We recently moved to a spanking new apartment in a very futuristic looking area of Hong Kong. Because all the buildings are very new (practically the whole town is new), they are extremely tall. We are on the 51st floor, and that isn’t even the highest. Some friends of ours who live close by in another block are on the 58th floor. When you take the elevator your ears pop. Quite a strange sensation. But, at least those elevators are fast. Got to be when you’ve got thousands of people on dozens of floors, I suppose.

The strange thing (or perhaps not strange at all in Chinese culture) is that the elevator does not include any floors that end with the number ‘4′. Which mean it jumps 13-15, then 23-25, then 33-35, and so forth. I guess it is okay to start the floor number with four, meaning there are of course floors 41-49, but there is no floor 44.  That’s because the number ‘4′ also is pronounced the same as the word for ‘death’. This design must be good feng shui or something.

Anyway usually the view from the 51st floor is fantastic, with clear horizons, a sight of the Tsing Ma bridge which connects Lantau with Kowloon, and lovely mountains in the distance.

bird's eye view? we don't see ANY birds on the 51st floor!

Then, on days of bad pollution, which we have been having a lot of these days, absolutely everything disappears into a grey cloud of smog and other nasty things I’d rather not be breathing.

But the truth remains you're GONE....

That is probably the saddest part of life in Hong Kong — days when the air is just terrible. If it wasn’t so bad, I’m sure a lot of expats who come here to work would stay longer, because when the air is clear, it is truly a beautiful place.