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.

 

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Old meets new, Old gets knocked down and rebuilt higher and shinier than anything around it and becomes the new new for everything else to aspire to beat…and so the continually evolving urban landscape of Hong Kong exists. Hong Kong Island is extremely limited in available land space, any plot of land is incredibly valuable and nothing is freehold only leased. This results in a dynamic system of constant renewal. Where other cities expand sideways across a given area Hong Kong grew vertically, buildings hundreds of floors high mingle with their smaller 40 story counterparts until the day comes for a change. Perhaps the best place to see this in action is along the streets of the Wan Chai district. Still suffering from a bit of a bug I headed out to see what lies down there. On one side of the main road narrow, blackened and crumbling towers stand about seven stories high, their dilapidated states making them seem far more imposing than the much higher modern towers opposite them. The modern buildings couldn’t be more different if they tried; sleek, glass, metallic and vast at several times taller than the aged blocks. The contrasts don’t end there though; in the basements of the new buildings lie cavernous shopping centres selling anything from designer suits to sports gear and on through to restaurants, yet take a walk down a side lane and you’re pitched into another world. Already narrow streets become a tight corridor through which to squeeze because of the stalls loaded with all manner of things; fruits, clothing, trinkets even varieties of fresh fish (that is to say; “alive-in-a-tank-for-you-to-chose-from” fresh fish) – I even spotted one valiant attempt by one denizen of the sea as it vied for freedom, sadly it didn’t get that far before it was spotted and returned…

 

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One of the major crowd drawing attractions in Hong Kong is the Peak Tram, taking happy punters up to Victoria Peak to look down upon on all the ordered chaos of the high-rise buildings, a welcome opportunity to escape the darkened streets and spaces below. This view (above) shows the sprawl of buildings on Hong Kong Island and the tangled sprawl over the water in Kowloon, as is evident there was quite a lot of pollution in the air at the time I went. Converting the image to black and white has improved the view a touch but by no means eliminated what really is quite a dense haze, noticeable after only a few hundred meters. I wasn’t feeling too great this day having picked up a bug (urgh!) and canceled plans to stay for sunset etc. though it certainly is not hard to get back again, just have to fit a return trip in. Oh, and everywhere you go in Hong Kong has a shopping mall, even at the top of a +500 metre climb. What amazes me is the expectation for it to be sustained by continual visitors. I suspect philosophy is something along the lines of “…if there are going to be lots of people coming to an area, build a shopping mall”, or perhaps even as simple as “might as well have a mall here!”

 

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9am (local time) Greetings from Hong Kong! After a fairly long and slightly exhausting flight (lack of sleep thanks to seat not actually tipping back but more sliding beneath the one in front…don’t ask!) I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport pleasantly ahead of schedule and in to a warm blanket of 24C heat. Quite a difference from the chilly Heathrow I left behind. A good couple of movies helped pass some of the time and thankfully I didn’t get put next to ‘the fat guy’, quite the contrary in fact, my fellow passengers were great company and made the journey that much more bearable despite the comedy seat/tipping arrangement. Time is a funny thing on an aeroplane, one of the dominant ques for setting our body clocks is daylight, going east effectively shortens this, your body fights to keep itself in sync at this unexpected alteration in the daylight. I’ve only been here a couple of hours and, understandably tired from the flight itself, I’ve yet to find the joys of jet lag hit me. A quick train – costing less than a third of the UK Heathrow express(!) – got me to the centre of Hong Kong, an equally cheap taxi to the door of where I’m staying and thats that. Right, the cleaners have just come in (think of the Penguins from Mary Poppins) so thats my que to head out for an explore, so much to see…must stay awake to stave off any time difference problems.

3pm Well, I wandered around taking in the sights. Today has been a day of contrasts thats for sure and I wouldn’t have it any other way! From hi-tech aircraft that take us half way round the planet to walking into temples burning so much incense it made your eyes sting if you hung around too long! Not to mention the buildings held up by bamboo, then there’s the skyscrapers. I’m going to see if I can head up the China Bank Tower to the public viewing gallery at some point… The sights, sounds and smells – there’s so much to take in, add to that the combination of fatigue and energy sapping heat its enough to make you feel a bit giddy, indeed I found I was flagging a bit and in need of sustenance. Before I go here’s a taster and I’ll add more with where and what once my brain and body have recharged!

 

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