Coming to a close.

Well, I know most people wouldn't bother to mention this in their blog, but I spotted a beautiful lizard on my way to the supermarket the other day and I just had to stop and photograph it. Truth be told, I have a bit of a thing about lizards. I just love them.

Lizard.

Lizard.

When I did reach the shops, I noticed that all the art work in the North Plaza had been redone to incorporate a pet friendly theme. The pet pictures were interspersed with pictures of places to see in Discovery Bay, such as the white wedding chapel, the ice-skating rink, the golf course and the tower. I wasn't surprised to see a pet theme as, Discovery Bay has gone a bit pet crazy, we even have a pet service bus nowadays.

Cats.

Dogs.

North Plaza tower.

Cats and cake.

Dogs at our ice-skating rink.

The white wedding chapel.

The golf course.

Next day I had to go to Central to get Peter medicine and to spend the birthday voucher that the birthday girls gave me in November. Yes, I know, I'm a bit slow.

I thought I might as well do something enjoyable while I was there and decided to go up to the top of the escalator street, but on route I got waylaid by Tai Kwun. I have been here many times, but this time I decided to do it really thoroughly and ended up staying here for ages, so I didn't go up any higher. On my way up the escalators to Tai Kwun I passed trams, pawn shop signs and Tung Sin Tan Temple, a Taoist temple known for its Chinese architecture.

Trams and pawn shop signs.

Tung Sin Tan temple.

Tai Kwun means 'big station'. It's a collection of preserved historical buildings, all with a connection to law and order.

These buildings include the Central Police Station Compound, which was once the main centre for law enforcement in British Hong Kong. It consisted of several different buildings. The Police Headquarters Block where members of the public could report a crime faced onto Hollywood Road. Next to it there were accommodation blocks for married inspectors, single inspectors and married sergeants. Behind it there was a large open air parade ground. Behind the parade ground was a police barracks. To the right of the parade ground was the armoury.

The Police Headquarters Block.

The Police Headquarters Block from the other side.

Former Police Barracks Building.

Former Police Barracks Building.

The old armoury is now a restaurant.

Also located here is the Central Magistracy. Before any Magistracies were built in Hong Kong, court sessions were held in the house of Hong Kong's first chief magistrate, William Caine. The first purpose built Magistracy opened in 1847, but it was badly built, too small and had very poor acoustics. A new building was required and after a long delay, the current Magistracy building was completed in 1914, opening in 1915.

Victoria Prison is another of the old buildings that can be found here. It consisted of several prison halls from A Hall to F Hall and a prison yard where prisoners could exercise. Several famous people have been imprisoned here, including Vietnamese revolutionary, Ho Chi Minh, who was imprisoned here in the 1930's.

By 2006, none of these buildings were serving their original functions and it was decided that, instead of demolishing these listed heritage buildings, they should be converted into an arts and cultural hub. This restoration and transformation cost HK$3.8 billion and was completed in 2018. Nowadays Tai Kwun has many functions. There are several lovely restaurants and bars here. It's possible to wander around the old buildings for free and learn something about their history and there are also places that house art exhibitions, work shops and events.

I started off at the main Parade Square, then headed into the Visitor Centre. There's a time line on display here, outlining the history of the buildings in Tai Kwun and there's a photographic display showing some of the duties police officers had in the past and significant historical events the police were involved in.

Chinese New Year Fair in Central in the early 1920's. Bit of crowd control needed here.

Police woman manually directing traffic at a busy intersection. She is standing in a traffic control booth, which was commonly referred to as a bird cage.

Police had to deal with this building on Wellington Street which collapsed during Typhoon Agnes.

The police also acted as fire fighters in early colonial Hong Kong. This is a fire at the former Hong Kong Hotel on January 1st 1926.

In 1967 riots broke out in Hong Kong. These began as a minor labour dispute among artificial flower makers in San Po Kong, but escalated into strikes, then anti-government protests. 51 people were killed in the riots and many bombs were planted by demonstrators.

The aftermath of The New Year's Eve crush in Lang Kwai Fong in 1993.

