All text and photos by Craig Guillot.
bladder from the snake’s underbelly, he drained the black bile into a small dish
before mixing with a bit of rice wine and a few drops of snake blood. As he slid the
dish toward me I slammed down the concoction, continuing an ancient tradition and
prepared to head out into the urban chaos that lay outside.
Drinking snake bile at the base of a modern-day skyscraper is exactly the stark
contrast about what makes this Special Administrative Region of China such an
enticing destination. As a land where East meets West and old meets new, few places
offer such variety. This is a place where Buddhist monks use palm pilots to check
email, construction workers build modern-day skyscrapers using bamboo and ocean-
going freighters ride side-by-side with century-old sampans. In the streets of
Kowloon and Central, Porsches ride beside old women toting carts of dried seafood
while Armani suits mix and mingle with blood-stained aprons and straw hats. Home to
age-old traditions and leading-edge technology, Hong Kong is a magical place
trapped somewhere between the past and the future.
The Concrete Jungle
I stumbled out into the streets to discover that this isn’t a place that can be seen on
television or read about in a book. Urban Hong Kong is an intoxicating dose of smells,
sights and sounds that attack the senses and leave visitors stunned like a deer in the
headlights of an oncoming car. Wandering side streets of places like Mongkok, Ya Ma
Tei and Tsim Tsa Tsui, I became lost in the endless ringing of cell phones, the
beeping of alarm clocks in the market, the rumbling of buses, the blaring of radios
and the endless chatter of Cantonese. And for the eyes, Hong Kong is one giant
billboard of neon lights, decorated skyscrapers and sign upon sign, advertising
everything from televisions and cell phones to fast food and underwear. But no sense
of a place can ever be captured like its smell, which in Hong Kong is a strange mix of
exhaust, fruit, barbecued meat and the stench of drying seafood.
In Mongkok, one of the most densely-populated places in the world, I was swept
from the underground train in an ocean of people. The crowd carried me through a
series of overhead flyways and tightly-packed sidewalks, before releasing me to the
tranquility of the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden. There were so many birds – including
everything from macaws and cockatiels to parakeets and songbirds - that I heard the
garden long before I saw it. Dozens of middle-aged men wandered the park with
their birds in tow, resting their cages in trees for them to bask and perch in the
sunlight. Just down the block, I found women battling for the best greenery in
Mongkok’s Flower Market while the Ladies Market and Goldfish Market drew hefty
crowds as well.
While Hong Kong’s most intoxicating experiences can be found in its numerous
markets, selling everything from live chickens to pirated DVDs, nothing is as exciting
as the Temple Street Night Market. Just past the Tin Hau Temple where fortune
tellers read the Chien Tung sticks and Cantonese opera performers sing their twangy
tunes, I found almost four blocks of market madness that brought out the city’s true
Chinese characteristics. Countless rickety stalls lay crammed and stitched together,
where workers touted everything from mini-televisions and strobe lights to fake
Rolexes and designer jeans. Blaring through the night was a constant blast of
thumping techno music, a genre that makes the perfect soundtrack for such a high-
tech society.
When darkness fell over Hong Kong and the neon signs came to life, I would ride the
Star Ferry to Kowloon, grab a seat on the harbor-front promenade and sit in awe at
one of the most beautiful skylines in the world. Reflecting upon the choppy waters of
Victoria Harbor, Central’s splendor lies in its hundreds of skyscrapers adorned with
neon and billboards. During Christmas and Chinese New Year, this luminescent
spectacle is only intensified with a bombardment of flashing lights, towering
Christmas trees and lighted messages. Dominating the skyline is the towering
presence of Two IFC, the third tallest building in the world.
Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement, is perhaps more apparent in Hong
Kong architecture and society than anywhere else in Asia. It dictates just about
everything in Hong Kong, from the direction of one’s bed to the dates for a wedding
or the merging of two firms. In Repulse Bay, there is a building with a huge square
hole in the middle of it, which rumor has, is so that dragons who live in the mountains
behind can get to the ocean for a drink. Even the front door of the Mandarin Hotel is
slanted to keep evil spirits away while the Hopwell Center has a pool on the roof
simply to counteract the building’s bad chi. And in Hong Kong, every number has
significance, so much that people pay fortunes to have a license plate with the lucky
number eight on it.
Escape to Serenity
When the hustle and bustle of Central Hong Kong and Kowloon began to wear me
down, I would travel worlds away in less than an hour. While Hong Kong is known
around the world for its concrete jungles, there are more than 250 islands in the
region. From the seclusion of Peng Chau to the ramshackle inlets of the Tai O fishing
village, rural Hong Kong lies in stark contrast to the one so often represented in
martial arts films.
In the tiny, dumbbell-shaped island of Cheung Chau, I discovered a charming fishing
village wrapped around a typhoon shelter that housed and endless barrage of junks,
sampans and fishing vessels. Lying along the waterfront were numerous restaurants
which all adhered to the number one rule in Cantonese cuisine – it must be fresh.
Each establishment boasted its own group of tubs which held everything from live
grouper and lobster to more exotic specialties such as giant starfish and “scissor”
shrimp. When darkness fell, the waterfront promenade came to life with romantic
couples and families from the city.
It isn’t very far to Hong Kong’s largest and most mountainous island, Lantau. High in
the mountains near the center of the island, I found the world’s largest outdoor
seated bronze Buddha, a majestical 85-foot creation that looks out over the
landscape and can be seen from outlying islands on a clear day. Down by the coast, I
cruised the canals of the Tai O fishing village, a ramshackle settlement of stilt houses
perched on canals where locals left seafood out to dry. Less than a mile off of Lantau’
s rocky coast, I managed to track down some of the area’s rare pink dolphins.
When it’s time to eat, Hong Kong has countless dai pai dongs and dim sum
restaurants, nestled between its endless supply of Western fast food establishments.
Loosely translated “touch the heart”, dim sum is the ultimate Cantonese culinary
experience. A variety of steamed dumplings and rolls are served in small portions,
usually in brightly-lit, loud rooms. In the old dim sum establishments of Central Hong
Kong, I would find entire communities meeting for breakfast.
The most critical aspect of Cantonese cuisine is that everything must be fresh. Most
restaurants in Hong Kong hold live food and slaughter or clean it when ordered.
Some of the more interesting local specialties include pigeon, frog, chicken feet and
“thousand year old eggs” which I discovered have an acquired taste. As I did that
first morning in Hong Kong, the gastrointestinally-adventurous can head to a snake
shop for what has to be the ultimate culinary experience, the consumption of raw
snake bile.
When it’s time to head back to the city for the night, there’s nothing more relaxing
than riding the top deck at night on one of the island ferries. Bouncing around in the
South China Sea beneath a full moon, I would find an endless array of dimly-lit junks
and sampans plying the choppy waters throughout the night. Nearing Hong Kong
Island, Central’s neon-lit skyscrapers would beacon me back every evening from the
dark ocean.
Hong Kong by Foot
A sore foot is the sign that one has truly experienced Hong Kong. Every night I would
return to my hotel with callused and blistered feet, but I always found walking one of
the most enjoyable means of transportation. Whether a flyway over the urban chaos
of Mongkok, a stroll up one of the 800-meter Mid-Levels Escalator (one of the world’s
longest escalators) or a dirt path in the backwoods of Lamma Island, this was a place
made for walking.
While Hong Kong is known around the world as an urban metropolis of skyscrapers,
neon signs and martial arts stars, more than three fourths of its territory is
undeveloped land while forty percent of the region is divided into 23 country parks.
Numerous paved and unpaved trails wander throughout the islands of Hong Kong,
leading visitors through stunning flora and fauna and past seaside villages, lonely
monasteries and smoky temples. The number of trails here are almost baffling – it
seems as if every village has more than a half dozen paths that lead to even more
paths. Follow them long enough and you can walk your way around just about every
square inch of land in Hong Kong.
