Hong Kong is one of those places that has cultural cachet, but where you’d normally be unlikely to interact with. For the last few decades, its economy has been mostly in services, banking, and tourism, not the electronics manufacturing of the 20th century. Where cities like Vancouver and LA have mountains in the background, Hong Kong has it as a backdrop.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t drawn to this city almost entirely due to Chungking Express. Love is always a good story. It’s hard not to love this place. But you do eventually fall out of love with it. Everyone does. What defines Hong Kong is people’s nostalgia for a love they already lost.