What do you think Hong Kong and Catalonia?

I love Hong Kong, having stopped off there in my return from and my way to Australia. I love the mix of British and Chinese culture, and the way that the city provides something familiar as well as delightfully exotic. I love the ancient practices going on in the city streets, beneath the splendid corporate architecture and the money-making carry on. I was also really impressed by the way in which both cultures manage to get along beside each other and are even mixed together. Double decker buses rattling past Chinese markets; Europeans buying jade; a European city park with Chinese features; American style buildings with fen shui. All in all it was a destination unlike anywhere I had ever been to.

As for Catalonia, I can only really comment on Barcelona because that is the only part which I have been to, but I love that place as well. It has a mix of economic prosperity, cultural dynamism, self expression and appreciation for the things which make life worth living, I am a great fan if continental Europe anyway, and Barcelona seems to epitomise all of the best of it. Cafes, restaurants, shopping streets, glorious architecture, a rich artistic scene, buzzing nightlife, the glorious Mediterranean location, and a pace of life which manages to be nth dynamic and relaxed at the same time. Best of all though is that it wears its culture very much in its sleeve, and the locals there don't take offence to it being streamlined, but show it off for the whole world to admire. All in all, two superb destinations.