Relocating from Hong Kong? Prepare to say goodbye to some of your things and hope they’re not the most treasured
- It’s been two years since we left Sai Kung for Spain, and with time to finally open the boxes in the garage, we’re discovering not all our possessions made it
- Sadly, the movers are too busy to look into it – because of Hong Kong’s currently booming removals business
A set of plates with a fish motif, old books and boots, children’s clothes, a well-travelled rucksack full of well-worn T-shirts, Hong Kong Monopoly and other mementoes of the city, choice copies of the South China Morning Post’s Post Magazine and a framed 1970s poster extolling the social benefits of Chinese communism. An original; I loved that poster!
All lost in the move from Hong Kong.
It’s been two years since we packed up our house in Hoi Ha, Sai Kung, and set off for pastures new: Spain. We had no permanent home to move into, though, so many of the boxes we sent by sea were, after standing in a warehouse for a few months, stacked in a garage, before we became settled enough to open them. Now that time has come – and we’re discovering that some of our possessions didn’t make it.
In theory, this shouldn’t happen; you sign a form when your belongings are carted away stating how many pieces/boxes there are, and sign another when they arrive, and the two should – probably did – tally. But the chaos surrounding moving out of and into houses combined with the tendency of removal men (and in Hong Kong’s case, women) to rebox much that has already been boxed – or unbox all that has been unloaded – in a “let’s just get this done, now sign here, sir” frenzy makes it impossible to keep track.
Where do Hong Kong drivers learn to be so bad on the road?
Add to that the complications of having boxes delivered under lockdown conditions and … well, I guess we should be grateful that we received as many of our belongings as we did. At least the family photo albums made it, along with the ancient film cameras that took the pictures.
So where are our lost (let’s be generous) possessions? Still in Hong Kong? In a warehouse in Valencia? For sale in second-hand shops across Alicante province? I wish them a loving home, wherever they end up.
And was there any point sending the “I don’t suppose any of my boxes are sitting in a warehouse somewhere?” email to the Hong Kong shipper two years after departure?
Surprisingly, I received a prompt reply; but only to say the company was too busy to look into the matter, because the removals business in Hong Kong is currently booming.