As the longest trail in region, the 62-mile Mac Lehose Trail weaves its way across the
New Territories and follows the ridges near Pak Tam Chung, Hong Kong’s highest
peak. While the trail’s length and steepness deters casual travelers, it is broken down
into numerous sections, all of which are easily accessible by public transportation.
When hiking some of Hong Kong’s trails, I discovered that every trail has numerous
escape routes which quickly lead back to civilization by way of bus or sampan.
But even in the concrete jungles of Kowloon and Central, walking is the best way to
discover the bustling action and culture that lies packed between the skyscrapers on
some of the city’s narrow streets. An endless array of markets, alleyways, temples
and exciting neighborhoods lie just steps outside of the subway stations.
Hoping aboard the high-speed KCR (Kowloon-Canton Railway), I headed off into the
villages of the New Territories. Home to more traditional Cantonese culture and
lacking the bustle of Central Hong Kong, the New Territories are home to countless
temples, walled villages and chaotic markets. In Shatin, I followed the 400 steps to
the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, along a trail which was flanked by hundreds
of golden monks. Each one had a different face, a different expression. In the
monastery’s main temple were nearly thirteen thousand Buddhas, all neatly placed
on shelves that encircled the temple.
From a viewpoint near the temple, I could look out into the city below to see steel
skyscrapers reaching for the sky, trains whizzing by at the speed of light and a
population fixated with cell phones. It all lay encased in green rolling mountains,
nestled in the blue waters of the South China Sea. Above it all stood a pagoda and
ten thousand Buddhas. Trapped between the East and the West, caught between the
past and the future, Hong Kong is not just a destination for the body. It’s a
destination for the soul.
GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION
Getting There & Around
Hong Kong is about a sixteen hour flight from the East and West Coast. Public
transportation in Hong Kong is among the most clean, safe and efficient in the world.
The MTR runs all around Central Hong Kong and the Kowloon Peninsula while the
Kowloon-Canton Railway travels up through the New Territories to the Chinese
border. An extensive ferry system also reached to the nearby islands of Lantau,
Lamma, Cheung Chau and Peng Chau.
Where to Stay
While hotel rates in Hong Kong are among some of the worlds most expensive, the
service and value is among the best in the world.
Overlooking Central and the Harbor, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, 1 Harbour Road, Hong
Kong, People’s Republic of China, +852 2588 1234, http://hongkong.grand.hyatt.
com, offers some of the most amazing views in the region. All rooms are elaborately
decorated and designed in accordance with Feng Shui.
The centrally-located JW Marriott Hong Kong, One Pacific Place, 88 Queensway
Central, Hong Kong, +852 2810 8366, www.Marriott.com, lies just above an MTR
station and offers fine views of the bay from its. The service is world-class.
For those on a budget, Rent-a-Room Hong Kong, Flat A, Second Floor, Night Garden,
7-8 Tak Hing St., Ya Ma Tei, 2366 3011, www.rentaroomhk.com, has forty small, yet
immaculate furnished rooms.
Where to Eat
Rainbow Seafood Restaurant, 16-20 First Street, Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island, 2982
8100, is a fine place to sample a variety of fresh seafood including grouper, crabs,
oysters and starfish. Its waterfront location offers fine views of the harbor and the
restaurant’s fish farms. The restaurant also has a shuttle boat to and from Central.
Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Shum Wan Pier Drive, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, 2873
7111, www.jumbo.com.hk , is one of Hong Kong’s most unique eateries as the
restaurant sits in a gargantuan boat which can accommodate up to 2,300 guests.
They have an extensive selection of live seafood with reasonable prices.
Yung Kee Restaurant, 32-40 Wellington Street, Central, 2522 1624, www.yungkee.
com.hk, is a fancy three-story restaurant famous for its roast goose and Cantonese
specialties.
More Information
Hong Kong Tourism Board
www.discoverhongkong.com