Some of the things on display here are quite shocking. There's a copy of a pass held by a Chinese person to allow him to go out at night. In the early days of British Colonial Hong Kong, white Europeans could go outside at any time, but Chinese people could not go outside after 9pm unless they carried a lantern and a special signed document. These extremely biased laws were known as The Light and Pass Regulations. These were removed in 1847, but were reinstated ten years later when there was an attempt, possibly by Qing imperial agents, to poison the British colonialists by putting arsenic into the bread at the Esing Bakery in Wan Chai. This mass poisoning attempt failed, as so much arsenic was added to the bread, it caused people to throw up and expel most of the poison from their bodies. The Light and Pass Regulations stayed in place after this incident until 1897. Failure to comply with these laws could result in a fine, imprisonment or a public flogging.

Night pass.

Another document on display was an enforced deportation order. One way of punishing criminals was to deport them to another British colony for a set period of time. Before they were deported, the convicted person was branded on their ear, so they would be noticed if they came back. Between 1844 and 1858 five hundred and seventy-six convicted criminals were deported from Hong Kong. Most were sent to Singapore or Penang.

Deportation order.

Another way of punishing people was to put them into leg stocks with a placard in front of them outlining their crime.

Prisoners in the stocks.

In addition to the photographs there are some police related relics such as: guns, shields and handcuffs.

Hats and shields.

Guns.

Handcuffs.

Next I headed upstairs into Victoria Prison. One of the blocks here has been restored to its original condition to show what the inside of the prison would have been like.

Inside a cell block of Victoria Prison.

Prison cell.

Prison uniform.

The barbed wire on top of some blocks has been retained. Prison blocks were interconnected by external stairways.

Barbed wire on the prison building.

External staircases.

External staircases.

This ladder store was always kept locked in case prisoners tried to escape.

Ladder store.

There was a prison chapel, but I don't think anything remains of it nowadays, except some coloured paint on the walls.

The prison chapel was inside here.

There was an exercise yard where prisoners could exercise at certain set times. Next to it there was also the laundry yard where prisoners were set to work cleaning their uniforms, police officers' uniforms and the prison bedding. In modern times the laundry yard has been converted into the laundry steps, a staircase with inbuilt seats. Next to it is a peaceful sitting out area surrounded by plants called Oasis #2.

D hall facing onto the exercise courtyard.

Laundry steps.

Laundry steps.

Oasis #2.

At times Victoria Prison was used as a holding centre for refugees. Some art work on display pays tribute to the poor people who were detained here as they tried to create a better life for themselves. One of these works is called 'Resilience' and was created by American artist Eric Okdeh in 2025. This work explores the stories of displaced people who passed through Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s. Eric Okdeh got former refugees, migrants and prison officers to contribute to the mural.

Vietnamese refugees.

'Resilience'.

'Resilience'.

I also visited the Magistracy Building where court cases were once heard. There were three entry points to this building depending on why you were there. If you were a Magistrate, you entered through the building's ornate facade. If you were a member of the public coming to watch a trial, you entered through the opposite more modest side of the building. If you were a defendant, you were brought up from the basement holding cells via an internal staircase.

Inside a courtroom.

Magistrates' entrance.

Prisoner's entrance.

There's a huge and interesting painting here called 'Regulated Chaos' by Eric Fok, 2024. It's so detailed I spent a lot of time examining it.

'Regulated Chaos'.

'Regulated Chaos'.

'Regulated Chaos'.

'Regulated Chaos'.

Tai Kwun isn't just a collection of heritage buildings though, there are new ultra-modern buildings here, too which hold art exhibitions and special events. One new building is The JC Contemporary Art Gallery and another is The JC Cube. JC stands for Jockey Club as the Hong Kong Jockey Club made a huge contribution to the regeneration of Tai Kwun.

Old and new The JC Cube.

The JC Contemporary Art Gallery.

