An early memory from my childhood along with stories of the war was tales of our mother’s childhood friend, David and his parents living in Hong Kong. Kay and Harry seemed very glamorous to me and images of 60s Hong Kong dripping with a style and an exoticism still leaves me breathless with excitement today. Of course, it is a very different story now, though probably it was then. Now that Mum has gone there is no one left to corroborate any of the stories that whirl in my head. Harry was a policeman so not really sure that equates to glamour though the location seen through the lens of movies and time is still a haunting one.
It was my second visit to the principality which also happened to be my second this year so there was no surprises about what the sights would hold but I felt I had unfinished business as my itinerary for the trip in January had been sidelined and now was my opportunity to correct that.
The sunrise cast a golden glow on the canal below our 27th floor hotel room on Monday morning and it promised a fine, full day. Peng was there to work so I was left to my own devices. I had lost two items that had come from the Palace Museum and I wanted to revisit and see another of the exhibitions available there as well as restock my pin collection. Booking a ticket online had been a harrowing experience and when I got to the museum the PDF file I had been sent didn’t have the QR code in it so I had to go to the office for them to search the records so I could go in. I took the opportunity to smilingly mention what a traumatic system their booking process was. I loved seeing the exhibition and I was reminded of the hilarity Kim and I enjoyed in there. My trip to the museum had taken me directly past the compelling sight of cranes sitting in the harbour and close inspection allowed me to see that these vessels were full of what looked like metallic garbage.
My next mission was to do some shopping in Causeway Bay. I had been trying to get a new cap in China but the hat sizes all seem to be regulation and ‘Tai da le’ (too big) for my tiny head. Being in Hong Kong was an opportunity to find something that fitted. I found a mall, SoGo, a bustling, market place of a department store and found two very promising candidates. After this expedition and a lunch break I was going to Victoria Peak from which there were dizzying views of Hong Kong’s cityscape and harbour.
My attention had been grabbed by the uniquely oblong shaped, thin trams that ran through the Island and discovered in order to get to the funicular railway I could take a ride on one. I had a seat at the front and enjoyed the view as well as shoot a Timelapse video of the journey. The tram up to the peak was steep and costly and as we passed the looming buildings they looked like they were toppling over. It was an overtly commercial enterprise and my vision of being on a remoter mountain peak looking down on the landscape below was quickly squashed. There were dozens of tourists pushing and shoving for the best spot on the terrace that had been built for the millions of visitors each year, the thousands each day, to capture the exact same shot but with them in it. Peng finished work early and said he would like to see the view at night and that meant I made myself comfortable in a cafe at the top and awaited over an hour for his arrival.
It took him a long time to get up there as hoards more also wanted got see the night view. I cost me six pounds to go up onto the terrace again but it was worth the cost and effort. The walk down, I didn’t want to join the crowds on the descent in the tram, was both fun, surprising, we spotted a wild boar and exhausting.
My agenda for Tuesday promised more variation and the first thing I wanted to see was ‘The Noonday Gun’. From its situation on the waterfront of Causeway Bay a gun is fired each noon following a Jardine’s (the owners) tradition established in the 1860’s. A tradition, immortalised by Noel Coward in the lyrics of ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen”
In Hong Kong, they strike a gong, and fire off a noonday gun , To reprimand each inmate who’s in late
I had made an early start and it would have made sense for me to go there at Noon for the firing but my initial schedule took me far from Causeway Bay and on the map it was the first accessible location. The gun, which was extremely stylish as guns go, was being cleaned when I arrived and I stood outside its gated location taking photos. When two women appeared and spoke with the employee doing the cleaning he let them in. I was a little peeved by this and when he disappeared i walked to the gate and went in myself to take photos. He returned a shooed me away. “Well you let those women in” I said indignantly pointing at the tourists. “They work for the company, Jardines.”.
I needed to get to the subway to reach my next location and the walk took me through Victoria Park with its lush, tropical vegetation. I was headed for a building famed as a Hong Kong movie location. Yik Cheong. Known locally as The Monster Building this group of five connected buildings in the densely populated, Quarry Bay, is a perfect example of why Hong Kong is known as a ‘Concrete Jungle. There are 2,243 units in five blocks with 18 floors in height. Apparently, 10,000 people live in the complex.
I had no idea that it was so popular with instagrammers and once I located it’s inner courtyard with the help of a local and discovered a host of other tourists getting the perfect picture, I felt a little disgusted with myself and the others photographing the prison like surroundings. Around the base of the buildings are shops and restaurants and above these are the apartments, rooms and it struck me, as pretty girls sat on steps taking an age to get the perfect shot, that people live here, in what seems relatively squalid circumstances, and there we were, at no expense turning it into a glamour spot. As I reflected on this I heard a voice, “Excuse me sir, can you move, you are in my shot”. “Have you paid to be here?” I snapped back, “No”. He and his model looked confused, “Neither have I. We are all just taking photos. I will be 1 second, while you are taking forever.” I was pleased with my response, but so flustered the photo I took from that spot was rubbish.
