Busy Dizzy in East End

Visiting Hong Kong is a very different experience from the one to the typical Asian city – no other city combines so perfectly two so different identities, allowing you to feel at home but still be able to ‘visit’ an Asian city at any moment you wish to. Macau’s influence is discernible mainly in the form of small local restaurants which serve exquisite Sino-Portuguese meals; it is worth looking for them. A usually overlooked activity is trekking in the New Territories: the mountainous topography and the pleasant climate of the area transform it into an ideal place for such an activity.

Shopping is a hard work here: there are at least thirty shopping centres in the island and more than that in Kowloon – a thorough comparison of prices before buying something is almost impossible to achieve. Look around for institutions belonging to groups with interesting backgrounds – there are many of those, The Hong Kong Swatow Christian Church, on Elgin Street, down of Caine is a good example; their version of Chinese contains eight! tones – if it is open at the time of your visit you may hear fascinating stories.

Quick Tips:

Despite the unification, there are still passport's checks and visa requirements while crossing from the mainland to Hong Kong. Hence, you should plan carefully your trip among the cities to make it visa-efficient. The connection of Hong Kong with Macau is simple enough; only the crosses with the Mainland are cumbersome. Buses require exact change; an octopus card solves the problem. There are several kinds of those cards but the most convenient for a short visit is the Airport Express Tourist Octopus that includes one airport express single journey, three days of unlimited rides on the MTR and 20HK of usable value. They can be bought at the airport and in every MTR station. If you are using the Central-Mid Levels Escalators then look carefully for the free two dollars recharge of your Octopus card; the gift is valid only within the same day and only from the nearest MTR station. It is worthwhile to use the Peak Tram only in the way up; you can walk down through well marked trails while enjoying an awesome view of the port and Kowloon – you should decide that before buying the ticket, since if you buy a return one is cheaper.

Best Way To Get Around:

Bus: there is a simple code you should know: single and double digit numbers do not cross the harbour, while 1xx crosses through Hung Hom; 6xx through the Eastern Cross; 9xx uses the Western Cross. Axx goes to the airport and you are allowed to bring your baggage, Exx is similar but does not allow baggage. A21 will charge 33 HK from Kowloon to the airport. MTR: Including the KCR light train to the mainland, there are seven lines of subway; creating thus the most comprehensive and comfortable way of transport in the city. To save forty HK in your way to the airport, you can travel with the Orange Line, called also Tung Chung, till the Tsing Yi station and only there board the Airport Express line for sixty HK. Trams: there are two routes, from Kennedy Town to Happy Valley and from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan; a single ride costs two HK. TurboJet ferries to Macau: leave from Shun Tak in Hong Kong Island and from Tsimshatsui in Kowloon. Tickets cost anything between 75 to 260HK, the way longs one hour; if you are in a hurry an helicopter will do the same way for 1300HK.

Markets are always good places to learn about the local culture. What do the denizens eat? How do they eat? What do they buy and bargain? How do they treat foreigners visiting markets? All these questions are pleasantly answered just by taking an easy stroll to the nearest market.

However, Hong Kong is nowadays house mainly to large shopping malls. Those along Tsim Sha Tsui’s shoreline (on the mainland side of Hong Kong) are notorious in their size and the variety of products they offer. Free internet points, shops selling the latest gadgets, international food chains, and shops selling every imaginable item create an eclectic mix that attracts crowds from every spot in the planet. Yet, these ultra-modern monsters are somehow disconnected to the local culture.

In sharp contrast, some old style markets have grown up and have more than that to offer to the casual visitor. This is the case of the Western Market at the western end of the Des Voeux Road, just by the MTR’s Sheung Wan Station, a prime location in Hong Kong Island. At first sight, it looked to me as a scaled down and colored up version of Harrods in London; probably it looks as exotic to the locals as a Papuan market would be in Paris. Intrigued by the apparently misplaced structure, I decided to visit it.

The Edwardian structure was originally called the Sheung Wan Market, honoring thus the name of the area it was placed in. It was built in two stages. First, in 1858, the South Block at Queen's Road Central was built; this part was demolished in 1980. Then, the North Block, smaller and more compact in design, was built in 1906 as the Harbour Office, roughly at the midterm of the Edwardian Era, when Hong Kong was rigidly under British control. Accordingly, it has four corner towers and its brickwork features two alternating colors. Built on a granite base, it has an attractive granite arch over its main entrance.

