Hong Kong

Shek-O

Shek-O village, with its cloistered serpentine alleys, lies on Hong Kong Island’s southeastern edge at the end of the appropriately named Shek-O Road. This two lane road, the only road into this small hamlet, creases the southern side of the mountainous Hong Kong Island with breathtaking twists and dips.

Shek-O village serenely announces itself at the Tai Fung Au turn. A trip down this cul-de-sac is mandatory for the buses, but eye opening for passengers. It provides the first view of Shek-O’s multi-tiered white and grey homes that carve out Mediterranean-esque positions at the end of the rocky, sloping D’Aguilar Peninsula. A fisherman’s town at birth, Shek-O’s propinquity to nothing remotely associated with the sensory polluted landscape that dominates Hong Kong Island’s north side attracts many.

Shek-O New Village’s large block homes sprout from the rocky headland and hang behind fenced yards above Shek-O Beach and Rocky Bay Beach. While Shek-O New Village was created for grandeur and the noveau rich seeking weekend retreats, the original Shek-O Village is egalitarian. Walking through the cloistered alleys is like navigating a Salvador Dali painting with a Cracker Jack compass.

Street names, if even existing, are not publicized. Fuchsia stairs, lined by sky blue fences covered by drying fish, blend with purple doors and orange homes. The alleys represent the only paths through this menagerie of Crayola and range from the width of an arctic cow to an arctic cow on a south beach diet. Wheeled traffic arrives via an occasional bicycle or metal push cart. Since the alleys never dead end but lead unexpectedly into living rooms, navigation occurs with intuition and conversation.

Wan Chai

Wan Chai, the Hong Kong Island district that seamlessly slides from a mountainous jungle with multi-million dollar homes through the 19th century, past Sodom and Gomorra and into Victoria Harbour, offers a range of shopping, eating and entertainment options.

For a snapshot of Hong Kong’s history head to South Wan Chai’s fifteen historic shopping streets where everything is for sale and timing is critical. After nine am, Tai Yuen Street, an eclectic outdoor market that sells underwear, sausages and kitchen appliances from neighboring hawker stands, is thicker than curdled molasses. Intersected by the creatively named Cross Street, these markets fill with shoppers and browsers from mid morning through early evening.

East of Tai Yuen Street on Stone Nullah Road, an outdoor grocery store exists among the humanity and below clustered dilapidated, grey stone buildings. Vendors sell everything from persimmon to durian. One aisle over, Wan Chai Road fuses together with Tai Wo Street in a medley of butchers, fish buckets, fruit and vegetable stands and women in flower shirts shaking their heads.

The leftovers from these wet markets are often repackaged for restaurants imbedded behind the stalls on Tai Wo Street.
West of Tai Yuen Street on Spring Garden Lane, men shade themselves behind horse racing newspapers in front of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Further along Spring Garden Lane, a 7-11 and a Circle K hint at the urban renewal projects planned for Wan Chai. Ground zero for urban redevelopment is Lee Tung Street. Until recently, this street served as Hong Kong’s hub for wedding cards, greeting cards and lycee packets. Now, ‘This is an Urban Renewal Authority Property’ signs plaster most shop fronts causing the shop owners, most entrenched for generations, to scatter or close.

The remaining streets in South Wan Chai, while outwardly gritty and chaotic, secretly represent an organized biosphere. The bird and parrot shops lining Swatow Street provide a narrow aviary respite from the city din. The buzzing circular saws and metal push carts parked along Amoy Street and Tai Wong Street East, combined with the refuse collection spots cloistered on McGregor Street and Tai Wong Street West, provide remnants of the light industry that dominated Hong Kong’s past.

However, Wan Chai is all about thwarting expectations. The industrial shops transform into an eclectic set of restaurants along Landale Street, an open cement park on Li Chit Street and the surprisingly serene wet/dry market along Gresson Street.

Shenzhen

Located just over the border in the PRC, Shenzhen helps you quickly appreciate the sophisticated, organised chaos that envelops Hong Kong. Streets and sidewalks are considerably wider than Hong Kong but they fill with drivers ignoring street lanes and pedestrians walking everywhere. Shenzhen is a melting pot for many mainlanders who arrive to work in the factories and border companies (often owned by Hong Kongers) – and the architecture and food reflect this hodgepodge assemblage.

With shops and malls filled with cheap (read fake) DVD, CDs and name brand goods, Shenzhen attracts many Hong Kongers and visitors for one-day shopping excursions. Cheap night time activities and massages, with abundant ‘extras’, provide other incentives to cross the border. The train from Hong Kong takes 45 minutes from Kowloon and border crossings are often painless during non-peak travel times.

However, China’s ‘two-system’ arrangement with Hong Kong is in effect at the border and visas are required. Hong Kong customs agents are also increasingly inspecting tourists for illegal purchases of goods; so make sure to take the fake DVDs out of the shopping bag before crossing.

Sai Kung

Sai Kung fishing village, known as the leisure garden of Hong Kong, is the gateway to a scenic northeast coast that contains a jagged coastline and long stretches of secluded, white sandy beaches. Having expanded in recent years, Sai Kung town now offers a wide range of seafood restaurants serving freshly caught fish.

To recover from the nights, Sai Kung serves as the launching point for a bevy of hiking options. Many of Sai Kung’s hikes lead to vaulted views or through thick jungles with more difficulty then the easier strolls on Hong Kong Island. Good hiking, however, does require maps and plenty of sustenance because Sai Kung, unlike most of Hong Kong, lacks people.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Called TST by many, this district lies along Victoria Harbor and provides the best views of Hong Kong Island’s skyline, particularly at night. TST contains many of Hong Kong’s tailors who specialize in custom made clothes. If a break is needed from the weather, head to TST and enjoy the indoor malls or the Art Museum, Museum of History, Space Museum or Science Museum.

Mongkok

Mongkok is a crowded shopping and business district in which personal space disappears among the myriad of electronic shops and restaurants. With many cloistered street markets, including the Ladies Market, Jade Market and Temple Street Night Market, it is the perfect place to interact with the locals while searching for a bargain purchase.

Back to Top - More Hong Kong Articles - Print this page