Monday, 8 April 2013

07.4.13 - Newsflash! UK does not have a monopoly on bad weather!


Nothing much going on today, so thought I’d use a picture from last week to make a more general point. In the UK, I found that when you think Hong Kong you think – hot; muggy, sure, but never bad weather. Does it even rain much there?

Actually, about 10 days ago came the shock: the weather here can be crappy. We are weeks away from the oppressive humidity (veteran expats almost gleefully rub their hands when they tell us newbies how TERRIBLE it will be), and have hit this weird period of permanently grey skies. The only time it’s not grey is when it turns black, and lashes down for two hours at a time with very strong winds (we had our first typhoon strength wind last week, which blew the bamboo fence at our flat down). The rain is so heavy it bounces back off the pavement, provoking forests of umbrellas to sprout around the city as in this picture. Again, longer term residents tell us that we ain’t seen nothing yet – apparently there is such a thing as ‘black’ rain, which is so heavy that you cannot walk in it.

It’s not actually been cold since we got here, and the rain lasts hours rather than going on all day. But the greyness and constant risk of getting soaked at short notice has been a bit of a surprise. You guys at home definitely win with snow in April, but I wanted to make you feel better by knowing that it’s not all roses here either!

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