Hong Kong Page 03 China Travel

Tasty, good-for-you meals on Hong Kong City tour

Near Sheung Wan MTR, several streets and blocks are given over to a variety of specialist food and herbalist shops. After a (then fee-based) walking tour of the area, we stopped for a Healthy Lunch.

In addition to its regular menu, the restaurant prepared a variety of special dishes prepared with foods that herbalists and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believe act as nutriceuticals to combat or deter serious disease. The current Hong Kong Cultural Kaleidoscope now offers Chinese Medicine Class, a similar (free) program (without lunch).

Medicinal Herb Shop Near Western Market Hong Kong Central

We stopped into this shop, on the aptly-named Herbal Medicine Street, to read the detailed displays about the sources of herbal remedies.

Shops all along the block offer traditional medicine services and remedies, and serve the same function as do pharmacy/drug stores in the west.

Herbal Medicine Street is several long blocks southwest from the bus terminus, the Hong Kong to Macau ferry pier, and Sheung Wan MTR, from where you can take a taxi.

Dried Herbs and Foods Hong Kong Market Shops

The offerings are many and varied, and uncomprehendable to non-Chinese speakers. Even if you spoke the language, you would need to learn the terminology to make an intelligent purchase.

It is in situations such as this that I am thankful to have a guide to interpret not only the words, but the context. Happily, this shop sold mostly dried foods, so we could identify many of the beans and nuts by sight.

Bird's Nest Soup a Delicacy ~ Ginseng and Bird's Nest Street Market

On Ginseng and Bird's Nest Street, we stopped for a bowl of this special soup.

Personally, I'd seen video of how the nests are collected, so I was not keen to try it. However, when in Rome, and all that . . .

And the staff were obviously pleased to be offering this delicacy nutriceutical that we all relented and tried several spoonfuls each.

I found Bird's Nest Soup to taste very sweet and thick (it was prepared with honey, hence the cloying sweetness), and couldn't get past the mental image of its origins.

Jasmine Restaurant in Jardine House Hong Kong Fine Dining

Jasmine Restaurant is across from the Star Ferry terminal, in Jardine House. In 2005, this casual fine dining restaurant received several awards in the hotly-contested annual Best of the Best Culinary Awards.

The categories vary each year, but all the dishes *must* already be on the regular menu.

They are first marked on taste and price, and ambiance and cleanliness of the restaurant. Candidates then go to the Chinese Cuisine Training Institute (CCTI) to prepare the dish without IDing the restaurant.

The top 10 finalists then compete in a cook-off. To have one chef/restaurant receive multiple awards is indeed high praise. Note the tiny 'apple' on the glass rim: It's a lychee nut with mint leaves.

Near Happy Valley Racecourse; A Hong Kong Institution

Not far from Happy Valley Racecourse (that dates back to 1846), an urban horse racing track in the middle of a busy city, is this large cemetery.

The location is not noted on many tourism maps, and the city tour guides never expanded on its status or history.

Rather, they'd change the subject, as only Chinese can, by ignoring your (usually considered impolite) question and discussing a 'safe' subject.

My notes show the guide went on to impart local euphemisms, such as 'Sing a song in the Happy House' meaning 'use the washroom', and give an example of local humour, saying the beer brand San Miguel was interpreted bawdily as 'send me a gal'.

Chinese Lanterns for Festivals in Hong Kong

Colorful silk lanterns like the one pictured here added sparkle to the covered walkway near the Star Ferry terminal during the Temple Fair and brought cheerful light to a rainy evening.

Go to Hong Kong >Hong Kong page 01 >Hong Kong page 02

Hong Kong Travel Pictures - Click a picture and go travel China!