Along the years it ceased to serve as a market. Yet, instead of being demolished it was renovated in 1989 by Hong Kong’s Urban Council and subsequently declared a historical monument. In an attempt to be faithful to its origins, it was transformed into a traditional trade, arts and crafts centre; as such it was re-inaugurated in 1991. Unluckily, nowadays it is enclosed among taller buildings, thus it is impossible to take a good picture of its wonderful exterior. The old-fashioned two-deck tram traveling frequently in front of it adds an early 20th century touch that a century later is almost unachievable elsewhere.

The aforementioned restoration process was wonderful and created a magical spot in the island; the four floors building hosts now a variety of specialty shops, selling from arts and crafts to fabrics and souvenirs; a restaurant, an exhibition gallery, and a Bavarian bakery can also be found there. The market is open daily between 10 AM and 7 PM. The shops feature typical Chinese characteristics, even when we are talking about a strangely placed Bavarian bakery. Things become more conservative when the local tailor and the Guangdong-style desserts shop are visited; stylish souvenir shops offer traditional souvenir items, not less attractive – maybe even more – than those being sold within the nearby ultra-modern super-malls plaguing the area. Traditional handicraft stalls and several stylish cafes add to the charm. Incredibly, the top floor is occupied by the Grand Stage where people gather to dine and dance, mostly to the tunes of century old music.

However, the old market is not gone, it simply changed location. In remembrance of the past, nearby is the Modern Market where fruits, jade shops, poultry stalls and a friendly cluster of inexpensive restaurants with menus written only in Chinese are available, pretty much as they were in the original Western Market structure. Some things never change; despite their apparent vulnerability, most food markets survive their original countries and cultures. In some fashion or other, the Western Market – pretty much as Kashgar - would probably be there forever.

At 552m above sea level, Victoria Peak is the highest point in Hong Kong Island, it can be reached by tram or foot; from its top the views of downtown, the port and surrounding mountains are exceptional in every direction.

Reaching the Peak

Reaching the Peak from the downtown, use bus 15C ($3.2HK) from the Star Ferry to the Peak Tram Lower Terminus.

The tram completes the way almost to the peak’s summit. It dates back to 1888 and it is wonderfully maintained in its original splendor. Despite its age, it manages to climbs almost 400 meters in a 27° slope, till its end point a few meters below the summit. The trip costs 20HK$ for one way or thirty for a return ticket.

It is recommended to sit in its northern (right) side while climbing, since it provides the best views of the harbor, unluckily its closed windows block the opportunity to get good pictures.

The Terminus

The Upper Terminus is located - in true Hong Kong style - within a shopping mall. The shopping mall includes several restaurants and attractions including a Movenpick Marche, a Madam Tussaud museum for wax lovers, and a Ripley's one for those uninterested in the stunning views of the city.

These are all nice, but the winner is the Pacific Coffee Company branch which offers red, soft couches facing windows overlooking the blue straits.

The Deck and the Sights

On the mall’s roof there is a viewing deck with coin operated lenses which let the visitor enjoy close-ups of the city. Downtown Hong Kong offers here a splendid angle for pictures; however, the straits, the busy harbor, the ferries and Kowloon beyond appear with a misty aura around them.

The business district, Victoria Harbour and Kowloon are the highlights. Right down from the peak are three of the world’s fifteen tallest buildings in clear sight: the Central Plaza (78 storeys, 374m), the Bank of China (70s, 369m) and The Center (79s, 350m); such buildings are seldom so easily seen from above. It is a good idea to stay for a few hours until after sunset in order to get some bright snapshots of the City of Lights.

The Way Down

If there is still daylight, you can help digestion by walking your way to the centre; there is a very nice path which is clearly marked from the peak to downtown. Finding the path is easy, get out from the ground level of the Peak Tower, walk left towards the single house down the slope and then use the stairs at its side which are later transformed into the walking trail. From there, it is an easy half an hour walk to the escalator leading to the central district. Friendly local joggers will cheer up the way.

Like Rio de Janeiro and La Paz and to some extent Amsterdam, Hong Kong offers to the walker a spectacular added value, since the city is placed amidst a magnificent landscape; the first sight of those cities is never easily forgotten.

In Hong Kong, the walker enjoys a hyper-urban environment displaying an exciting culture while walking amidst a beautiful shoreline shadowed by majestic mountains and slim skyscrapers. Regardless the official but meaningless definition, Hong Kong belongs like Singapore to the era of trading city-states; self contained and almost oblivious to events beyond its borders, Hong Kong has a strong and unique personality, it is neither China nor London.

