Back in 1986, I spent 3 months in mainland China doing computer analysis on equipment used for petroleum research. Two of us flew from the U.S., through Hong Kong to Beijing where we boarded a train that dropped us off 23 hours later.

We had to spend a couple of nights in Hong Kong to get the Visas worked out. Since my workmate was born and raised there, it was an opportunity to see the Hong Kong night life like few first time visitors could.

We hit "the strip" and popped into one of the clubs. The stage was empty, as was the club. But in no time the bartender showed up. A shapely young woman in black panties and see-through black teddy. She pointed us to a couple of seats at the bar and beckoned us to sit down. As we sat, I noticed that the bar stools were unlike any I'd ever seen. They were actually little benches that could fit about 3 small people.

We ordered a couple of Michelob Lights. As the bartender set the mugs in front of us, 4 more women (dressed like the bartender, except that their attire was red) showed up to keep us company. It was now apparent why the bar stools were 3 people wide. The fit the patron and one woman snuggled tightly against each of his elbows.

I saw what was happening and told my friend, "we need to drink these and get out of here". So we asked for the tab and drank up. My Chinese friend got into a huge argument with the bartender and eventually signed the American Express receipt just before we exited.

Out on the sidewalk, we talked about what just happened. When the dust settled, he had signed a credit card receipt for $1,881 HKD (about $512 USD back then) for 2 beers. Two!



But they were Michelob Lights. At least it was good beer!

 

 

I think I am ^^^

 

Higher priced 'cause it was an import.

 

Sounds like some extra options were bought and not used-

 

 

 

2 bad that one didnt have sound

 

My all time favorite port was Hong Kong. I remember the bars, and the women were very attractive, but buying them a drink was never 'forced.' However, if you declined to buy her one of those overpriced juices, she quickly leave to find another mark. I remember one time I was watching the girls dance and get all over each other. One of them asked me, "You want to buy me drink?"

"No." At which point she went over to someone else. The drinks were pretty expensive at $20 HKD. For the girls, the drinks were more like $35 HKD. All so the girls would sit with you for a few minutes.

 

Sounds like someone was making some HKD anyway...

 

 

 

Sounds like you would have been a better traveling companion than the native that went along as my interpreter!

Back in the 80s, the environment was 180 degrees different between Hong Kong and the mainland. HK was wild and easy. My first night there the hotel (Holiday Inn) staff pushed a flyer under my door with names and phone numbers of the locals that they endorsed. There was no ambiguity about what was being advertised. But the mainland was just a couple of years removed from the days when an AK-47 occupied every street corner. It had a strict "hands off" rule. And where I was working was very far removed from the tourist areas. (You didn't wind up there by accident!) There was an ongoing tradition in my company where the newcomers would throw a few bucks into the pool. All you had to do to claim the pot was state that you'd bagged a local. Even though it was the honor system, in the 3 years that I knew, no one had ever made a claim for the pot.

The second most harrowing thing though, was landing in Honk Kong. That was the old runway that started at the edge of the city and extended into the Pacific. The rules required that the planes fly over the mountain and drop down to make their runway approach toward the sea. (That way an accident wound up in the water, not the city.) It was unnerving to have that 747 drop over the mountains in such a quick descent. About the time it got leveled off and you were convinced that the plane wasn't going to crash, you could look out the window and realize that you were actually below the tops of some of the buildings! I felt like I'd survived some kind of weird initiation.

The most harrowing was flying a China Air (CAA) 747. China only allowed their state-run airline to fly into the country. All of the pilots were former Chinese military. Until the day I flew into China I never knew that you could bank a 747 until the wings extended nearly vertically.

 

RANDOM PIC

 

Fixed that for ya.