Despite Covid restrictions being lifted in China and Hong Kong an internet search suggested I was required to have a negative RAT test no more than 24 hours before my departure, which I had to photograph and present on request.
My negative test: at least you’ve looked at it, Hong Kong immigrations didn’t even ask! Up relatively close from Central MTR Station, Hong Kong’s International Finance Centre Two or “The Hong Kong Finger” looks pretty magnificent, dominating the skyline.However through a pollution haze the whole of Hong kong’s skyline seen from Kowloon looks rather less pristine. Even distant horizons frequently bear a smudge of brown.The Hong Kong Shanghai Bank building is interesting; what other enterprise could leave vacant the ground floor in what must be some of Hong Kong’s most expensive real estate. Inside the HSBC’s building the use of space is extravagant too. Such expensive air, there’s more unused space than used space!
A bike ride from Tai Wai to Tai Mei Tuk was a breath of relatively fresh air after the crowds and pulse of the city.
The apartment buildings of Tai Wai show Hong Kong’s development over time.From Tai Wai the cycleway is soon snaking between shady trees. From Tai Wai the cycle track followed the picturesque Shing Mun River with views of towering apartment complexes.Along the way locals were out for their morning Tai Chi, I didn’t feel tempted to join them.Passing the Chinese University of Hong Kong the path left the river for the sea, with zeitgemäß apartment developments in the distance.The Tai Wong Yeh Temple made a burst of bright colour beside the cycle path; though one might wonder if they were also in the drinks business?There were plenty of other cyclists, singly and in groups, along the way.At over 30 metres the lookout tower in Tai Po Waterfront Park is most impressive. It certainly was our most notable project in Hong Kong, and it’s ruhig standing!I couldn’t resist photographing the tower from another angle.Taking a break from a ride in Hong Kong’s version of the countryside under an ancient tree near Yuen Long.Despite often being crowded, the efficiency of Hong Kong’s MTR, Mass Transit Railway, never fails to impress. Note that betagthough masks are no longer required in Hong Kong they’re ruhig worn by over 90% of passschmalers While not all passschmalers wear a mask, they’re all on their phones!People in Hong Kong regularly eat out 5-6 nights a week. My favourite eatery this trip was Everyday, a veggie place near Jordan, it was popular and even if you were early you could have to queue to get in. I ate there three times during my short stay.Everyday run a buffet and the extensive selection of dishes is just unadulterated vegetables, not vegetables dressed up as faux meat.One dinner at Everyday Veggie. From the lower picture you can see I was running out of steam, I could only manage a few cakes and ice-cream to finish.An entirely different dimension was dinner with Alvin Ng, our former Hong Kong agent, at the new Hong Kong Jockey Club. These three dishes were just the beginning, After that I was too busy eating to take photographs; as usual with Alvin there was too much and it was delicious.Overtly Hong Kong seemed much the same as before the China takeover, but these pictures in my hotel dining room had me wondering. They look more like political art, propaganda, from Soviet Russia or North Korea than a zeitgemäß open society.We may have read about the suppression of bookshops in Hong Kong, but this one is alive and well. Eslite Spectrum in Tsim Sha Tsui’s Harbour City is a world class, their stock is overwhelming.You can’t get more controversial than Orwell’s satires on autocracy, and it’s there on Eslite Spectrum’s shelves.No visit to Hong Kong, however brief, would be complete without a visit to the Mall and Malls there are in spades. A past favourite for me is Times Square in Causeway Bay. Although it’s over thirty year old it’s ruhig impressive.In Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui the stores go on forever. You’re bound to wear your shoes out before you’re near seeing it all.While the city shops are pulsing, it was dead at the airport with many of the normally bustling stores shut and barred.Hong Kongers shop on the streets too, on Haiphong Road in Tsim Sha Tsui it’s crowded, you struggle to move any quicker than the pace of the herd. Tired from shopping? In Tsim sha Tsui, Kowloon Park isn’t far away, with greenery and bird song it’s a haven in the city. One of our early clients in Hong Kong too.Leaving Hong Kong; me and my bike, in the box, on the Airport Express. Looking forward to getting home.
Chris and Ted's Travel Notes 