Firstly; Happy Chinese New Year, the Year of the Tiger! This is the view across Victoria Harbour towards IFC1 and IFC2 (International Finance Center) at night, identical in design except that IFC2 is over twice the height of it’s brother and currently 7th tallest building in the world. The keener eyed viewers will also recognise these from the movie Batman: The Dark Knight where , in order to capture his target, Batman jumps from the top IFC2 down to IFC1. Rather him than me.
The astute among you might have found a few new additions to the galley pages as I organise my images and start uploading them onto the website. The most recent addition (currently) is a series of images from Hong Kong, Kowloon, The New Territories and the outlying islands. Navigate to the gallery to see the series.
A trip to the quiet and unassuming Cat Street Market (officially Upper Lascar Row*) can come as a welcome diversion from such markets as found over in Kowloon. There is no gaudy plastic to be found here, mostly antiques – or excellent copies – jostle for space on the tables lining the street, each one loaded with fascinating objects. Upon approaching one stall it felt like stepping back in time to the 50’s to when People’s Republic came to power. It was quite literally overflowing with all manner of bric-a-brac under the general theme of ‘Red’. The communication gulf between myself and the wizened and wrinkled lady, who seemed to be seated somewhere inside a pile of Little Red Books (the words of Mao himself), was partially bridged as I managed to buy a couple of things from somewhere in the pile. Definitely the most interesting market of the area by a long shot!
Aberdeen Harbour lies in the space between the town of Aberdeen and the small island Ap Lie Chau on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Half expecting to see kilt-wearing, caber-tossing antics it couldn’t be more different. Although many places in Hong Kong share names with British and other European locations the similarities end there. Aberdeen was originally called Hong Kong, though visitors to the island mistakenly believed that to be the name of the entire island so the town was renamed Aberdeen after George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.
Aberdeen Harbour is famous for its floating village and the Tanka people that live and work on their boats, though many now live onshore the harbour is still a bustling riot of activity and noises. Fishing boats coming and going, sampans chugging back and forth as they jostle for position to catch passengers off the jetty, loud clangings from a repair yard across the harbour, a string of fish on a line drying on the sun, gentle waves break around the remnants of a sunken vessel, beyond the harbour wall fishermen bob about precariously in the swell from the vast container ships that pass by…despite the prominent commercial high-rise towers up to the water’s edge Aberdeen Harbour has retained it’s character as a fishing ‘village’ and is certainly worth a visit if ever in Hong Kong.
It’s a straightforward affair to reach a number of the 236(!) islands from Hong Kong, so one evening I headed down to the ferry port, paid the princely sum of just under £2 and enjoyed the 30min trip out across the bustling harbour passing through the West Lamma Channel towards the island of Cheung Chau. As noted in an earlier post, small pockets of people still live aboard their boats and can be found in various locations around Hong Kong such as; Causeway Bay and Aberdeen Harbours on Hong Kong island, and further afield on Lamma Island, Cheung Chau Island and Tai O on Lantau Island where the more traditional lifestyles can still be found.
Arriving at Cheung Chau is very much like going back in time, all the buildings are low-rise, a large harbour crammed with fishing boats from the large trawlers down to the ‘i-can’t-believe-you-take-that-beyond-the-harbour-wall’ type craft that bob gentle in the swell of passing craft, bright colours along the sea front promenade are not the glaring neon lights from the hub of commercialism I recently left but brightly coloured awnings and building fronts, strings of lanterns and bare light bulbs, even the gentle persuading from merchant stalls and fish restaurants seemed more laid back than anywhere else so far.
I wandered along the promenade coming to the Tin Hau temple to the north of the town, as usual you could catch the scent of incense some way away before actually spotting it, inside the burning candles and heady smoke put me in something of a daze and so I continued by wandering back to the water front, coming face to face with a stunning sunset. I set myself low and close to the water using a line of boats as my foreground, the rapidly falling light increased my exposure time but I achieved the effect, in fact I was hoping to show the movement in this way, its as though the small ones are moving around as the larger ones remain static without losing to much detail. I believe whilst out on Cheung Chau I witnessed the best sunset I’d seen since arriving in Hong Kong – still a fair bit of pollution around but at least it felt like you’re away from it all.
