Imagine for a moment that East and West are hypothetical strangers meeting for the first time. Invariably, dialogue (once they got over the language barrier) delves into culture, food and customs.

The open-minded duo quickly bond then, like Romulus and Remus, decide to form a great city. But unlike the tempestuous brothers - whose Rome flourished before perishing in flames - they don't end up in a knife fight.

Instead, East likes West's idea of financial markets and free trade. West takes to East's insistence on a stylish concept called “feng shui.” And they settle on a name: Hong Kong.

It forms the basis of a unique synergy, harnessing the energetic, forward-thinking drive of modern-day Asia within an infrastructure of Western stability and sensibility. Essentially split into the islands of Hong Kong, Lantau and Kowloon, this city of more than 6 million people is as easy to navigate for English and Chinese speakers alike.

Maybe, even, a little too easy. The transit system - labeled in both languages and composed of ferries, underground trains, ferries and cable cars - is among the world's most efficient.

According to local figures, up to 90 percent of the population rely on it. Swapping modes of transport is often necessary but not discomforting, given the frequency of services and many stations acting as hubs or all four. (Are you paying attention, MARTA?)

They're also de facto shopping centers filled with labeled-up cell phone wielders. Shopping, though so important to the Hong Kong experience, highlights a nagging dichotomy: Sure, haggling for fake Ralph Lauren was a trip, but do I really appreciate the Golden Arches reminding me that I passed up a Big Mac for authentic dim sum?

Starbucks, McDonald's, Circle K, 7-Eleven - they're everywhere. Indeed, a new outlook is required to enjoy this place: think in terms of global harmony, not homogeneity. In fact, you may learn to love it a little.

It’s brought an incredible skyline, one of the world's largest in terms of skyscrapers; an education system outshining its neighbors; and, crucially, spared its citizens the kind of economic disparity observers regularly point to in the region's other Four Tigers - Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.

Perhaps, too, its cavalier embrace of laissez-faire economics is a saving grace from the big boss, China.

As Edmund, a native Hongkongian, put it, “Yes, we are ruled by China, but as long as we are doing well, then they are happy.” At the annual July 1 human rights protest rally, “only about 25,000 people showed up. But so what?”

At a time when the West acted with dismay at the draconian treatment of Tibetan protestors in May, the notion of 25,000 people expressly rounding on China within its borders challenges belief.

“It’s got nothing to do with the Olympics,” Edmund explained. “Some people want the governor democratically elected, but if his brain is about business, everybody knows that’s most important. If not, China fires him, like last governor [who drew more than 120,000 demanding his ouster]. It’s business.”

Edmond’s principal concern, instead, was about the cost of living within China’s baby’s boom. Despite never having been to Europe, the 36-year-old telecommunications executive compared it with Hong Kong’s square-footage rental space as though the continent were one city. His figures showed Hong Kong as being much higher, but clearly only factored Europe’s lower-end prices. (Needless to say London was omitted from the equation).

True, space here is at a premium. That’s where feng shui helps. Piling the masses into sky-high apartment blocks may seem eerily Orwellian, but these buildings – some with flashing lights synchronized to change every few seconds, others neatly placed in a prudent pecking order according to size – neatly fill the landscape.

“This is a different place, isn’t it?” said Tommy, two months into a one-year banking assignment and unsure if he likes it or not. “I tell friends back home, ‘you’re not going to believe this place; it’s not really China, but kind of is, plus it’s way more crowded than Manhattan.’ Still you’d never think it sometimes, but other times it is. Weird.”

His time would be better spent in the city’s Stanley Market area, which en route takes in much of Hong Kong Island and is a welcome departure from the crowded downtown.  It’s best known for its outdoor market, views of neighboring islands, and remains something of a British bastion. There are no tall buildings, just eateries and cobbled streets.

Alluringly, though, it’s still the skyline that never ceases to amaze. Many insist on seeing it both day and night at different vantage points. The most spectacular view is from a footpath-come-nature-trail next to Peak Tram Station, which is serviced by a ventricular railway. Make sure it’s a clear evening, as storms and clouds storms can spring from nowhere during the rainy summer season.

It’s refreshing here, even quiet. But if savoring a moment away from the overwhelming drum of fast-paced money making sounds mundane, the same view can be enjoyed from the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant in the station’s shopping mall. Weird.