Hong Kong Central and Causeway Bay

China  Map | Home Page 1 of 3 | Page Down

We visited Hong Kong en-route to Vietnam in 1994, flying into the unforgettable Kai Tak Airport.  When I retuned in 1998 it had been replaced by the very recently opened and not so memorable Chek Lap KoK.  We stayed for the first few nights at the Salisbury Y and were give an upgrade to a room with a view of the harbour.   Happy we didn't pay extra for the view,  the visibility as you can see was atrocious
 

Central District, Hong Kong Island from the Causeway Bay Typhoon Harbour.  Victoria Peak emerges from the mist in the background

The traditional way of life on the Sampans in Causeway Bay looked peaceful if hard.  Having experienced typhoons in the Gulf of Tonkin, I can't imaging riding one out here

Tea and snacks, Noel Coward would be so proud

 Baskets to be made, friends to be visited

Tony high up in the Aviary of Hong Kong Park

children awaiting feeding time          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Located in the middle of Central's banking district, on the site of the old Victoria Barracks.   With its fountain plaza, mosque style observation tower, waterfall, botanical gardens  and aviary, the park is a welcome splash of greenery between the skyscrapers and the mountains

 

What kind of park would it be without people exercising 
   Original Kowloon Canton Railway Station

Some admire the brutalist post modern architecture of Admiralty's twin towered Lippo Center, others see only koalas clinging gum trees

Tiger Balm Gardens

Built in 1935 by Aw Boon Haw of 'Tiger Balm' fame  at a cost of HK$ 16 million.   A monument to bad taste in gaudy concrete, oh yes, I could tell I was going to fit right in.  The concrete was crumbling and the paint peeling, we enjoyed it enormously, despite some of the more gruesome depictions of Chinese mythology.  Sadly it was demolished in 2004 to make way for redevelopment

After three days we despaired of ever seeing The Peak, so we took a chance and went up one afternoon.  Guidebook in hand Tony gamely described to me the scene we were not seeing below.  We still had two days to try again

China  Map | Home Page 1 of 3 | Page Down