Seriously, everywhere you go in Hong Kong you can take an escalator. Most of the city is built on a mountain so it makes sense, but the amount of escalators really symbolizes the efficiency of infrastructure and lifestyle in the city. You definitely pay for this lifestyle, as the cost of living is high. Less than London or Stockholm though, but nonetheless you’re paying above US prices for food, drinks and gear, but it’s worth it.

As we flew in from London I was struck by the amount natural environment surrounded the big city. Green, mountainsides, beaches and small islands surrounded the skyscrapers and neon lights. It was a contrast like I’ve never seen. A perfect symbol for Hong Kong is a giant skyscraper, almost completed, but still encased in the bamboo scaffolding the workers used to build floor after floor. At times you would be walking down the street and small black ties would come raining out of the sky in the hundreds, a full downpour. And you’d look up to see the workers deconstructing the bamboo scaffolding and dropping the ties to from 20 stories up onto the street.

The balance of natural beauty and big city action made Hong Kong one of my top 5 cities in the world. There are some other great cities that balance the outdoors with the urban energy, San Francisco being one of them. But Hong Kong takes it to another level with lush, green rainforest, warm, blue waters and highly maintained mountain biking and hiking trails that wind high above the skyscrapers. A perfect example of the balance between industry and nature in Hong Kong is the h

Needless to say we were running around like kids in a candy store. We also have some good friends who are plugged in and rockin it hard out there. They’ve compiled an eclectic group of friends. All as equally ambitious and creative as the next. Fashion designers, club owner, restaurant owners, DJs, toy designers, skaters and graffiti artists. The first night we flew in, we were taken straight to a warehouse where we would be staying. It’s actually two warehouses one with a small hangout and upstairs (TV, couch, couple of futons) and a makeshift art studio downstairs where “Goose” a graffiti artist from New York was finishing up a piece. The other warehouse is dedicated to a mini half pipe and used for parties and sponsored events (quicksilver used it for a promo event). So fresh off the plane from London and I found myself intoxicated by aerosol spray, drinking a beer, skating the half pipe, surrounded by good folks and fired up on Hong Kong.

The next four days went by in a beautiful blur. Up all night partying with VIP treatment at different exclusive clubs, eating incredible Chinese food, and window shopping the inflated consumerism that is the Hong Kong malls and shopping districts. We hiked in the mountainside and kicked it at the beach or on a friends boat in the harbor. We met someone new everyday that was doing something interesting and stylish. It reminded me a lot of our crew back in the Bay except these kids had a lot more “means” to do what they wanted. But they still kept it creative and down to earth and you can’t help but respect their ambition.

And it isn’t so much the nightlife or character of the city that made Hong Kong so great. It was the fact that you could pull yourself away from the hustle and bustle and escalation of the city and slow things down to establish a piece a mind high on mountain top or park or beach just a couple of minutes away from the city. There was even some surf (flat when we were there) at Big Wave Bay that our boys had been getting some fun sessions at when the weather was right.

So if you have a chance to get out to Hong Kong, I suggest you do so. And let me know when you’re going so I can set you up with a good group of folks that will show you the what’s good in Hong Kong.

Thanks to Cory, Punchy, Goose, Andy, T-Bone and the rest of the Sixkeyz crew for showing us a good time. Keep rocking it right boys…