Life's a Beach

I just had lunch with a co-worker of mine who spent a month in Hong Kong - mostly for her sister’s wedding but also to see family.  Her family is originally from there but she grew up in Canada.

Let me bullet point a few “hightlights” of her trip:

1. She went to China to visit family and go for a massage (a 3 hour massage costs around $20 due to the cheap labor).  She was with her Uncle and family (husband and two kids) when they ran into a group of people singing and dancing and begging for money on the street.  However, these were not “normal” people.  They were all deformed - missing eyes, half their body, limbs, etc.  Apparently, these people have been brutally deformed by their “employers” and then beg for money on the streets for them.  They must then go back and pay their employers the money they earned that day.  The more foreigners give, the more this will continue to be a “business.”

2. There is a big black market for organs as healthcare is very expensive and you have to pay for each visit.  And if you are not willing to pay at least $150/more per visit, you may get bad treatment and fake drugs.  People will go to small massage places in China and will get drugged and pass out and then the people “working” there cut you up and take your organs for the black market. 

Also the things we all know - materialistic people, overpriced products, traffic, congestion, small living spaces.

She said she had a great time but, man, how different is it from here?  Crazy how different parts of this world are.