About the empty floors

Since Hong Kong is so small, and hold so many people you have to stack us on top of each other. There is no room to spread out. The "smaller" buildings are maybe 30 stories tall. The one we live in has 27 floors (we live on the 16th floor). Newer buildings are usually much taller than that, from 50 up to 100+ floors! 

Clear view of an empty floor

Here comes the peculiar thing; those very tall buildings have made each 25th floor (give or take) an open space... it's empty! When I first noticed I thought it was crazy! I mean, is there really room for such thing? Don't they want to make sure to fit as many apartments as possible? My fiance explained to me that it is in case of a fire the whole building won't burn down. It's a safety precaution. I like that precaution. It makes sense, and they can make the building look aesthetically nicer. On some buildings they make that floor in to a common area, like a terrace with plants and other greens. On other more modern office buildings they are hidden and you need to know about it to notice. 

That the empty floor is around 25 stories up probably has something to do with what my fiance's dad once told me: "don't live in an apartment on 26th floor or up. Because that's how high the fire trucks can reach".. 

However, the houses here are all concrete, heavy, sturdy buildings. Right before we left for vacation to Australia there was a very severe typhoon that went through most of the city. Restaurants and stores closed early. Everybody was sent home. The winds tore up trees, bushes and threw around debris, and I didn't notice a thing! I didn't hear the wind howl outside our apartment, nor the rain against our windows. Our building did not move at all, nothing. Yeah, I felt completely safe on the 16th floor through a Typhoon type 10! 

View from our kitchen

Another peculiar thing about Hong Kong buildings; they keep the pipes on the outside. Yep, water pipes, sewage and gas etc. It's all out there in the open. They insist of building a gap of about two meters (6.5 feet) between apartments where they place the pipes. In the summer we barely have to turn on the hot water, it's so warm already from the pipes being out in the sun. 

Talking about hot, to get hot water, each shower has its own gas heater. It heats up the water as you go (as in, there is no hot water tank in the building). At first it was a bit scary to have to take a shower with a gas tank! (It's not that big). Generally you only shower in hot water, the rest of the water in the apartment is not heated (although not that cold, as explained earlier). I even do the dishes in cold water! It was weird in the beginning, but with so many other things you get used to it. 

All these things may not be true if you live in the very exclusive and expensive part of Hong Kong. They probably have hidden pipes, a nice hot water tanks and all, not that I would know. However, for the general population this is the living conditions, and this is what I adjust to.. . 

Bonus info: They still use bamboo when they build or renovate buildings! So flexible and strong!