Polluted. Claustrophobic. Fast-paced. Vertical. Hong Kong is what I imagined all cities in the future would end up as, except it's here and it's now. A forest of tall skinny buildings jammed one after another, with cars and pedestrians zipping back and forth below them on criss-crossing on-ramps, off-ramps, interchanges, underpasses, bridges, elevated roadways that seem to fold back onto themselves on top of each other like in a M.C. Escher drawing.

Nightmarish?

Perhaps.

But I love it. Of course, I'm saying this as a visitor, not a resident. I might think otherwise if I lived there, but on a short visit, it's simply exhilarating to be in this dynamic city.