Hong Kong ~ Travel Pictures & Information

Hong Kong Shopping Times Square

Times Square is a multi-level shopping plaza a few blocks of the Causeway Bay MTR (subway) station, and lucky for me, there was a free shuttle ride from City Garden Hotel, when I stayed there. I took the escalators up to the top level (I wrote down in my notes it was the ninth floor), and worked my way down to the street again.

A musical instrument store offered a fabulous fire engine red fibreglass piano in an ultra modern design, the Disney Store had televisions shaped like Cinderella's coach, and the women's clothing stores featured wonderful cotton garments from Hong Kong designers. The main level held the international designer stores, and a separate glass walled elevator whisked diners up the outside walls to the penthouse restaurants. Heaven!

Hong Kong Statue Square Near Ferry Terminal

Returning from the Tsim Sha Tsui -- the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour -- from the Star Ferry terminal dock, I took the very long pedestrian tunnel that passes under Connaught Road and surfaces near Statue Square. These colorful stone tablets brightened up the water feature, and many visitors were busy snapping photos. Big name designer stores line the streets for several blocks to the west, near the Central MTR station.

Hong Kong Fashion District Great George Street

From the World Trade Center Plaza, I headed inland a few blocks, along the Fashion Walk towards Great George Street. There are so many shopping areas in and around Hong Kong that the Hong Kong tourism bureau has published A Guide To Quality Shops that's the size of many country guidebooks. This area is just west of Victoria Park, near the Causeway Bay MTR station.

Our city tour guide cautioned us to avoid so-called 'cowboy shops': Shops that have no name over their doors -- just 'Tax Free', that use touts on the street to lure unwary customers to get their credit card info, then 'bait and switch'. He said the authorities arrested some 27 people not long ago, and that they are trying to close them down.

Spring Temple Fair Bun Tower Marks Festival

Replica buns (not real ones!) make a column of lights in the heart of Hong Kong's business area. Buns are the star attraction at the annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival, a 6-day celebration in early May on Cheung Chau, one of the outlying Hong Kong islands located roughly between Lantau Island (where the international airport is) and Lamma Island, known for its seafood restaurants. The Bun Tower shown here is part of the Temple Fair that takes place at the Star Ferry terminal in late April to promote upcoming local festivals.

Sticky Buns for the Bun Festival

Along the promenade at the Star Ferry terminal, demonstration booths are set up to showcase different aspects of Hong Kong culture. Here, bakers were busy showing how they make buns.
At the Bun Festival proper (in 2006, from May 1-6), giant towers covered with real sticky buns stand outside a temple.

At midnight on the final night, competitors climb the towers to grab the stickiest buns at the top. There are parades and processions with dancers and elaborately dressed youngsters. Unfortunately, I had to be leaving Hong Kong a few days before the start of the festival.

Cheung Chau islanders say there are two reasons for celebrating this festival. To placate the ghosts of pirates' victims (pirates once used this island as a lair), and to commemorate the islanders having been saved from a plague some 200 years ago.

Chinese Opera Demonstration At Star Ferry Pier

At the Temple Fair, performers presented short snippets to the crowd. On an earlier trip, I had taken advantage of the Opera Appreciation tour, one of several free cultural tours offered through Hong Kong tourism. (Tours may vary from time to time, as new themes and venues are added and others dropped from the itinerary.)

At that time, a 20 minute quick start guide to Chinese Opera -- how to read various characters by their costumes, and how to interpret the way the performers manipulated their costumes -- allowed us to follow along with great delight.

Mid Autumn Moon Festival

Flags strung from buildings around China mark the Mid Autumn Festival, one of the happiest in the Chinese year. Also called the Moon Festival), it is roughly equivalent to Thanksgiving in other cultures.

Chinese living overseas or in other parts of China often return home to be with their families as they celebrate the harvest and give thanks, with lots of food, including special Moon Cakes.

Moon cakes are round flaky pastry cakes (about the size of a muffin) filled with lotus bean paste and chopped walnuts. At the end of a workday, lines form at bakeries throughout the country as workers buy their supplies.

Apparently, moon cakes are an acquired taste :: I quite like them, but then, I like fruitcake, too. Unlike Thanksgiving, the Mid Autumn Festival is a moveable feast, taking place each year at the first full moon following the autumn equinox.

Some years, when this busy travel time coincides with PRC National Day, October 1, it seems the entire country is on the move. Book early, and hunker down and enjoy!

Ceramic Art Hong Kong Heritage Museum New Territories

Located at Sha Tin (of horse track fame), and on the rail route that continues to Shenzhen and mainland China, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum offers various exhibits throughout the year. (See also Sai Kung New Territories).

At the time of this visit, the gallery was presenting ceramic settings. Each artist (there were about eight represented) went from concept to table decorations of each installation, including the table and chairs. You can buy multi-site passes to museums at the local Hong Kong tourism offices.

Early morning Tai Chi in Hong Kong

From the window of my 11th floor hotel room window, I had a good view of the large square that centered the surrounding apartment blocks. From just before sunrise until late morning, area residents would wander in to start their day with tai chi.

Some practiced in small groups, others in larger, more formal classes, and still others went about their routines by themselves. When I noticed others -- seniors, and young women pushing babies in strollers -- wander in and take a seat on a bench or low wall, and chat with each other, I realized the courtyard served as a community center.

Qi Gong (Chee Gong) at Victoria Park

One Mid Autumn festival, I took the Healthy Living Tour that then included a session with a qi gong (chee gong) master who taught a series of simple exercises to be done each day. This series has evolved into different offerings, under the Hong Kong Cultural Kaleidoscope banner.

You can choose from 13 free offerings this year, from jade, pearl and tea appreciation to kung fu, tai chi and feng shui. I've done several of them and always learned a lot while having a good time. Especially on the Duk Ling, a restored authentic junk that sails around the harbour.

Model Boats Motoring at Victoria Park Pond

After window shoppping in the Fashion District, I decided to walk across Victoria Park to return to my hotel. Just inside the west gates, I came across a number of men who were racing their model boats, and, as did others, I stopped to watch a while. I've noticed that Hong Kong residents really use their parks, which are lovely.

But like any big city park, they also provide natural living space to supplement the minimal living space in small apartments. Victoria Park is in Causeway Bay, just part of the vast green spaces that make up Hong Kong. At first, I couldn't believe the claim that most of Hong Kong is green space, but I've found it to be true. Homes are in land-stingy high rises; the land is for parks.

Tasty, good-for-you meals on Hong Kong 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

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

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

On Ginseng and Bird's Nest Street, we stopped for a bowl of this special soup. My being the product of several documentary nature-type shows that showed how the nests are collected, 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 it 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

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 HK 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 added sparkle to the covered walkway near the Star Ferry terminal during the Temple Fair.

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