Most of the time.
There are these great blinky light maps, so even Little Miss What-Space-Time-Continuum? doesn't get lost. Everything is in English and Chinese, so as long as you're not a tourist from the 150+ countries which speak neither, you won't even need a phrasebook. The trains are efficient, the trams are fairly regular, and the buses break the speed limit on a regular basis to drive past you because they're full. The ferry has one of the best views in the world, and is normally only a little bit bumpy.
And best of all, because it is Chinese, it is very, very clean. As in, no food or drink clean. As in, wear masks so you don't breath germs clean. As in, feeling ashamed because you've tracked in a puddle clean. Which is nice, as well as neurotic and intimidating. In Hong Kong, you can jump on the subway without holding your breath to avoid air born toxins, and you simply will not find chewing gum stuck anywhere. It is, in fact, a gum free zone.
The only problem with Hong Kong MTR. The only teensy weensy tiny little thing, is the minor issue of crowding. As you may or may not be aware, Hong Kong's population makes it to just over 7 million. There are, roughly, 16,000 people per square mile in the city. Which means there's about 3 people per square foot. And when there's a typhoon warning ( bearing in mind that the marvelous, clean, efficient public transport just shuts down at 'T8') all 16,000 people within your little square mile try to defy all the laws of physics and anatomy in order to crush themselves into one tube of aluminium and plastic, otherwise known as the train.
Because, you know, you couldn't stand around in the well lit, clean, spacious station and wait for the next one. In two minutes. That's just asking too much, really. Especially when you just got let off work early, and you really do have nothing better to do than beat up that silly white girl with your briefcase, because as a middle aged man with no small amount of paunch, it's both likely and reasonable you'll fit into the space between her and the doors. The space which, incidentally, is smaller than your briefcase...
The Hong Kong public transport system is great, just not when you're method acting a human sardine.
And I know that Typhoon Vicente was a pretty big deal. And I know that more than a few people didn't want to get stuck in the middle of the city during what was essentially a tropical hurricane. But I also know, now, what it feels like to have my face pressed into a strange man's sweaty armpit. And next time? I think I'll take the storm.
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