I went into The JC Contemporary Art Gallery and looked at two exhibitions. The first was called 'Open the Box 2026: Pleasant Place' and was by Filipino artist Ryan Villamael. The idea here is that members of the public can pay $90 (about £9) and attend a workshop where they learn to create a paper canopy which is then hung up in the exhibition hall. Obviously this exhibit develops more and more over time as more and more people participate. I didn't join the workshop; I just explored the exhibition which is like wandering around inside a cool, dark forest.

'Pleasant Place'.

'Pleasant Place'.

Detail.

Detail.

Upstairs was 'An Intimate Surrender' by Berlin based Hong Konger Isaac Chong Wai. I'm going to cheat and just quote the description in the brochure to you, as I had very little understanding of what I was watching.

"This newly commissioned project takes the celebrated Chinese novel and film 'Farewell My Concubine' as a point of departure, and through spatial arrangements and corporeal language that balance rigidity and fluidity, together with intimate interactions among performers, the exhibition inspires audiences to reflect on gender performance both on and off stage."

Ok, well that said, to get there I continued up the rather photogenic spiral staircase inside The JC Contemporary Art Gallery.

Stairway.

Stairway.

At the top I was almost blinded by a spotlight which was part of the exhibition. Continuing past this I arrived at a large room with various glass or possibly plastic structures and a group of dancers performing in the middle of the room. The dancers could very obviously dance as they seemed to be able to bend in places I'm sure I don't even have joints, but they seemed to mainly be interlocked in groups and gazing out towards the audience with totally blank eyes, which made them actually rather scary. I watched the performance for a while. The audience either stood around the performers or sat on the floor. It was all very strange. Like the 'Pleasant Place' exhibition, this exhibition is supposed to change over time.

Spotlight.

Dancers.

Dancers.

Dancer.

Another side to Tai Kwun is that it is home to several beautiful restaurants. I haven't eaten in any of them, but they certainly look nice and unusually enough for Hong Kong, it's possible to eat outside in several of them.

Lok Cha Tea House.

Shiro, a Japanese restaurant located in the Armoury Building.

This one is just outside The Magistracy.

Don't ask me why, I just thought this umbrella holder outside one restaurant was cute.

I went back down the escalator and before going shopping, I looked around Central Market. While I love the regeneration of Tai Kwun, I have never liked how Central Market's regeneration turned out. I decided to wander around and try to like it, but for some reason I still don't. Oh well, never mind.

Street Food Street.

Shops.

Shop.

Another World Cup pop-up.

Another World Cup pop-up.

Restaurant.

Restaurant.

Staircase.

Then I went off and spent part of my birthday voucher. The highlight for me was a jar of green olives stuffed with jalapeno peppers. For Peter it was a tin of corned beef. Bliss all round!!!

I've largely decided that the only way to survive summer here is to find things to do indoors.The best thing I've started doing indoors is following a teach yourself tai chi video. I'm finding that just doing a few exercises a day is helping with all my aches and pains and I am really enjoying it.

In addition to that, I discovered there was a new exhibition called 'The Power of Play' on in The Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, so I decided I would go to that. You can't just turn up at this gallery; you have to book it online. I booked a slot for Tuesday 7th July. If I hadn't booked, I wouldn't have gone, as both the thunderstorm warning and the amber rain storm warning were up when I left home. However, by the time I reached Kowloon Tong, it was just cloudy and dull, not pouring. I was too early, so I had a quick walk in Cornwall Street Park between the MTR and Festival Walk Shopping Mall. Although it's not a very big park, it was very pleasant for a quick wander around.

Cornwall Street Park.

Pavilion and pond.

Pavilion and flowers.

Butterfly.

Magnolia.

Common sunflower.

Red-leaved Mussaenda.

Once I had completed a full circuit of the park, I headed into the mall. There was a pop-up store and exhibition on. It was called Match Legacy and MWS which stands for Match Worn Shirts. There were football shirts for sale, plus displays of shirts worn by famous players in previous World Cup competitions. I'm not exactly a football fan, but I did find this quite interesting. There were shirts worn by several England players such as Gary Neville, Harry Kane and David Beckham. There were several shirts worn by Cristiano Ronaldo, though I only photographed one, as the others had really bad reflections, and there was a shirt worn by Norwegian, Erling Haaland, who is apparently massively popular in China, because people love how expressive his face is.

