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Posts tagged ‘Hong Kong’

Jan 25

35 Comments

A Dispatch from Hong Kong

“What does your revolution look like?” The words jump out, bright and clear, from the frosted glass façade of a multistory shopping arcade on a busy Kowloon intersection. In ordinary times, such a  tongue-in-cheek question might be an innocuous reminder to strive for positive change, but this is Hong Kong at the tail end of 2019, more than six months into what has been termed an uprising, a rebellion, and the greatest challenge to Communist rule in China since 1989. Read more

Jan 1

44 Comments

Hong Kong for the holidays

hk-ramble_1

When I moved to Indonesia last May, I promised my parents I would be back for Christmas. But it was a strange feeling to return to a place where I’d lived for nearly 20 years. Apart from a high-rise hotel taking shape on the Kowloon waterfront, and a handful of other construction sites, it appeared that my hometown had barely changed at all. Read more

Jan 15

57 Comments

A hike on Dragon’s Back – and life after travel

Dragon's Back_1

Running along a windswept ridge on the southeast arm of Hong Kong Island, Dragon’s Back might just be the most famous hiking trail in the territory. In recent years it has also become a major draw for tourists, especially since TIME magazine named it the ‘Best Urban Hike in Asia’ back in 2004. I had long known of its existence, but it took Bama’s third trip to Hong Kong, and a sudden spell of clear weather, for me to revisit the trail after a hiatus of six or seven years.

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May 25

33 Comments

Impossible City

HK rain shower

A poem for Hong Kong, inspired by Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning”. Read more

Jan 26

35 Comments

Reflections on a Hong Kong hike

Yuen Tsuen_1

There is an old Chinese idiom which expresses a person’s unbreakable ties to their family, hometown, and ancestral land: “Falling leaves return to their roots”. Read more

Dec 30

45 Comments

2014: a year in review

2014 Trips_1

Looking back on the past 12 months of travel, the feeling I get is one of thankfulness. It has been chock-full with experiences and memories that will stay with me for a very long time. Read more

Oct 2

28 Comments

Beyond the barricades

Occupy HK_1

“Hong Kong has never opened this road before.”

Speaking to a friend, the man was clearly astonished as we strolled down the middle of a nine-lane highway. Around me I saw many smiling faces, belonging to both young and old, and families with small children. All had yellow ribbons pinned to their chests. Read more

Sep 30

25 Comments

An ‘Umbrella Revolution’

Umbrella Revolution_1

Tonight in Hong Kong, there is a sense that history is being made.

Many of you have seen or read about what is happening right here in my hometown. Yesterday brought scenes that I could never have imagined in this safe and stable city. We watched in horror at the footage of riot police, armed with rifles and donning Stormtrooper helmets, lobbing volleys of tear gas into crowds of unarmed protestors. Read more

Aug 5

55 Comments

The things I take for granted

HK Sunset_1

It’s a common sight on my way to and from work: wide-eyed visitors toting cameras around their necks, and backpackers who stop to capture the busy street scenes with their smartphones. I often turn around, surprised to see their attraction to a grimy world of exhaust fumes, dripping air conditioners and ageing metal pushcarts, combining to form a less than photogenic whole. Read more

Jun 8

10 Comments

The treasures of Ping Shan

Ping Shan_1

Long before the British set foot on Hong Kong’s shores, five great family clans took root in the New Territories. Of these, the oldest and most influential was the Tang, with a history of local settlement going back 900 years. It is a lineage rich in tradition and folklore: one branch even claims royal descent, thanks to an ancestor who married a princess as the court fled southwards ahead of the Mongol army. Read more

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