Visiting Hong Kong is a very different experience from the one to the typical South East Asian city – no other city combines so perfectly two so different identities, allowing the visitor to feel culturally at home but still be able to visit an Asian city at any moment he wishes to. Moreover, Macao’s influence is discernible mainly in the form of small local restaurants which serve exquisite Sino-Portuguese meals; it is worth looking for them. The city offers staggering views, endless shopping options, an incredible mass transport system, which includes 19th century trams, and small alleys with the best fusion cuisine in the world. Most foreigners get a three-month visa on arrival and that makes the visit here a relaxed one.

Hong Kong has excellent mass transport systems: trains, subways, buses, ferries, trams, turbojets, escalators… and all of them are so efficient that people do not know how to find their way around while walking. Despite that, the best way to study a city is to walk through it, not just arriving to its main landmarks by the latest model of Mr. Spoke Teletransportation Device. A related and usually overlooked activity while visiting it is trekking in the New Territories: the mountainous topography and the pleasant climate of the area transform it into an ideal place for such an activity.

Security

Hong Kong is an easy town for walkers with wide sidewalks and drivers respectful of traffic lights and signs, but hat doesn’t mean it is completely free of dangers. Being a sensitive political spot, Hong Kong swarms with Chinese political police, which approach tourists on a regular basis. The usual encounters include a casual approach by a plainclothes policeman who begins asking questions with political implications or attempts to entrap his innocent victim. Over time, I learned to have ready monologues that are automatically delivered under such circumstances; the dullest the monologue the quickest the not-so-invisible interrogator goes away. My favorite is centered on the wonders of the local bus system timetable.

Walking Around

Starting such a walk is easy; a good spot for that in Kowloon – the peninsula-side of Hong Kong - is the Seaside Promenade at Hung Hom, from where if continuing south along the promenade the intrepid walker would reach the High Speed Ferry Pier (leading mainly to the Hong Kong Island) after a few minutes and just after it the area known as Tsim Sha Tsui at the very tip of the Kowloon Peninsula. The last is one of the main shopping areas in the whole city.

The water canal separating between the peninsula and the Hong Kong Island is not so special, the one separating Singapore from Malaysia is similar, but that is not the point. Emphasizing that, the city is similar to any modern metropolis, the surrounding mountains are typical of South East Asia, yet the combination is unmistakably unique.

Continuing the walk in the same direction, a few minutes later appears Canton Road, taking it to the north until Haiphong Road results in two options for ending the walk: the first is the pleasantly green Kowloon Park, while the second is means entering the huge Harbour City Mall, one of the biggest shopping centers in Hong Kong.

Another enjoyable area to walk through is the Hong Kong Island itself. From the Star Ferry Pier, the traveler can walk along the Elevated Promenade keeping the harbor at his right until the entrance to the Central to Mid-Levels Escalator; note that from time to time free refills to the octopus subway cards are offered to the escalator users. Climb with it until Conduit Road and continue to the left, gently going downwards until reaching the Zoological and Botanical Gardens.

If that wasn’t tiring enough, a little bit east of the gardens end is the beautiful Hong Kong Park and at its base the huge Pacific Place Mall, where the fearless walker can stop for a honestly earned coffee.

Another option for those of use more used to strenuous walking is up and down the Victoria Peak, or just talking the beautiful nineteenth century tram in the way up and descending by foot. Walking around the Victoria Peak is an easy stroll of about an hour through Lugard and Harlech Roads; it is better began from the Peak Tram Upper Terminus.

The Pacific Coffee Company branches look like an upmarket version of Starbucks; they are strategically located at central spots and in most of the main malls in Hong Kong, thus enjoying an excellent espresso while exploring the town is a breeze. The most remarkable branch is at the Victoria Peak, where the traveler can enjoy a cappuccino while watching the harbor and downtown Hong Kong from high above.

No Doubt

Despite the relatively expensive coffee and foods, it is worth to approach them due to the coaches, the excellent background music, the warm lighting and smart furniture, the courtesy internet and newspapers, the television tuned to CNN … did I mention the wonderful coaches?

Hong Kong International Airport

At the Hong Kong International Airport there are two branches conveniently located within the departure area. They were designed in an "open-space" fashion, but beyond that they resemble very much the shops scattered in downtown Hong Kong. The one on aisle B is open the 24 hours, while the other – on aisle J – is open daily from 6am to 11pm.