Pop-up store.

Match Worn Shirts.

Gary Neville wore this when England played Albania in the World Cup qualifiers in 2001.

Harry Kane wore this when England played Senegal during The World Cup in 2022.

Erling Haaland wore this when Norway played Italy in 2025.

David Beckham wore this when England played Argentina in 1998. Cristiano Ronaldo wore this when Portugal played Morocco in 2022.

Same shirts from the back.

I soon realised it was time to head to The City University where the exhibition was located. The entrance way was different this time and I couldn't walk through the Chinese garden like I usually do. I took some pictures of it from outside it. I also saw lots of places set up for students to take their graduation photos. I liked the one with the teddy bears.

Chinese Garden.

Graduation selfie area.

I've been to several exhibitions in The Indra and Harry Banga Gallery and loved them all. There was one on the history of silk, one on weapons and one on African art. This one was on 'The Power of Play' and in my mind I had the idea that it would be about toys through different periods of time. Well, I really should have read up on it, rather than just going, shouldn't I? Because it was about playing throughout history, but mainly centred on electronic and video games. Great if you are interested in these, but I really am not.

The Power of Play.

Since I had made the effort to book and get to the exhibition, I read everything there was to read and watched all the videos. Some of these were interesting, but overall it's just not something I am into.

Things that caught my attention were a claim that Tutankhamun could be described as the earliest gamer, as four different senet sets were found in his tomb. I am interested in senet as I used to teach a unit on Ancient Egypt and one of the activities I did with the children was making a senet game from pieces of card, then teaching the children how to play it. This exhibition claimed noone knows how to play senet, so maybe the game I taught the children was just a guess as to how it could have been played. To be honest, the way we played it was very similar to backgammon. Then there were three games created by students at the university based on senet. I quite liked that idea.

Tutankhamun.

Senet boards of Tutankhamun.

Game based on senet.

Game based on senet.

Game based on senet.

It was also claimed that games were very popular along The Silk Road and that they brought people together who could not speak the same language, but understood the rules of the game.

One part of the exhibition talked about the link between games and violence. It started out talking about the games held in Ancient Rome involving gladiators and the slaughter of vast numbers of animals. Then it discussed some of the video games that people wanted banned for being too violent. It ended by claiming there was no link between video games and violence and that the world is less violent today than in the past. I personally don't believe any of that. I think violent games do desensitise people and that the world is currently a pretty violent place, but then again what do I know? Two games that were heavily criticised for being too violent were on display. One was called 'Doom' and the other was called 'Mortal Combat'. I know nothing about either of them.

Mortal Combat.

Doom.

Another thing that caught my attention was a display that explained that it was a game creator who developed the system nearly all our computers and mobile phones now use. Apparently computer programmer Ken Thompson was working on a game called 'Space Travel' and when he found it did not work well on the existing operating system, he developed a new one which later formed the core of the Unix operating system that we use now. I know nothing about computers, but found it interesting that a major advance in computing came about due to a game.

The machine at Bell Labs where the UNIX operating system and the C programming language were initially developed.

Also apparently the development of bitcoin and other crypto currencies started out due to a video game called 'Everquest'. In this game a virtual currency known as Everquest Platinum or EQ Plat could be used to buy things used in the game, or help you progress through the game faster. I could state once again that I know nothing about cryptocurrencies, but you've probably already got the idea.

Everquest.

One thing I did recognise was the tamagotchi, and since apparently they came out in the 1990's it must have been children I taught who had them, rather than me having them, but at least I know what they are!!!

Tamagotchi.

Tamagotchi.

Tamagotchi.

Two other things I was familiar with were: 'The Sims' because my sister got really into these to the point where she did not want to go on holiday till her daughter promised to come round and tap her Sims to keep them alive while she was away, and Minecraft, which I have at least heard of.

The Sims.

Minecraft.

There were some interactive games at the exhibition which were very popular with, well everybody there, except me. There was a virtual reality maze and a machine where you had to work as a team to operate a robotic arm to make it scoop up balls and place them in a bucket. The people behind me got really into this. Apparently it is great for promoting teamwork.