Just across from the building was a wet market where I took a couple more compelling shots. I had intended to go and see a statue graveyard but no road location was given and was in a more remote and mountainous area of the island. I panicked that I would get lost. Peng was finishing early so we agreed to meet and I would return to Causeway Bay where I would buy the caps I wanted which it transpired Harvey wanted to buy as a birthday present for me.
I met Peng at the HQueens Building where I took in a couple of art exhibitions and then we ate Vegan Dim Sum in Tsim Sha Tsui. Close by was the K11 Musea mall and the Art House cinema and as it’s not possible to see horror films on screen in China we went to a late evening showing of Smile 2. It was creepy and even creepier was leaving the cinema through a deserted mall.
I had some bank issues on Wednesday morning and had to call the bank in England. I was going to accompany Peng on his visit to the Chinese University but dealing with admin to ensure the renovations on my flat went smoothly kept me back. I made use of the call time by finalising the packing for our departure to Guangzhou later that afternoon.
It was a gloomier day when I set finally off and walked along the river to The University campus. The sights of mountains in the mist were beautiful and a contrast to the eerie skyscrapers. By the time I had walked up the mountain path through the university grounds Peng had finished his appointment and before heading back to the hotel we had a tea and played with the drone camera he had purchased.
The train journey from Hong Kong to Guangzhou promised to be an exciting one and I looked forward to capturing the exit from Hong Kong and the landscape. I was disappointed then when I switched on the camera and the train remained in seemingly endless darkness. What I hoped was overground and water and mountains turned out to be a tunnel and we did not see daylight till the high speed train reached Shenzhen. Despite having the evening to enjoy Guangzhou I was feeling tiered from my exertions and we stayed in, ordered take out and dined in the room.
I had been to Guangzhou in 2021 and had seen many of the important landmarks of the city and it was my plan this time to see some of the lesser known locations. However, one thing I did want to revisit was a Homemade Tong Sui shop which sold solely ginger deserts and having located this branch I looked for famous sites to see. We needed to stay an extra night as Peng had a work engagement on the Friday evening which he could not escape and having run out of socks and underwear I found a Uniqlo store en-route and cycled there first. The deserts were wonderful and I couldn’t help but eat 3 of them.
I then walked off this excess by visiting the Huanghuagang Mausoleum of 72 Martyrs of the revolution. In 1911 an uprising against the imperial Qing dynasty in Guangzhou was overturned by the imperial guards who came to the aid of the Viceroy. 86 were slaughtered but only 72 were identified. It was built in 1921, 10 years into the Republic of China and the leadership of Dr Sun Yat Sen, a native of the city. On top of the memorial is a replica of the Statue of Liberty which has a story of its own, too long to recount here.
I moved on a couple of kilometres from the Mausoleum to the Uprising Martyrs Cemetery an equally beautifully built memorial to the dead and to the relationship between China and Russia and North Korea. It started to rain and I took refuge for an hour in a Starbucks Reserve. Peng was working late and I had the evening to myself. I had intended to visit the Vast Tianhe Park opposite our hotel but the when i emerged from the nearest subway station to cycle back the rain intensified so I got back to the hotel and recovered instead.
I started the day with another call to the bank in the UK and then fulfilled the expectations of the day before by touring Tianhe Park. The most overwhelming aspect of this tropical park, other than the beautiful variety of trees was the scents that assailed me. I don’t know if it was the rain that had stimulated the wood and the earth but the aromas of citrus and osmanthus were out of this world. My focus for the day was seeing some of the temples the city boasted and the Buddhist Dafo Temple with a history of more than one thousand years. It was built by Emperor Liu Yan in the Southern Han dynasty and is known as one of the “Five Largest Temples of Guangzhou” A service was being conducted during my visit and the chanting of the monks was a haunting and spiritual accompaniment.
Liurong Temple of the Six Banyan Trees built in 537 has an equally long history and was a short cycle ride away through some classic vintage streets. Even closer was the Dr. Sun Yat Sen memorial hall. He is known and revered in China as the father of the modern world having led the 1911 revolution against the Qing Dynasty that established the Republic of China and ended 2000 years of feudal monarchy. I climbed a steep hill to another monument in Yuexiu Park and then braved the streets on a bike again to meet Peng at a traditional Tong Sui restaurant for two bowls of glutinous rice balls in both hot and cold soup. There was quite a menu to choose from but Peng narrowed it down. Peng also introduced me to a delicious new dish I had not tried of rice noodle roll.
I was stuffed and exhausted and to aid digestion we stopped at a street cafe to drink the bitter fermented tea famous in the region. To further assist the bloated feeling we walked along the Pearl river to see the city and the Canton tower at night.
We were travelling back to Beijing on Saturday but first we went to the park to have some fun with the drone camera. I had walked and cycled for miles around the city and was looking forward to the rest on the plane and to seeing Peng’s parents on Sunday for lunch. They had prepared Xiang Guo , a dry Hot pot, which was absolutely delicious. It was here that the week ended for me as I collapsed in an exhausted heap contemplating the week ahead and my upcoming 64th birthday.