Internet

Public internet kiosks are relatively rare in Hong Kong, thus the Pacific Coffee Company is a very convenient place to check out the email during the fifteen minutes courtesy allotted to each customer.

Since the place is usually not full, the traveler can use the terminals for more than the allotted time; moreover, the connections are really fast, thus fifteen minutes is already a lot of time. In addition to this, all the branches are equipped with Netvigator Wireless Broadband and Bluetooth Internet Service.

Tumbler Friendly

If bringing your own mug or tumbler, a discount of HK$1 will be given to the coffee price. On that tone, the company donates money to charity partners which include Changing Young Lives Foundation, The Hong Kong Cancer Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Children's Thalassaemia Foundation and Operation Santa Claus; creating thus an important added value to that tasty cup of coffee. The Perfect Cup Card offers additional services and discounts to long term residents, including a Book of the Month.

The Coffee

The coffees are offered in five styles: blends, decaffeinated, varietals, organic and flavored; using blends designed by their own barristers. The prices are somewhat high; a tall coffee prices range from HK$22 to HK$31, while an alto can reach HK$38. However, if factoring the additional services and the environment offered, the prices make sense. Iced coffee, teas, fresh juices and pots are available as well.

The Menu

Croissants, cookies, muffins, donuts, cakes, bagels, sandwiches and salads complete the menu; the items in this list range from a bit above ten HK dollars to almost forty. Over time, I enjoyed several of them and always found them fresh and made of excellent quality products.

The Newspaper

On Sundays’ mornings, the Hong Kong English newspapers appear in especially thick editions. In this hyper-Western bastion, they are the almost only hint of our being in Asia and add a bit of attractive color to an already awesome coffee break.

Macau put a spell on its neighbors; everybody in the Guangzhou Province and in Hong Kong would testify that Macau offers a magical fusion cuisine of Sino-Portuguese origin, with such an attractive twist that its survival is assured even long after the Portuguese departure.

Some of Macau’s delicacies have crossed the Pearl River Mouth and can be comfortably tasted in the Macau Café in central Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

The place is a fast food restaurant aimed mainly for busy locals; do not expect to hold long conversations with the waiters regarding the dishes details. "See, Buy, Fly" they seem to say silently in the spirit of Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport duty free shops logo. Tsim Sha Tsui is one of the busiest areas of this busy-dizzy city and Macau Café has adopted the area’s edgy pace.

Luckily, the dishes are inexpensive enough to safely experiment without long term damages to your pocket. I quickly adopted the place as a daily stop while in Hong Kong and never was disappointed from the dishes quality or the sparkling cleanliness. In a typical Asian fashion, the tables are shared; if you are sitting alone it is most probably that a friendly local will soon join the table.

The Macau Breakfast

Macau Café offers an excellent breakfast, which is not surprisingly called The Macau Special Set and costs 20HK$.

In the tradition of huge eastern breakfasts, the set includes a Macau crispy roll with butter (or a Macau toast or a croissant), a scrambled egg with cream, a barbequed pork (or porkchop or satay beef), and spaghetti or macaroni.

The meat and the spaghetti are served in a bowl containing a soup, a clear borrow from the Chinese legacy in its shape but with non-completely traditional Chinese ingredients. The taste of the soup changes daily; sometimes a clear chicken soup is served while in other occasions a quite spicy one is served.

The round, big and almost spherical roll with a crispy crust and a soft interior, is served already with the butter spread inside and is an obvious glimpse towards the far away Portugal’s coasts; its exquisite taste can be the whole justification for a trip to Hong Kong – or even emigrating there.

The decent enough coffee is served with milk in a stainless steel cup – a style rather foreign to Chinese establishments; a refill costs an extra 15HK$.

Hong Kong tastes different from any other South East Asian city, no other city offers so many exciting fusion cuisine options.

The Philippine’s influence is discernible mainly in the form of small local restaurants which serve exquisite Sino-Portuguese meals; it is worth looking for them. Serendipity is the best strategy to find the most interesting dining opportunities and that was the case of my encounter with Little Quiapo.

Location

In a small alley next to the B Exit from Central Station, Little Quiapo serves "Fast Filipino Food", as their sign explicitly states. The sign is superfluous; the long line of Filipinos waiting for their turn is the best landmark and recommendation.

The People

The place is managed by migrants from the Philippines and is the gathering centre for that community in Hong Kong Island, thus it is a great place for socializing with them; speaking Tagalog is not a requisite for that, English turned out being a fine option. Soon I found that they were not only friendly but funny as well.

