Wan Chai Bridge

One of Hong Kong’s busiest pedestrian walkways is bridge that runs from the Wan Chai MTR station to a collection of huge office buildings in downtown Wan Chai. During the morning and evening commutes times it is jammed with people to the point that you just have to walk with the pace of traffic as there is no room to maneuver and you would bump into people if you tried to move quickly. When the bridge is slightly less crowded the rest of the day there is always people out there passing out leaflets/advertisements. As I walk down the bridge I like to collect a handful to help them do their job and see what is for sale. Sure I can’t read the Chinese but most have some pictures. Other attractions on the bridge are musicians and singers. Occasionally there are even protests or sit-ins. On this trip I even learned that the bridge is deserted if you walk down it around 2am on a weekday. You don’t learn such things as a missionary. The bridge really is a fascinating piece of real estate.
One of my best/craziest mission stories happened on this bridge. Sadly I don’t have any pictures to illustrate it although I did debate asking the missionaries to help me re-enact it. One day while serving in the Causeway Bay Ward my companion Elder Vang and I were contacted people on the bridge. While contacting a notorious Mormon-hater in Hong Kong who went by Elijah came upon us. Elijah is British, about 6’5”, 230 pounds, with long straight hair that goes down to his shoulders. Nobody could ever establish if he worked for another Church or why he hated the missionaries but every time he ran into some there was an unpleasant confrontation. Elder Vang was down the bridge a bit contacting when Elijah walked up to me and started yelling at me. I paid him no attention and continued trying to talk to the Chinese people. This did not make him happy. He yelled at me some more, a little louder, and yelled at the Chinese people to stay away from me. I continued to ignore him. Next thing I know, he puts his hands on my head and says something like, “In the name of Jesus, I cast the devil out of you!” and then pushed off my head, causing me to stumble a bit to the side. I kept vertical and went back to contacting the Chinese people and he started yelling and screaming, when Elder Vang comes running up. Elder Vang is 5’6” maybe, somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 pounds when soaked, tiny guy. He did come from the ghetto though and had been in his share of fights. So Elder Vang comes up to Elijah with his fists cocked and ready to go. Thankfully, Elijah gives up and storms away. According to Elder Vang, I looked white as a ghost and was scared to death. I don’t think I’d argue with him, it was not a fun experience.