The colorful stalls of the Mong Kok Ladies’ Market in Kowloon, Hong Kong. In addition to the typical tourist finds, there’s also a very large collection of “copy” designer handbags, watches, electronics and clothing. Some fakes are obvious while others don’t even bother changing the brand name. In many cases, the products come from organized crime groups. Hong Kong Police have been working to clean up the markets, but tourist demand continues to drive the supply.
On our last full day in Hong King, we followed Lonely Planet’s walking tour of the Central district. The Old Supreme Court Building was originally built in 1900, designed by the same British architects responsible for the famous eastern front of Buckingham Palace. It served as the home of Hong Kong’s Supreme Court and later it’s Legislative Council. During World War II, the occupying Japanese forces used it as a home for the military police.The iconic Bank of China Tower (left) was designed by famous American architect I.M. Pei and was the first building outside of North America to top 1,000 feet. It also is a featured player in the Symphony of Lights show we saw on our first night in HK.This awesome mural captures the essence of Central, if Central were populated by giant pandas.A lucky shot from Cheung Kong Park goes all the way down to Victoria Harbor, catching a “Ding Ding” (double-decker tram, named for the sound of its bell), the blindfolded Justice statue atop the Old Supreme Court Building and the Hong Kong Observation Wheel along the way.
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Lamma Island is only a short ferry ride from Hong Kong’s bustling Central District, but offers a much more laid-back vibe. There are two main villages on the island; the southern village of Sok Kwu Wan (pictured) is home to Hong Kong’s farm fishing industry and several popular seafood restaurants.
Fishermen greet the ferries in the northern village of Yung Shue Wan. The village is full of tourist shops and restaurants, but also homes and daily-need shops, like hardware stores. While walking through the streets, I thought it must be odd to share space in your daily life with hundreds of tourists every day, but such is life on Lamma.Rapunzel found herself tangled in a tree at a Lamma Island hat shop.The easy-to-follow path around Lamma Island is about four miles (seven kilometers) and passes two beaches. The first one was packed with tourists, but our patience paid off as the second had fewer people, nice shade and great swimming.I’m kind of a nerd for modern windmills, so I was pretty excited that Lamma Winds, Hong King’s first wind turbine, was open to the public. It was a bit like a horror movie standing directly below the blades as they came slashing down. While the logical part of my brain knew they weren’t going to hit me, the personal safety part of my brain got my pulse racing a bit. Also, the name Lamma Winds sounds like it should belong to a casino.Tillamook Cheese, made on the Oregon coast for more than 100 years, is pretty popular across the U.S., but it’s still a surprise to see it abroad. We found a nice selection at one of the many international grocery stores in the downtown area. The little loaves were between $5.50-6.00 U.S.
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The major street markets in Hong Kong are mostly a variation on a theme… fake designer watches and bags, Chinese-style chachkies and miscellaneous electronics. The hawkers are aggressive and more than willing to make a deal.
The market in Stanley, a beach town on the southern part of Hong Kong Island, offers a nice break from the city markets. We expected heavy crowds on a Saturday, but the streets were pretty quiet. The shopkeepers had quite a bit more variety in their shops and were a lot more hands off. For a more laid-back open-air market experience, Stanley Market is a great choice.
St. Stephen’s Beach is just a short walk to the south from Stanley Market. With lots of shade from trees, it was perfect for a long afternoon of lounging. We bought a couple bamboo mats and a couple bottles of beer and whiled away the afternoon.These kids were splashing around in the shallow surf, occasionally coming up with a small fish. The boy was running toward his mother, excited to show off his bag of new pets.On the way back to the city, we tracked down dinner at Happy Veggies. The food was delicious, but the vibe was even better. Happy Veggies actively recruits its employees from the local Deaf community and uses its profits to support local causes. The menu even had a whole page listing different types of special orders and options (“more spicy,” “no oil”) that we could point at. Both the staff and customers seemed to be having a great time.
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Over the past couple years, giant Buddha statues have become a must-see in our travels. The Great Buddha of Kamakura, the massive Reclining Buddha in Bangkok, and now the Tian Tan Buddha of Lantau Island.
I have to admit, I felt a little cheated when I learned that it was built in the 1990s, but the impressive size made up for it. At 112 feet tall, it can be seen from Macau on the Chinese mainland, about 25 miles away.