The Establishment

There are few sitting places inside and most of the many customers crowding the place at all hours opt for eating (and chatting) while standing around the entrance in the narrow alley.

The yellowish décor and fluorescent lights remind of a popular burgers’ chain but the menu couldn’t be more different, I took the first as a healthy touch of humor. The prices are relatively low, with a snack or a basic meal being offered for around 20HK$.

The Food

The Philippines cuisine is one of the riches and most varied in Asia. Due to the complicated history of the islands it bears characteristics of a fusion cuisine, blending Chinese, Malay, and Indian roots with Spanish and American dishes dating back to the country’s two colonial periods.

Popular types of dishes include meat stews, the best known one being adobo, in which the meat is stewed in a sauce made from soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, and peppercorns. Noodles dishes include the pancit and ispageti; both add vegetables and meat to the basic pasta. Many rice dishes were created by this cuisine, the arroz caldo is a rice soup with meat, vegetables and spices, while the champorado is sweet and chocolate flavored. Arroz Valenciana is the Filipino version of the Spanish paella.
Lumpia are fresh spring rolls filled with yams, carrots, cabbage, jicama, bean sprouts, green beans, and meat and covered with a peanut and garlic sauce.

There is no way a small shop would serve a representative menu, but nonetheless, Little Quiapo provides a very tasty opportunity to sample down this fascinating cuisine.

Most meals are variations of vegetables and meat on rice, but they accept special orders for ‘Lechon de Leche’ (a roasted, whole suckling pig) for 420HK$, this is a popular dish for celebrations and feasts. Other specialties include pork meatballs and a surprisingly tasty dish of vegetables with chickens’ livers and chopped shrimps.

Another obvious hit were the Ulam and Kanin, tasty kinds of soft, thin, pizza-like dough stuffed with onion and other vegetables; most customers were happily chewing on them.

Hong Kong grew up to be the biggest of the former European colonies in East Asia. In many aspects it resembles a city-state. It has one of the biggest ports in the world and is a global financial center. Few places are most representative of our Global Village. Following this trend, and in more than in one sense, Chungking Mansion is the epitome of Asian accommodations for budget travelers. Nowhere else did the concept grow up to such monstrous dimensions.

Location

Sometimes location means everything and when passing through such an exciting city as Hong Kong, the traveler does not want to waste time travelling from the hotel to downtown. Usually, that means paying for a more expensive hotel, but that is not the case here since the Chungking Mansion is the cheapest hotel(s) in Hong Kong and is placed in Tsim Sha Tsui itself, the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula and near the Hong Kong Island.

The Mansion

A seventeen-story building made of four similar rectangular blocks was divided into hundreds of apartments, which in their turn were divided into a few rooms, bed-width each, with shared showers and toilets.

There are elevators in every block, but usually they do not take the guest the desired floor; after riding them he needs to climb up or down an extra half-floor and then walk through endless corridors, adding thus to the weirdness of the whole experience.

There are internal windows along the corridors opening to the dark shafts, seventeen floors their depth, containing the building plumbing – it is a must to see them even if not planning to rent a room in the place.

Facilities

The ground and first floors are dedicated to shops, with endless variations of Indian and Pakistani food stalls, travel agencies, money exchangers, international phones’ booths, internet cafes and an expected laundry. "Purity Laundry" is located at shop 25 in the ground floor; up to 2.5kg cost 30HK$ without ironing and the laundry is ready in 3 hours.

The Rooms

The tiny rooms have air-conditioner and cables television, but not always a window, thus if that is the case in the room being shown, I recommend shopping around until a suitable one is found.

Most of the rooms are rented for 80HK$, and there is very little place for discounts, though weekly and monthly tariffs are available.

Finding a Room

Touts by the main entrance do the selling. Sometimes they work with more than one establishment; the thumb-rule is that they will try to group westerners together. The payment is done to the owner and there is no contractual obligation towards the tout showing the traveler around.

Surrounding Facilities

Just outside the mansion is the entrance to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station and the very main Nathan Road with some of the best eating and shopping centres in town; Hong Kong Island is just one station away. Several 7-Eleven branches are surround the area, as well as Sino-Portuguese restaurants serving food in Macao style.

That’s not the End

Overall, the place is so unique that it may justify a short visit to Hong Kong by itself; it is quite sure to claim that there is no other place like Chungking Mansions on Earth. Well, except for the Mirador Mansion just next block.