After pleasant evening’s stroll in a comparatively quiet location I caught the ferry back to the main island ferry port, the slow one this time so I could sit out and watch the island lights slip away behind as I went…
From the earliest settlers throughout Hong Kong’s history, people living on the island have been dependent on the surrounding waters for their livelihood; trade, fishing and as a place to live due to the shortage of space on land. Today very little remains of the old ways of salt production and fishing with most trade being done via computers as unimaginable values upon the lofty floors of glass fronted towers that now look down on the once frantically busy waterway of Victoria harbour Don’t get me wrong; it’s still busy but not quite how it used to be when going by the old images of pre-war Hong Kong (more on that later). Indeed the dramatically changing scenery of Hong Kong extends beyond the construction sites and office buildings, the continuing reclamation process is reducing the available harbour and shelter space for boats immediately adjacent to the business districts and the bulk of the shipping ports have begun relocating into mainland China where there isn’t the restriction on space. Looking out to sea it’s hard to miss the unfathomably large 18-container wide ships steam past.
It’s a strange view looking across Causeway Bay, below me lay a tangle of rafts of all shapes and sizes, tarpaulins draped across their tops to act as shelter from the weather and all of them loosely connected with thread-bare ropes forming a slowly undulating mass in the swell. Small craft being paddled laboriously out across the harbour yield to the sampans that chug about, ferrying people from land to water-borne craft. Yet above all the swirling chaos stood neat, ordered static structures, air conditioned offices, high-rise apartments and glistening deep blue glass. Imposing in their placement and dominating the landscape, the people who live on the water are not just looked down in the literal sense of the phrase and the economic status pushes the buildings ever higher. Two worlds so far apart on one level but so undeniably linked to each other…
You can buy anything in Hong Kong, you just have to know where to look. From the vast shopping malls (almost everywhere!) containing designer clothing outlets of the likes of Louis Vuitton and Giorgio Armani to the sprawling street markets wheere you can find jewelry, clothing, fake designer handbags, fake designer watches, toys, games, trinkets, food of all descriptions there’s even an area where you can buy kittens, puppies and goldfish! The Kowloon regions of Mong Kok, YauMaTei and Tsim Sha Tsui form the epicenter of street markets within Hong Kong. Of the many markets the most well known and largest are the Ladies Market (see below) and Temple Street Night Market that span several streets’ worth of precious Hong Kong space, implying above all else their importance to locals not just tourists. Others such as the Jade Market, Goldfish Market and Fruit Market are smaller but still draw the crowds of locals and visitors alike. All lie within walking distance of each other and can be a fun day’s worth of meandering along busy streets, watching the buzz and energy of people going about their lives beneath brightly coloured signs and adverts overhead. Just be sure to watch out for the taxis!
There’s so much bustle and jostling going on in and around the markets, deliveries to and from stalls, squeaking of the trollies as they rush by, stall hands calling out for attention of their wares and the people haggling over their value of goods. Alien languages cry out from one side of the tight walk-way to the next as their keepers discuss the last deal made – did they fleece yet another unwitting tourist I wonder? A concoction of smells wafting out from each stall as the occupants grab a quick meal between visiting customers or even a quick nap away from prying eyes during another long day. It’s completely safe to wander around with a camera and see what to pick out, I was trying to see what happens beyond the view of a tourist and all the glittery stalls, where the objects for sale are doing the moving around – assisted by the vendors at each stall. I tried to keep a polite distance whilst looking for shots to create the story of the market, though in a heavily populated country such as this I’ve no idea what a polite distance cold be…still, I received no objections which I took to be a good sign at least.
Near the Mong Kok MTR (Hong Kong’s underground rail network – very efficient!) is the Ladies Market on Tung Choi Street. Originating as a place for women to buy (mostly) clothes it has since transformed into a sprawling mass of stalls selling all manner of things, much like the one down in Wan Chai only spread over several blocks and as ever you just have to know what to look for and sped wisely when you find it. Part of the skill of spending wisely is to haggle, for everything. Haggling down from the initial asking price is expected by the vendors, I suspect they’d feel upset if you didn’t at least liven up their day with a bit of hard bartering going on. Nothing in the market has a price tag, if you express an interest one of the many stall hands will pounce and offer it to you for a fairly arbitrary and often greatly inflated price. As a rule you never take their first offer. I tried my hand when looking for a few things and went for the dead-pan approach when a ‘price’ was announced. A moment passed without a word from myself or the stall hand then, to break the silence I suspect, the ‘price’ was dropped some 25% right off the bat, this is usually an indicator that what it is actually worth is a fair bit lower still. Happily I turned out to be reasonably ok at it and getting an item about 1/4 of the initial offered price. They put on pained expressions as you push them down on the price for things, part of their tactics are to hurry you along into buying before you fully haggle it out to your satisfaction! It’s fun to have a go at though and sticking to your ground really works to your benefit.
