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> had gone to Hong Kong on holiday. Lau noticed that passengers on that city’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) were standing calmly on both sides of the escalator an
by markdown 11y ago
> had gone to Hong Kong on holiday. Lau noticed that passengers on that city’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) were standing calmly on both sides of the escalator and, it seemed, travelling more efficiently and safely as a result.
Is this new? When I visited Hong Kong in 2011, you had to stand on the right and walk on the left. In fact, this was one of the things that caused a great deal of anger towards "mainlanders" – tourists from mainland China – who ignored such social conventions.
EDIT: I just googled it and apparently the "no walking on the escalators" rule in Hong Kong is only a few months old:
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1853813/stop-walking-escalators-hong-kong-divided-over?page=all http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/artic...
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- lvturner 11y agoNo one obeys the stand only rule, at least not anywhere on Hong Kong island that I've seen - so much so that it startled me to read it in the article.
- idra 11y agoThis rule is one of many that make Hong Kong better for visiting mainlanders and worse for the actual locals living there. For decades the escalators ran perfectly. Nowadays, it just takes one yokel with a suitcase to block an entire escalator, oblivious to the fact that there is no one on front during rush hour. Unfortunately, the HK population is quite shy and timid in general, and these things go unpunished. The rule is a sad attempt to make this situation the status quo. When this isn't happening, people walk on the escalators all the time. London is silly to take an example from this.