Hong Kong is a city of contrasts. In hardly any other city in the world do old traditions meet modernity so directly, Far East meets West, poor meets rich, mega city meets nature. If you roll through the street canyons between the world-famous skyscrapers of the Bank of China, Two International Finance Center and Co, you will come across small, traditional markets and food stalls everywhere, where many Hong Kong Chinese earn their living.
Busy vendors with handcarts clatter between swanky western luxury cars. The sky-high rows of ultra-modern glass and steel buildings are repeatedly interrupted by small temples and shady, well-tended parks. These are gems of tranquillity in one of the fastest-moving cities in the world. On our high-tech freeride bikes, we therefore don't attract much attention as we hurtle down the steep streets to Lan Kwai Fong - Hong Kong's nightlife district - in the evening. Although some people turn their heads when we take one of the countless stairs with a loud clatter, they seem to be used to seeing something new every day and show no great surprise.
In the area of Soho (meaning: South of Hollywood Road) and Lan Kwai Fong, the term "urban freeride" takes on a whole new meaning. Concrete and steel in neon light. The possibilities provided by the urban architecture alone are almost inexhaustible: we wind our way with the bikes through narrow, winding alleyways, over steep stairs and bridges and through brightly lit pedestrian passages. We balance on our bikes along walls and use driveways and concrete ramps for small jumps. An almost perfect bike park in big city form! And the best part: the "Central-Mid-Levels-Escalator", the longest escalator in the world at 800m, takes us all the way back to the top without us having to pedal once...
We sit in T-shirts with our bikes between the in-clubs and bars on the roadside until late into the night, watching the stream of party-hungry people and rounding off the day with a cool bottle of Chinese "Tsingtao Beer".
After the intense city life, it's time for "pure" nature again. And there is plenty of it here - it's hard to believe - but 40% of the city area is officially designated as a nature reserve. And the countless national parks, which serve as "green lungs" and popular recreational areas for the city's population, begin right next to the city.