Overlooking the northern town of Sha Tin lies the 10,000 Buddahs Monastery. Sha Tin was the site of the equestrian events for the Bejing Olympic Games in 2008, with a large purpose built centre and popular race track it draws vast crowds on race days with bets regularly raised above HK$1,000,000, to the enjoyment of the watching crowds. Some 400 steps lined with life-sized golden statues of buddhists and monks take you up to the main temple complex comprising the main temple and several outlying buildings in memory of other deities. Inside, the main temple is filled to the ceiling with shelves lined with 3 inch tall statues of Buddahs, apparently there are more than 12,000 within the complex itself! You may begin counting…
I joined the crowds along the Kowloon waterfront to watch the Symphony of Lights display the other evening, horrendously touristy I know but has to be done at least once if you are ever here. Visibility was not as great as I would have hoped for (or in other words pollution levels were quite high) – apparently it hasn’t been this poor for many years. Still, myself along with several hundred others got the views seen in all the postcards that typify Hong Kong as a marvel of modern architecture and enterprising commerce and so on. Every night at 8pm the buildings on the island are lit and put on a display of lights to music, spotlights and lasers beam upwards as patterns of lights flicker across building fronts. Illuminated zig-zag patterns dance across the front of the Bank of China Tower whilst next to it the HSBC building glows red and white for example… just a bit of fun and something you just have to do – even if it is a bit touristy!
Once again taking the oh-so-efficient MTR I travelled to the northern part of Kowloon to the Wong Tai Sin stop to find a temple, to give its full name Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple. Built in 1973 and named after the god representing health and well being the temple stands next to the not so attractive Wong Tai Sin estate. As I discovered a popular place for many to come, even fairly early in the day, the buildings of worship are a riot of patterns and colours; red and gold dominate the architecture with accents of blues, greens and whites. You would be lucky to get a clear view of the temple though as throughout the complex incense urns were stuffed full of burning scented sticks, thick white plumes shrouding everything in a pungent smoke. Stalls leading up to the temple sold all manner of potent inflammatory objects for visitors to burn as offerings to the deities, they certainly seemed to be doing rather well out of it all! To the side of the temple lies the Good Wish Garden, a series of zig-zag walkways over a pond (full of carp and terrapin) with a waterfall. All quite pleasant to wander around though a bit odd thanks to the fact every square inch is covered in concrete (they love the stuff out here!).
After seeing the temple and taking on perhaps more fumigation than any man probably should take I headed south to the Kowloon Walled City Park. Until as recently as the early nineties within the walls of today’s park, an area no larger than a couple of football pitches at most housed an estimated 14,000 people – though estimates were thought to be quite conservative! It was a seething hive of lawlessness and villainy unseen in the main part of Hong Kong. When the British acquired Hong Kong and the New Territories for some reason what lay inside the walled city was not included and remained, technically, part of mainland China though very much cut off. In effect the surrounding jurisdiction had no power over what occurred within its walls. Originally a fort built by the Chinese in the mid-19th century as part of the empire’s coastal defenses it remained a law unto itself when the surrounding lands were acquired by the British. After the second world war a lot of the stone work from the fort was pulled down to help create Kai Tak airport, which is no longer in use and now a golf driving range. What emerged fairly rapidly within the walls were ramshakle high-rise blocks, wedged in between each other and essentially run by triads, becoming a hotbed of criminal activities including gambling, opium dens and illegal dentistry. Despite many attempts by the Chinese to pull down the Walled City community groups resisted until in 1992 the finally relented and what now exists is a pleasant structured park instead. All that remains are a small group of buildings renovated to their original state now with illustrations of the fascinating history of possibly the most dangerous area in south China for some time.