Within a minute of stepping off the bus in Ngong Ping Village, a group of fellow tourists stopped to take a picture of what appeared to be some average looking trees. We wondered aloudーas we often doー”what is that a picture of?” We took a couple more steps and saw what the fuss was all about.Near the entrance to the village, this lone cow rested in the grass, then took a leisurely stroll down the path for some lunch, seemingly undisturbed by the visitors. Lantau Island has several feral cattle and buffalo who appear to be embroiled in a turf war with residential developers.There are 268 steps leading to the base of the statue, where a museum allegedly houses some of the remains of Buddha himself, Siddhārtha Gautama.Six bronze statues called The Offering of the Six Devas surround the Buddha, symbolizing the Six Perfections required for enlightenment.At first, the Tian Tan Buddha didn’t seem any bigger than the Great Buddha of Kamakura, but apparently it’s three times taller. And, it’s about 20 times taller than Viktoria.We bought some postcards at one of the shops in the village. the shopkeeper was wearing this Columbia t-shirt that read “Oregon Rules.” We explained that we were from Oregon and he got a little sheepish, admitting he’d never visited and just thought the shirt looked cool. He was right!
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Hong Kong may be famous for its hoppin’ urban areas, but two-thirds of it is covered in natural areas. On Hong Kong Island, the 50 km (31 miles) Hong Kong Trail is a great way to experience forestland, beaches and awesome geology. We tackled the 8.5 km (5.2 miles) section known as Dragon’s Back, named by TIME magazine as the best urban hiking trail in Asia in 2004.
Most of Dragon’s Back winds through wooded areas with some very colorful trees. The browns, oranges and whites on the bark of these trees reminded us of a giraffe’s neck. Oh, and the silence… With all of the hustle bustle over the last couple of weeks, the silence of nature is deafening.About halfway to the summit of Shek O Peak, the skies opened up and made the red clay paths a muddy mess. With the summit in sight, we encountered a puddle the size of a small pond that engulfed the path. Already soaked to the skin, we decided to forgo the swim and enjoy the near-summit views.The views of Big Wave Bay and the South China Sea made the wet walk worthwhile.Established more than 200 years ago by local fishing clans, the quiet, colorful streets of Shek O Village feel a million miles from the city. The vibe was much like the coastal villages of Central America.Finally! We’d been dying for a beach day on this trip and finally got one at Shek O Beach. Despite a decent-sized crowd, the beach was fairly quiet except for the occasional screams of from the kids being swept up in the waves on their inflatables. The otherwise calm waters were perfect for soaking the sore hiking muscles.
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Our first full day in Hong Kong fell on a Wednesday, which just happens to be free admission day at the Hong Kong Museum of History. The very well-done museum begins 400 million years ago and ends with the transfer of sovereignty to China. The museum seems highly concerned with the loss of traditional Hong Kong culture and focuses much of its collection on customs and arts, such as these puppet heads used in puppet operas.
With Hong Kong’s role as a major part of the global economic ecosystem, it’s easy to overlook the fact that humans have been roaming the islands for 40,000 years. In addition to displaying artifacts like stone tools dating back thousands of years, the museum has also recreated scenes of daily life from the Neolithic era (10,200 BC – 2000 BC).I’ve always loved watching traditional Chinese dragon dancing, especially when the coordination makes you forget there are people inside the costume. The museum offered several opportunities to get closer looks at many of the exhibits, including a pair of dragon models.Several short films played in theaters throughout the museum, expanding on different parts of Hong Kong’s history. One theater featured a film about the various traditional subgroups of people. The theater was decorated with representative clothing and artifacts from each group, including the lanterns which were an important part of rituals in many local villages.Hong Kong’s brilliant skyline is commonly listed among the world’s best. It currently boasts the most skyscrapers of any city, featuring 66 more than second-place New York City. Traditional junk boatsーthe first ones appeared in the second centuryーstill sail in Victoria Harbor today, although they’re now used more for serving expensive cocktails than trading goods.Waiting for the Symphony of Lights showーa light, laser and sound show starring the skylineーto begin. Although I can attest that we actually were there, the photo reminds me of the souvenir package we bought at the Sydney Opera House where we were photoshopped into various Opera House scenes.
