Went with the in-laws and Mrs M to the China Club for dinner last night. This is a recreation of an old colonial style dining room, but with an eclectic mix of colonial and Chinese styles. What was once the most imposing building in Hong Kong is now dwarfed by the temples of Mammon around it. The food was a good mix of various Chinese regions and we ate more than our fill. We climbed the stairs to the rooftop terrace. Along the stairwell are various artworks. My parents-in-law are Hungarians who left the country after the 1956 uprising. Needless to say their opinion of Communists is not glowing. My father-in-law pointed out the many paintings that had Mao featuring in them. His comment was, "Don't they realise he was as bad as Lenin?" All I could answer was it was a mixture of chic and patriotism but it seemed a pretty lame answer then and worse now in the light of day. It is a reminder that while China is making much economic progress there are other elements stuck in a time warp.

On a lighter note, I went for a haircut yesterday. Not very interesting. But previously I had been going to one of the salons in the mall next to work, where a haircut cost about a week's wages. You get the works but it is still a shock to get a bill for HK$400 (about US$50). So I tried a local place yesterday. Walked up the stairwell, down the hall, pushed the slightly ajar door open. A small barber greeted me. I asked the price. It was HK$85. I sat down. Not a single word was uttered for the rest of the time. He didn't ask me what kind of cut I wanted. He didn't want to chat about my work, the weather, the news. He finished and it was a pretty good job. It might not have been quite as good as the $400 cut, but for the difference I can manage. Another reminder of the two very different worlds that exist in HK.