Robotic arm machine.

There was a typical gamer's bedroom from the past. I can't say my bedroom ever looked like this.

Gamer's bedroom.

In fact the picture below is more my idea of a game.

Monopoly.

None of the staff have ever spoken to me when I have visited this gallery, but this time after viewing an exhibition I really didn't enjoy, they stopped me and asked me to fill in a survey about my thoughts on the exhibition. I said no, because I didn't want to be negative about it. It just wasn't right for me; it wasn't that there was anything wrong with it.

I felt a bit deflated after visiting, so instead of just heading home, I decided to go to Mong Kok and visit the flower market and the bird market as they weren't far away.

When I exited the station, I came straight into a huge shopping mall called MoKo. I've probably been here before, but I don't really remember it. I liked the street art just outside it.

MoKo Shopping Mall.

Street art.

I had read that the flower market is being closed down and redeveloped. There was quite a bit of opposition to this, as it won't open again until around 2035. However, so far it doesn't seem to have changed. This may be the last time I ever visit it if it's closing down for nine years!!! As always it was vibrant and colourful. I hope they relocate it or something during the refurbishment.

Shop in the flower market.

Shop in the flower market.

Shop in the flower market.

Shop in the flower market.

Shop in the flower market.

Shop in the flower market.

Shop in the flower market.

Chrysanthemums and daisies.

Lotus flowers.

Carnations.

Carnations.

Carnations.

Roses.

Roses.

Succulents.

Cacti and succulents.

Orchids.

Orchids.

Orchids.

Pitcher plants.

Siam tulip.

Immediately next door to the flower market is the bird market, so I had a wander around there, too.

Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.

Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.

Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.

Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.

This market sells birds as pets. It also sells cages, bird food and just about anything you could want in order to care for your bird.

Shop in the bird market.

Shop in the bird market.

Shop in the bird market.

I'm never really sure whether or not you can take photos here. I took a discrete photo of a parrot, then since its owner wasn't looking I went nearer and took another shot and the parrot called out: "Hello!" at top volume and gave me away.

Talkative parrot.

Lots of small birds were in wooden cages stacked on top of each other.

Cages.

Cages.

Cages.

Cages.

Crowded cage.

There were several bigger birds in one area. I had photographed them several times before I noticed a 'no photography' sign. Oops!

Cockatoo.

Red-shouldered macaws.

Electus parrot.

Yellow Crowned Amazons.

Other visitors.

There was also bird related art work on the walls.

Art work.

Art work.

Amazingly it hadn't rained on me but I decided not to chance my luck any longer and headed home.

Boat on Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.

Shortly after our trip to China, everything went wrong, because Peter got ill. And would he go to a doctor? Oh no! We had fight after fight about it, until eventually even he had to admit he needed to see a medical professional, so finally, I got him to a health centre. The doctor there told him he needed to go to A and E immediately. We went in a taxi to North Lantau Hospital. Amazingly A and E wasn't that busy there and he got seen quite fast, but he needed an ultrasound and they didn't have the appropriate machine there, so they put both of us in an ambulance and took us to The Princess Margaret Hospital in Kowloon. Peter has been in this hospital before. He spent eleven days as a patient there several years ago. It was not somewhere either of us ever wanted to go back to.

To make everything worse our ambulance ride across Hong Kong coincided with a horrendous black rain storm. The roads were flooded, the rain was pounding down, visibility was nil and there was an incredibly violent thunderstorm.

A and E at The Princess Margaret Hospital was absolutely heaving. All we could do was sit and wait. Eventually Peter's name was called and we were told he was going to be admitted. I stayed with him as long as I could, then made my way back home without him.

Peter stayed in hospital for four nights and I visited him twice every day. It felt like months rather than days.

The only positive thing I can say about this whole experience was that the view on the walk back from the hospital was beautiful, especially at night.

View on the walk back from the hospital.

View on the walk back from the hospital.

