Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) – the city’s main public transport network which handles just shy of four million passenger journeys a day – has a reputation for being clean, safe and reliable.
Given the sheer volume of humanity it carries, the largely but not exclusively subterranean system, can also be a source of entertainment.
Just this month, commuters took to social media to share some of the weird and wonderful sights spotted on the city’s most popular mode of public transport.
One man added a dash of colour – and brightened the day of fellow commuters – by dressing in a bright yellow traditional, dragon-embroidered robe, much like those worn by China’s emperors during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912).
Two girls spotted riding a train wearing cat tails literally also amused commuters.
What creatures they were impersonating with their fluffy additions was not entirely clear but the scene reignited memories of the days when Hong Kong was swept up in the furry movement, a sub-culture united in their passion for all things anthropomorphic.
Then a video of a young woman swabbing a handrail did the rounds.
It turned out the woman was from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and was carrying out scientific research on bacterial transmission, but this did not stop germ-sensitive online observers from lashing out.
While January saw many bizarre MTR-related incidents, they were not the first.
In October 2021, a group of men took train-ride entertainment to the next level when, to the shock of fellow commuters, they set up a mahjong table to play the tile-based game that is a quintessential component of Hong Kong-Chinese culture.
Jaws dropped in 2019 when photos hit social media showing a wild boar in an MTR station. Wild boar encounters are a growing concern in Hong Kong where between 2,000 and 3,000 of the animals live and where civilisation has encroached on their natural habitat.
In 2015, a young man, believed to be a German tourist, became a YouTube sensation when a video of him performing an impromptu dance and moonwalk to the Michael Jackson hit, Thriller, while riding a train, went viral.
Others have received attention for more chilled antics.
In 2014, a man hooked a hammock across a carriage and climbed on for a nap.
While trains are a popular place for stressed-out, sleep-deprived Hongkongers to get some shut eye, the hammock act took it too far. MTR staff were called and the man was moved on.
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