It was early 8am when I woke up for my 9am class. And to my surprise, I found out that a Typhoon warning signal level 8 was issued. That's a warning level high enough to cancel classes in Hong Kong, with gale wind speeds greater then 63km/hour (local articles stated that they were up to 100km/hr).
Not surprisingly, there is a popular myth or joke among the locals, called Li's Force Field (李氏力場). The name is adopted from the wealthiest man in Hong Kong, Li Ka Shing, and the basic idea behind the force field is that Li will prevent and steer away any typhoon that will cause a signal 8. It is disadvantageous for Hong Kong businesses to stop even for a moment. For example, during Typhoon Nesat, stock markets were closed and such time-sensitive things in a Hong Kong business-crazy society have the potential to cause a bit of economical damage. Workers get to go home once a warning 8 is issued but the Most Powerful Man in Asia who owns most of the wealth in Hong Kong does not want to let that happen. The force field theory was built on the observation that "typhoon 8 never comes" even if the perceived weather seems to be pretty bad.
So what does a university student do the afternoon a typhoon 8 is issued?
GO HIKING AT HKUST.
First of all, I don't recommend that anyone do this unless they have made sure the weather allows. For example, you shouldn't go when the typhoon is the closest in proximity, but at the time we went, the typhoon had already making distance away from Hong Kong.
My friend, the publication secretary of the Yohoo (Adventure) Club at our university, told of us of the "tallest waterfall in Hong Kong" and suggested we go there after the rains from the day before. It was ill-advised to go out in this weather but Hong Kong hikes, for the most part, are not as challenging as, say, backpacking in Yellowstone. Ergo, I agreed. Plus it was an opportunity that didn't come up very often.
From the bus stop of HKUST, we entered a hidden gate and walked down a staircase hike to a nearby beach.
I should mention that before entering, a laminated sign was posted in front of the gate in Chinese. It said that a skeleton was found in the immediate area and the police were investigating the identity of the skeletal remains and if anyone had any information about it, they should contact the police. Creepy, no doubt. I was under the impression that there was nowhere in Hong Kong that was perilous. Oh well..
The hike down to the beach took about 20 minutes. However, due to the wind and rain, the path that led to the base of the waterfall from the beach was flooded. We tried to take a detour by going through an organic farm we had seen. But first, we had to battle giant red ants.
After going through the farm, we found the river but no path. Not knowing what to do and not wanting to go back, we finally decided we should just travel upstream and see if we can make it to the base of the waterfall that way. Needless to say, we failed.
But we got a lot of good photos and had a really good time jumping on rocks. I think it was mainly the silliness of it all to try a hike during a typhoon signal 8 that made it a good experience. At least we did something with our day off from classes, right?
In the end, we spent 2.5 hours hiking down stairs, upriver, and back. We got to see the waterfall from a distance and got a little workout out of it.
The Sports Hall opened after the Typhoon signal was removed and changed to signal no. 3 instead. I assume that the rule is the same as the library: if the signal is removed at least four hours before closing, then the staff will resume their normal duties. Yeah... Hong Kong is a place that hardly ever stops. It's a meager equivalent to what a snow day feels like in the east cost of the USA, I suppose, except for the fact that people are obligated resume work once it is possible. To close the night, I played basketball in the gym with some of my teammates and roommates. Yay for happy basketball! :)
--Praying that all those truly impacted by the severity of the typhoon are safe.--
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