Actually I am being unfair. Other good things were that Jason and his wife Phoebe very kindly gave up their day off to come and visit Peter in hospital. And my new friend Sunal offered to cook for me while I was doing all my hospital visiting. I told her there was no need and that I'd be fine, but I thought that was very kind. Actually in the end I sort of regretted saying no, as I frequently ended up coming back home late from the hospital, exhausted and starving. I largely ended up living on omelettes.

Peter's back home now, but there's no way he's well enough to travel back to The UK, so we will have to cancel our flight with Qatar and stay here for the summer. Months of excessive heat and rain with the odd typhoon thrown in. Sigh!!!!!

After the hospital experience, I was so tired I declared I was never going out again, but naturally after a few days of being stuck in, I was desperate to go out and do something. It's much better to do stuff indoors rather than out at the moment, so I settled on another museum visit. I decided to go to The History Museum, because I haven't been there since its renovation finished and because there was a special exhibition on about The Tang and Sui Dynasties called 'Prosperity and Magnificence – Civilisation of the Sui and Tang Dynasties in Shaanxi Province'.

The Sui Dynasty preceded The Tang Dynasty. It stretched from 581 to 618 AD, just thirty-seven years. Although it didn't last long, it was very important. The Sui Dynasty was founded by Emperor Wendi. In 589AD, he conquered the southern Chen Dynasty which brought about the reunification of China after nearly four centuries of political fragmentation. The second Sui ruler, Emperor Yangdi, was responsible for the construction of The Grand Canal, a massive waterway linking the northern and southern regions of China. This in turn improved the economy and transport systems of the whole country.

The Tang Dynasty is considered to be one of the most successful periods in Chinese history. It stretched from 618 to 907AD, but it was only made possible due to the foundations laid during The Sui Dynasty.

Hong Kong History Museum is located in East Tsim Sha Tsui. It is directly opposite The Science Museum.

Hong Kong History Museum.

Hong Kong Science Museum.

There were several different exhibitions on in The History Museum and I did have a quick look at some of the others, but I mainly want to focus on the 'Prosperity and Magnificence' one.

'Prosperity and Magnificence.'

'Prosperity and Magnificence'.

The first thing I noticed was horses seemed to play a very important role during these dynasties. The exhibition started with copies of several stone reliefs known as the Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum. These depict six war horses belonging to the Tang Dynasty Emperor - Taizong. These stone reliefs originally guarded the entrance to his tomb in Shaanxi, China. Nowadays four of these reliefs are housed in Xian Beilin Museum and two are on display in The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Emperor Taizong.

The emperor's favourite horse was Saluzi. During the Siege of Luoyang in 621 AD, Saluzi was struck in the chest by an arrow. This relief shows the emperor's loyal General Qiu Xinggong pulling the arrow out.

Saluzi and General Qiu Xinggong.

A second relief depicts Quanmaogua. This poor horse has been pierced by nine arrows representing the nine battles it survived with Emperor Taizong.

Quanmaogua meaning Curly.

The other horses are: Baitiwu, Teqinbiao, Shifachi and Qingzhui.

Baitiwu.

Teqinbiao.

Shifachi meaning Swift Red.

Qingzhui.

Horses were used in battles, but they were also used for much more.

Mounted warrior from the Sui Dynasty.

There were models of hunters on horseback. One had a dog behind him on the saddle to help with the hunt. Another had an empty arm outstretched, and it's thought he may have been travelling with a bird of prey. Hunters also used lynx and cheetahs to secure their catch.

Hunters on horseback. There's a dog on the saddle of the hunter on the right.

Hunter with outstretched arm that may have once held a bird of prey.

Horses were often used in sports, too and there were paintings depicting polo matches.

Polo.

Women used horses for transport and were allowed to wear men's clothes to make it easier for them to ride.They also dressed like men to participate in sports. Some of the female statues on display were wearing female clothes and had elaborate hair styles.

Female figure on horseback.

Female figure on horseback.

Female figure on a horse.

Female with hands in sleeves.

Females.

Females.

Dancing horses, who had been trained to move their heads, tails and feet in time to music, were a popular form of entertainment at grand feasts.

Dancing horse.

