FEW visitors can glance at the skyline and Victoria Harbour on a grey, overcast morning and judge the weather ''really nice''.
But everything is relative. Two weeks ago, Dmitri Alexeev was freezing in the near-zero temperatures and howling winds of Chicago. A week or so earlier, the Russian pianist was at home in a snow-packed, bone-chilling Moscow.
The first and last time he performed in Hongkong was 1988. It marked the first time a pianist from the then Soviet Union performed here in 25 years. He remembers the warm reception.
He is back as guest soloist with the Hongkong Philharmonic for its current Russian Romantic Festival, featuring works by Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Rachmaninov.
In talking about the political thaw that allows Russian artists, students, even tourists, greater freedom to travel and perform, he remains a bit guarded. Questions are answered in a well-modulated voice; his demeanour is soft-spoken and cordial.
To people of his or older generations, the freedom young Russians have today is mind-boggling. Though the cultural exchange enriches life, some things in Russia remain unchanged, like the hassles in applying for a visa or getting repairs done to a crumbling apartment building. The uphill struggle continues but, as he points out, he is a patient man.
He is married to concert pianist, Tatiana Sarkissova. Their daughter Anya, 20, a music student in London, happens to be a pianist. ''Too bad,'' he adds, with a half grin, a case of a family with too many identical careers under the same roof.