.What's more, leaflets being provided to customers were also written in English and Chinese. What a high educational level the people here had achieved !
Our mates wanted to wait awhile to see who else would come to the market. A couple minutes later, we saw a Pakistani speak to the owner of a meat store both in Putonghua and English! Though only simple phrases were spoken, it already meant a lot to me. I really love the harmonious atmosphere in this place. Each English word did cheer me up.
Then we went to have a walk on the streets near Wan Chai Market. You know what, numerous “dang pu” locate in these street and it was so exciting for us to discover the English name of "dang pu", that is "the pawn shop".(Ooops, an English word I didn't know.HeHe :P ) Pawn shops are one of the most significant local feature in Wan Chai district and undeniably, Wan chai is a tourist hotspot for all foreigners. In order to grab every business chance, even signs of these traditional shops were bilingual! Wherever you go, you will definitely experience the mixed culture. I was truly glad that our tradition willed to move on and fused with the western influence to such an extent.
As we kept walking, the smell of fried food stimulated our stomachs. We decided to find out where the smell came from.And believe it or not, we saw a food menu written in English! Right in this Asian district, there are various types of restaurants and most of them provided food menu in both Chinese and English. Moreover, waiters there could speak fluent English. In other words, being bilingual was one of the requirements for working in Wan Chai no matter you were just a waiter, a sale or hawker. Again, this is another piece of evidence proving that English was ubiquitous and essential in Wan Chai, where western influence is heavy. I guess that everyone shares the same feeling with me. How wonderful Wan Chai is and how important it is to be bilingually capable there! (Cough, two "A"s here~~~ :D )
Also, How could you neglect the road signs in Wan Chai? ‘Fleming Road’, "Hennessy Road", "Thomson Road"……. What beautiful and elegant road signs they are comparing with those in Shum Sui Po which are named ‘Apliu Street’ and '*** Wah Street'! In Wan Chai, Most road signs are named to commemorate our former governors of Hong Kong. It apparently shows how splendid the prestige our former governors of Hong Kong had and how deep they influenced us. Through the road signs, you would realize we are so proud of our colonial history and our then British citizenship.
Thanks to the grace brought by the empire of United Kingdom a hundred and fifty years ago, Wan Chai becomes the district that has the most magnificent Langscape in Hong Kong. It is so modern and so globalized that the two greatest Languages in the world - Chinese and English co-exist harmoniously. It also sets up examples of what 2 languages and 3 dialects should be. Being one of the greatest language students in the university, I will offer my talents to Hong Kong, helping it create more districts like the grand bilingual Wan Chai !
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