(Washing are hung right next to a road. It makes for a good philosophical question: Are the clothes drying here already washed or are they to be cleaned after the drying?)
*Check out the last photo to learn why
For any place as populated as in Hong Kong, a backyard at home is a luxurious dream. For those living in an apartment, the vexation of hanging out the washing at the right time to catch the sunlight can be readily understood and actually felt.
Not being quite found in any non-Chinese places, hanging clothes in the street to dry on a bright sunny day are ubiquituous in Hong Kong and China. That effectively solves the problem of lacking space for drying the washing.
(All sorts of drying linens including a bedsheet and a tablecloth)
Of course, there is the cheating invention called the drying machine to accompany the washing machine. But the general wisdom is that drying under the sun is free, effective and, to make the arguement invincible, environmentally friendly.
So maybe for these reasons, hanging washing in the street has been made a juggernaut defying the risks of clothes being dirtied or stolen and the owners fined for HK$2,000 if caught.
(The post on the tree reads, "Hong Kong Government Warning: Hanging washing is prohibited and clothes found will be removed". The photo shows the power of civil disobedience)
For sure, people into this very particular habit are mostly in their 70s. It is not a surprise because they are just carrying on this old habit prevalent in their younger days.
Contrary to the belief of the government, these washing in the street are quite a sight to adorn the otherwise boring streetscape in some quieter corners near residential blocks where the hanging is more rampant. They add a sronger sense of a residential neighbourhood. And this old habit reminds us of the existence of the old generations among us both of which are to be treasured.
This is the true local character of Hong Kong.
(For the colourful scenes these washing make, they are also known in a rather gracious term, "flags of all nations")
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