Foreigners who wanted to trade with the Chinese knew that horses would be well received by the emperor or powerful officials.

Foreigners offering a horse as a gift.

Of course some horse accessories survived, too, such as a pair of bronze stirrups.

Bronze stirrups.

Another thing that thrived during these dynasties was music and dancing. There was a beautiful sculpture of a musician on horseback on his way to his next performance. Unfortunately, his musical instrument was long gone.

Musician on a horse.

Many of the sculptures on display depicted musicians or dancers. The musicians' hands are positioned to hold a musical instrument, but many of these are missing or broken.

Beautiful dancing girl with elaborate hairstyle.

Black dancer.

Musicians.

Musicians.

Musicians.

Musicians and dancers in art.

Musicians and dancers in art.

Trade along The Silk Road thrived during this period and there were several statues of merchants. Some of these merchants were foreigners from countries located along The Silk Road.

Camel.

Camel.

Foreign merchant with backpack.

Most of the objects on display were found in tombs. Some scary looking statues acted as tomb guardians to keep raiders out. These statues could be of people, or animals, or even mythological creatures.

Temple guardian.

Temple guardian.

Temple guardian.

Temple guardian.

Temple guardian.

There were also some statues of gods and goddesses, such as Guanyin, goddess of mercy.

Guanyin.

There were also statues of people or things that would be useful for the deceased person in the afterlife, such as: models of houses, pottery plates and bowls, statues of courtyard officials and servants.

House.

Pottery.

Court attendant.

Servants for the afterlife.

Other items that I liked the look of included: a sundial, a carved head, a door lintel with mythological beings and some ornamental roof tiles.

Sun dial.

Carved head.

Door lintel.

Ornamental roof tiles.

I did look at other parts of the museum, but not in any great detail. I'll return to visit them on another day.

When I had finished with the museum, I decided to walk along The Avenue of Stars to the centre of Tsim Sha Tsui. It was still all decorated for the Dragon Boat Day festivities which took place here and it was very crowded. Dragon Boat Day largely passed us by this year as Peter was in hospital on it.

Dragon boat.

Dragon boat.

Dragon boat.

Dragon boat.

Dragon boat.

At the waterfront many people were posing for photographs with harbour views. Some of the professional photographers were really quite aggressive if they considered that anyone got into their space.

Harbour view.

People everywhere.

People everywhere.

People taking photos everywhere.

Even these two were taking selfies.

As always seems to be the case, there was a red sailed junk on the harbour and a sampan with workers clearing rubbish from the water.

Red sailed junk.

Red sailed junk.

Sampan.

The clock tower was not looking its best. It was surrounded by scaffolding, so there was obviously some renovation going on there. Near it there were inflatable figures from The Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival 2026. I'm afraid I have no idea who they are.

Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival 2026.

Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival 2026.

Outside Harbour City there were displays connected to Toy Story 5, which I think has just been released.

Toy Story 5.

Toy Story 5.

Toy Story 5.

Toy Story 5.

Toy Story 5.

Toy Story 5.

The temperature was in the 30's with a real feel in the 40's. I could take no more and headed home.

It's not as easy to find things to do here in the summer, so I did a Google search and found out there was a fun day on in The Sam Tung UK Museum in Tsuen Wan. The fun day was part of The Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival. I decided to go along.

When I got off the train in Tsuen Wan, I noticed that the tiled streets outside the MTR station were really slippy, due to all the torrential rain we have been having, so I thought it would be sensible to head down the stairs to the street which would be easier to walk on. However, as I was going down the stairs, my feet just shot out from under me. It was if I had just stepped on a patch of ice and I fell down the stairs, bumping myself on several of them on the way down. I cut my finger and elbow and I am currently both achy and bruised, but fortunately I didn't hit my head or break any bones. What a start to a fun day!!!

I was also quite wet and probably dirty. I considered going home, but that was further than continuing on to the museum, so I kept going. Once I got inside, I found somewhere to sit down and finding that I had several plasters in my handbag, patched up my wounds.