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With China in the rear-view mirror, we arrived in Hong Kong right around sunset after the second delayed flight of our trip. Our hotel is in the middle of the craziness that is HK’s Tsim Sha Tsui district.
Although we had plenty of time to get to the airport for our flight leaving Shanghai, we opted for the super-fast maglev train purely for the experience. The line is one of only two maglev trains currently in commercial operation (Japan has the other).Shanghai’s maglev reaches a top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph), making the 30 km (18.6 miles) trip in about eight minutes. The ride was a bit bumpier than expected.The view of the clouds rolling in over the mountains at Hong Kong International Airport made up for the fiasco of catching a bus to the city (honestly, who has exact change when they leave the airport?).It’s easier to find a shop selling traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong than it is a Western-style pharmacy. The shops also have large jars full of dried seafoods, commonly used in treatments. I’m not sure what any of these particular ones do, but we swear by Tiger Balm for everything from headaches to sore muscles to mosquito bites.
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After a day of sightseeing, we headed back to our hotel. On the sidewalk in front of a convenience store on the corner of a busy intersection, these two guys locked horns in a game of xiangqi (Chinese chess).
Throughout our trip, we were frequently stopped by students looking to fulfill a school assignment. In the French Concession, these girls asked questions about my view of Shanghai and whether the education system was better in the U.S. or China. Every exchange was recorded on video, so we’ll be making an appearance in a Chinese classroom before long!The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre is hidden in the basement of a giant apartment complex, but features one of the world’s best collections of Mao-era propaganda posters and 1930s “Shanghai Ladies” posters. Early posters took on more of an editorial cartoon style while later posters adopted the bold look associated with Soviet-era propaganda. Displayed in order by year, it also offers a visual timeline of the changes in Chinese attitudes during the 20th century.Every afternoon, this man set up his noodle stand (a bicycle with a flatbed and propane gas tank attached) around the corner from our hostel in Shanghai. He’d make stir-fried noodles and rice until late in the evening. We stopped in twice during our stay, getting a filling meal for about $1.50 USD each.On our last night in the city, we were able to meet up with two of our travel buddies from our India/Nepal trip who are teaching English in Shanghai. It also highlighted how reliant we’ve become on internet access… All of our planning had been done via Facebook or Gmail, both of which are blocked in China. We finally found a way to touch base at the last second.
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The umbrella-lined path at Shanghai’s People’s Park is a real-life Match.com. Every weekend, the Shanghai Marriage Market draws the parents of unmarried men and women looking for a suitable match for their child. In an ever-changing China, the market is one way traditional family involvement in the matchmaking process is being preserved. China is also facing a gender gap due to the so-called “one child policy.” By 2020, studies project China will have 24 million unmarried men unable to find a female partner.
At Shanghai Museum, a young artist sketches on of the Qing-era bowls on display.A dragon head watches over the collection in Shanghai Museum’s Chinese Minority Nationalities’ Art Gallery. Artifacts from Tibet, Mongolia and others show another side of China’s past.The sign for fast-food chain Real Kungfu features a very Bruce Lee-looking character. Maybe their motto should be “Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick. Eat when you have to eat.”On our first morning in Shanghai after a rough overnight train from Xi’an, I stumbled on this street market down an alley near our hotel. The narrow market sells fresh fruits and vegetables in the morning while food stalls begin to pop up later in the day. By the third day, the lady with the kung pao tofu was serving it up before I even asked.The red chili pepper is a major component of Sichuan-style cuisine. The local market had no shortage of this key ingredient.The market was the real-deal, selling live eels, frogs and turtles. Upon completion of the customer’s order, this vendor killed and cleaned the bullfrogs right in the street.
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After three days in the mountains of eastern China, the final night of our North China Getaway tour brought us back to Shanghai. Our group headed into Pudong—Shanghai’s skyscraper district—to see the skyline at night, highlighted by the dazzling light display of the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Three behemoths of the Shanghai Skyline. At left, the World Financial Center houses the world’s second-highest hotel. In the center, Jin Mao Tower was once China’s tallest building. At right, China’s current champion is Shanghai Tower, the world’s second-tallest building.
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