[Expatriate]

I'm getting used to the shouting, but at home the neighbors always make enough sound for a construction company.

doors banging, moving furniture, bowling, TV on full blast, and everything going on until early morning.

If that's not enough, they put their pet dogs into bird cages so that they bark all night.


When is the best time to disturb their peace? Getting out the Black&Decker hammer drill during moon festival dinner? Lunar New Year? 6am?

[goodkarma]

You are not alone in noticing the noise mysteries.......staying in hotels with mainland visitors is a symphony of opening and closing doors ALL NIGHT long down the hallways. I have no idea what they are doing but running from room to room in their socks and smoking and laughing.

I don't believe in retaliating, karma and all, but I do ask people to lighten up.

I have always wondered what they are always dropping on the floors too. It sounds like metal pins , very very annoying.

[hottie]

The metal pin dropping syndrome hey? Thought it was just my neighbours. Wonder if it is Majong tiles falling off the board?

Originally Posted by goodkarma

You are not alone in noticing the noise mysteries.......staying in hotels with mainland visitors is a symphony of opening and closing doors ALL NIGHT long down the hallways. I have no idea what they are doing but running from room to room in their socks and smoking and laughing.

I don't believe in retaliating, karma and all, but I do ask people to lighten up.

I have always wondered what they are always dropping on the floors too. It sounds like metal pins , very very annoying.

[goodkarma]

It has plaqued me for 12 years, that pin dropping sound. I doubt it's majong tools tho.

Chairs scooting on the floor At 2 am when they are not partying, they don't drink, they are good ol average busiiness men and women.....why are they never in b ed?

[Pekkerhead]

don't forget midnight karaoke with the bass turned up so the windows shake.

[philippe]

Sorry if you guys are having trouble with the noise level.

A long time ago I also was disturbed by the way Cantonse sounded and by the average noise level in the City/buildings.

Yet, one need to understand the Culture.

First of all Cantonese. I believe that it's because of the number of tones that people need to speak loud enough to be understood by the next person. On the radio they do not need to shout because there is no noise around. Mandarin only got 4 tones so it might be less of a problem up North or in Taiwan.

Second, what is all this noise all about?
Happiness!

Put it this one in Chinese tradition, the famous "Speech is silver, silence is golden" does not work. Silence is Death!

Noise means happiness and it is also a good way to scare the spirits (firecrackers for instance is a good example of killing two birds with one stone).

My place is very quiet altough they are over 30,000 people living nearby. The building was pretty well made in that regards and if need be I have got double windows. Yet, as I am typing this, my window is opened and it is pretty quiet. I must be lucky!

[cerberus]

HK is among the noisiest places i've ever seen and it does get frustrating at times if you're a quiet person who just wants to live life in privacy.

i don't know when's a good time to retaliate with noise, if any...tried it in the past and it never works, HK and elsewhere.

However, this has little to do with tradition or some aspect peculiar to Chinese/Cantonese culture. it's just a result of local habits and a social dynamic that tolerates and even encourages noise by not always deeming noise-making an offensive type of behavior.

there was also mention of mainlanders but frankly anywhere in the mainland i've lived was a lot quieter than HK, for a variety of reasons i can guess at.

[goodkarma]

I was worried abt mentioning mainlanders in my hotel comment because I agree the mainland is definatley quieter. It's just hotels......I have lived in a lot of hotels in HK over the years and it's a very noticable problem. The door slamming and running about the hallways even with elderly people. The doors open and closed literally hundreds of times in an hour.

[Expatriate]

OK, if noise is happiness, I try to make them happy all night.

The pin dropping syndrome might also have something to do with the appalling quality of the buildings. No heat insulation, no noise insulation. After all, most of the money in Hong Kong is made by gambling - Mark 6, Horse Racing, Stock Exchange, Land Prices,

Sound travels very well in these buildings. In China, especially in buildings built from Hong Kong companies, there was always the sound of someone drilling a hole in the wall, even if in the immediate vicinity every apartment was quiet.


Need to go to bed now, to wake up early for the drilling session.

[carang]

CNY is anything but silent...

i remember about 11 years ago, i was living in a village house in clearwater bay. the night before CNY, i thought, geez, i'm tired.. i'll have an early night, and a sleep in tomorrow! yeah!

well... midnight came and the fire crackers started. i was in such a sound sleep, i first thought people were breaking into my house with guns!

the firecrackers con't until around 4pm the next day...

so, i thought, not again. and i moved into town. was awakened the next morning with the sound of mahjong tiles... that continued for about 4 days straight!