Does Hong Kong cheat?

Does Hong Kong cheat in its rankings as a major skyscraper center?

Well, not intentionally, of course. But on appearances:

Hong Kong, unlike NYC and Chgo, is built on the slope of a mountain that is rather steep for an urban setting. Its impressive group of skyscrapers climb that slope, giving them an appearance of height far greater than what you would find in Midtown or the Loop.

Here in the US, San Francisco plays by the rules; the vast majority of its super tall buildings are close to the relatively flat Embarcadero or on slightly higher Montgomery Street inland. These structures tend to tower over the downtown hills (Telegraph, Nob, Russian); so different from Hong Kong.

If HK were "flattened", would its preceived high rise prominence get flattened, too? Talk about literally not playing on a level playing field!>