Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Hong Kong’ Category

Feb 10

31 Comments

Horsing around Hong Kong

Salted duck eggs in Tai O, Lantau

“Is there anything worth seeing on the other side?”

Map unfurled, the two visitors gestured at the skyline as the city lights flickered on across the harbour. It was a valid question but also a remarkably silly one, and I listened intently as a solo traveller tried his best to answer their query. Had they asked me, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. What were they interested in? What kind of sights did they want to see? Aspects of traditional culture? Street markets? Or the island’s less-trumpeted beaches and hiking trails? Read more

Dec 9

12 Comments

Kowloon: Beneath the banyans

Urban jungle, Kowloon

Amid the neon signs and rush hour traffic on Nathan Road, stand silent reminders of a time when Hong Kong’s streets echoed to the sound of horse-drawn carriages. Read more

Nov 25

10 Comments

Mascots in peril

Busy sea lanes

The engine slows to a crawl. Aboard the junk boat a gaggle of locals and foreign visitors wait in hushed anticipation, clutching the railing with cameras at the ready. An endangered Chinese White Dolphin has just been seen frolicking among the waves. Read more

Aug 27

20 Comments

Silk, spice and pirates

Hong Kong in the mid-19th century

Written with a quill, the florid cursive inscribed on the pages of a ship’s logbook was still legible: “Tuesday March 1st – 1796. Light winds…, weather fair and pleasant, a smooth sea.” These were the words of Captain Charles Christie on the East Indiaman Belvedere, then engaged in the lucrative China trade. Read more

Aug 21

31 Comments

Saved from the wrecking ball

King Yin Lei, restored to its former glory

Perched on a prime location by Stubbs Road, high above the racecourse at Happy Valley, the bricks of King Yin Lei are a silent witness to the explosive growth of Hong Kong. Built in 1937, the mansion is a dream in ‘Chinese Renaissance’, an East-West blend that was popular before the Second World War. Few historic structures of any significant age remain in this city, which has gained a reputation for tearing down almost anything in the name of profit. Read more

Jul 15

27 Comments

Unmasking ‘The Big Lychee’

Hong Kong snapshot_1

As a nickname, it’s not nearly as popular as ‘The Big Durian’ (Jakarta) or ‘The Big Mango’ (Bangkok), but some expats have affectionately called Hong Kong ‘The Big Lychee’. Native to the rainforests of southern China, the lychee fruit is protected in a thin, brittle shell concealing a delicate pulp with an aromatic, perfume-like flavour. Read more

Jul 5

22 Comments

A many-splendoured thing

Southside_1

Through the netted screen, the waters of Deep Water Bay glinted a startling cobalt blue in the harsh midday sun. Clear skies and postcard-perfect weather had finally arrived after a week of rain, and the scene appeared almost Mediterranean, as though transplanted from a rugged stretch of the Côte d’Azur. Read more

Jun 21

36 Comments

Strolling Wan Chai’s markets

Wan Chai Market_1

Right in the centre of Hong Kong Island’s north shore, Wan Chai may be better known as the setting for the film and novel ‘The World of Suzie Wong’, its raucous nightlife a legacy of visiting servicemen during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. But beyond the tram tracks on Johnston Road lies the original neighbourhood, home to a thriving residential community that was established long before the girlie bars and nightclubs first made an appearance. Read more

May 28

73 Comments

Dragon Boat Season

Preparing for the Stanley warm-up race

Race 65 at the Stanley warm-up event, and we have landed ourselves in the mixed division’s bronze cup final. “Focus!” The captain on the adjacent boat hollers over his anxious team. Our vessel is parked in lane two of the starting line, protected from the incoming waves by an orange pontoon. This year, instead of watching from the relative comfort of the beach, I am right in the thick of the action. Read more

Mar 12

21 Comments

Nan Lian: the unlikely garden

Nan Lian_1

Across a startling orange bridge the two-storey pavilion was clad in gold leaf that glowed, mirror-like in the midday heat. At its crown an umbrella-shaped canopy, frozen in gilded timber, dripped with miniature bells that dangled and chimed in quiet unison. Rows of manicured bonsai beckoned down the winding path, its sun-bleached bricks laid carefully in herringbone patterns. I stopped, basking in the sound of wind chimes tinkering softly in the breeze, and the melodious tones of a guzheng plucked by expert fingers – its source a hidden loudspeaker in the bushes. Read more

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »