My China Experience | 1 & ½ months in: 3 WORDS: Lan Kwai Fong!

 

This is a “brief” post to let my readers know that my time here in China is not just bizibu, but filled with many amazing nights and experiences too! Lan Kwai Fong was one of them. 

If you are ever thinking of travelling to Hong Kong, China and you are looking for somewhere to literally LET LOOSE at night, look no further than Lan Kwai Fong (I mean, you probably could look further, but from what I’ve experienced so far, this place cannot disappoint). This strip is absolutely insane! I can honestly say, it was one of the best nights out in my life!

So having (almost) successfully snuck into my friend’s hotel and after wasting a silly amount of money on dinner at this high end Italian restaurant (trust me, when you live in China, rice and noodles gets tasteless after a while), we were ready (barely) to head to the famous ‘Lan Kwai Fong’! 

This place exceeded my expectations immensely! Being in China, it is not so common for one to bump into Westerners and even less likely to bump into black Westerners (okay well, black people in general). 

Alas, Lan Kwai Fong is the land of British and Americans of every race, also looking to drink the night away (emphasis on the “also” – aha)! Just 5 minutes after my arrival I bump into these two (very) tall, basketball player-looking, handsome young men who caught my eye, just as I did theirs (not boasting).  

 

They nodded as they walked past me and I smiled, trying to maintain composure, but I was probably twiddling with a braid or something – apparently I tend to play with my hair when I “flirt”, but I never notice. I don’t even know what flirting is.

I “coincidentally” bumped into them in this shop on the strip and as I asked my friend which bottle of wine to purchase, I heard one of them imitating my British accent, terribly. 

“What are you doing?” I asked the imitator, laughingly. 
“Oh shawty, I’m just tryna talk like you, that’s all. I sounded good, huh?”, he replied, seeking my approval on his abominable British accent.

But oh how I am a sucker for an American accent! My neck almost formed a cramp from looking up at this 6ft4 fine, chocolate specimen for so long. I pretended I was unimpressed – well I was by his imitation, but not by his appearance or accent – and shrugged with a smile. Then his friend appeared from around the corner and just as I thought chocolate couldn’t get any sweeter!

 

Covered in tattoos, I was intrigued. His friend stared at me for a long time which threw me off guard slightly as I was trying to maintain the upper hand. My friends shouted at me from outside the shop, restlessly, reminding me of the bottle of wine in my hand and bringing me back to reality.

My little fantasy encounter with tattoo guy was short lived however, as I was unable to provide my contact details and after running off to find my friend with my phone, in order to do so, I’d lost him and soon forgot about the pair of them (alcohol kicking in).

The first club we went to was insane! I couldn’t believe all the old school Hip Hop and R&B the DJ was playing. I was in my element. We soon made our way outside where people were dancing in the street (music was that loud from inside the clubs) and the atmosphere was crazy!  

 

There were Chinese breakdancers, British fist-pumpers, Latina “hips don’t lie” dancers.. There was such a buzz, you couldn’t help but to just join in and before I knew it, there was a circle around me and this other guy and as we danced people chanted and clapped, in the rain – Step Up or nah?

One great thing about this strip is the abundance of 7-Elevens; small corner shops after every 4 or so bars, where you can buy your alcohol, drink it and then head into the next bar without having to purchase a drink inside at an extortionate price. Heaven!

As we made our way down the strip, I noticed another fine specimen and my radar was telling me he was from London. I leaped in front of him and grabbed his beard and exclaimed, “YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE FROM LANDAN!”

He laughed and said yes. The rest of the conversation is a bit of a blur (alcohol definitely kicking in) and as I was leaving I remember him saving my number and asking for my name. I started to run off into the distance and shouted back in response, “CINDERELLA!” – yeah, I really don’t know who I think I am. Alas, I received a message the next day, “morning Cinderella..”  

 

As we headed to another bar I noticed a man with dreadlocks and I don’t know what it is about dreadlocks, but I love them! I sneakily pulled at one of them and darted off down the strip. He ran after me. I remember laughing hysterically in embarrassment after he caught me, but then he offered to buy me and my friends drinks. My friends were all like, “YES YES YES!” 

 
We received free cocktails all night and I met so many more people from all over the world. I vaguely recall offering a middle aged man from Cornwall, marriage counselling, saying if he’s unhappy in the finance sector, he should quit his job and move to Thailand with his wife and live off the rest of his days with her there. He didn’t seem too keen on my suggestion, but he bought me a drink nonetheless. 

Of course, to end the night we ended up in McDonalds where this frightening looking man who had been following us for most of the night, had ended up too (please see image below). But it was honestly such an incredible night. Again, again, again!