Yearning for China

(Hong Kong city)

I miss China so much.

I miss how everytime I go out, there's a million different faces to see.
I miss how Asian eveything is, like the time I went supermarket shopping and there were live frogs for sale.
I miss how the shopping and food is so cheap and diverse. I miss how the standard shopping mall is 5 storeys high.
I miss the coldness. I miss wearing layers of jackets and scarves just to keep barely warm.
I miss the stalls on the street selling kebabs and Chinese food and jewellery and tiny trinkets and other oddities.
I miss how I can't speak the language well so sometimes I didn't need to say anything.
I miss how hardly anyone knew my name, and I didn't know theirs.
I miss how everyone taxis everywhere and how cheap it is, too.
I miss how honest the boys there were. If they thought you were beautiful, they would most likely tell you.
I miss walking the markets during the daytime and nightime, I miss the haggling and the rush of people.
I miss not having to drive everyone everywhere. I miss not being pressured to do anything.
I miss how all the strangers you saw on the street seemed to be in their own world.
I miss the tiny, comfortable apartment I stayed in with my aunt and her family. I miss not having luxuries like a shower room or space or a garden or a car. It felt good.
I miss how the people I met who knew I was from overseas attempted to speak English to me (even though it was quite bad), I appreciated their efforts very much.
I miss the nights going out with my family and their friends karoaking and drinking beer. No irresponsible drinking, no bad vibes. Just a good time.
I miss looking outside and seeing apartment buildings everywhere, arranged like lifesized lego.
I miss the crazy taxi driving, as much as it scared me sometimes.
I miss travelling from unknown city to unknown city, hotel room to hotel room.
I miss being able to think clearly without any disturbances or to-do lists in the back of my mind.
I miss living out of a suitcase.
I miss how romantic and busy every city was. Fairy lights and lanterns strung from tree to tree and on buildings and bridges.
I miss the pride the people of China had in the culture, and how passionately they expressed it.
I miss seeing people on motorbikes, with rickshaws and stuffed into foggy buses.
I miss the noise of cars beeping, people shouting and haggling, trucks rushing past, kids and fireworks.
I miss how wonderful and patient everyone was to me.
I mostly miss my aunt, my uncle and my cousin and how much they cared about me and looked out for me.

When my plane landed in New Zealand, I felt a pang of sadness and welled up because I knew I was oceans away from China.
I would go back in a heartbeat.

(Hong Kong 'Walk of Fame' view)

(Fruit stand)

Listen to: Palpitation - In Five Years (Niva Remix)