I then had a wander around to see what was going on. The first thing I came across were some examples of Chinese paper folding craft. There were a lot of volunteers working in the museum that day and one of them was brave enough to try and tell me all about these in English.

Lucky cat.

Mask.

Panda.

Chicken.

There were several workshops going on. I'm not sure if it was necessary to sign up to take part in these. One of them involved painting and another involved embroidery.

Workshop.

Of course there were all the usual exhibits that I have seen before, such as puppets, Hakka furniture, goddesses and lion masks.

Puppets.

Hakka furniture.

Tin Hau.

Lion masks.

I went into one room and three teenagers sitting round a table looked at me in blind panic. They were in charge of a competition, but they hadn't expected to have to speak English. Anyway they did their best. They gave me an entry card and showed me a question about the colours of Mahjong tiles. It was multiple choice. I have seen Mahjong tiles, but I couldn't remember what colour they were, so I randomly chose A and all three teenagers gasped in shock that I had got it right. They then stamped a card and sent me off to find more places to answer questions. I tried to ask if there was a prize if you got everything right and how many stamps I needed, but noone knew what I was saying. Later at another competition desk, a very cute little Chinese girl, who was taking part in the game, explained the whole thing to me in perfect English. There were four places to answer questions and if you got four stamps, you could show them at a table set up outside the museum and get a small prize.

At the second desk I was asked a question about the folded paper boards you see around Hong Kong.

This kind of thing.

To be honest I didn't really know, but I choose one and they all gasped because I got it right again.

At the third competition table the girl looked at me, then went through all her questions (they had many) to find one, which I think was probably labelled idiot-proof, because the answer was in the question. Naturally I managed to get that right.

Just one to go, but this was my nemesis. The question was about the meaning of words carved above the front door of a typical Hakka house. All the answers sounded plausible. I choose one; it was wrong. They felt sorry for me and gave me another go. I got it wrong. They said read around the information on the walls and come back and try again. I didn't. I decided it wasn't meant to be. I was heading back outside. I knew there would be some performances coming on later. One of the fun day organisers stopped me and asked me if I'd tried the competition. I told her I had, but that I could only answer three out of four questions. She took me to the prizes table and insisted they gave me a prize anyway. How's that for cheating! The prizes were little models of dumplings, pineapple buns and unicorn masks.

I discovered that it was half an hour till the performances began. I went into the museum garden and sat for a while. I phoned Peter and told him I had fallen. He wanted me to come straight home, but I said I would watch a bit of the performances first. He was quite annoyed with me, berating me for going out in such bad weather.

In the garden.

In the garden.

Anyway I went and found myself a seat outside the museum from which I could watch the cultural show. It began with a musical performance given by The Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society. I am not knowledgeable about Chinese music, but I took photos of the instruments being played and later looked them up. I hope my information is correct.

A couple of things I noticed were that there were several small children playing the instruments. They aren't in my photos, as they were at the back and difficult to see, but it was great to see them starting out so young. Another thing was that many people swapped instruments and they each took turns at playing them. Most of the instruments were percussion, but some were string or wind.

The whole orchestra.

In the centre there was a tanggu drum. This is a traditional barrel-shaped Chinese ceremonial hall drum. The top and bottom of the drum are made of animal hides. The tanggu is usually suspended by four rings in a wooden stand and is struck using two wooden sticks. This one had a colourful hand-painted dragon design on its body. At least four different people took turns to play the tanggu.

A tanggu.

One member of the orchestra was obviously the leader and he played many different instruments and performed several solo pieces. One of the instruments he played was a suona, which is a traditional Chinese double-reeded wind instrument known for its loud, high-pitched sound.

The orchestra leader on the left playing a suona.

The same man also played a very long musical solo on the ehru. An erhu is a traditional Chinese two-stringed instrument, featuring a small soundbox, which is often covered with python skin. The ehru has a long, vertical neck and is played using a bow that moves between the strings.

Playing an ehru.

Playing an ehru.

Two young girls were playing the guzheng - a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument with 21 strings and a pipa - a four-stringed plucked instrument with a pear-shaped wooden body.

Guzheng and pipa.

Tanggu, guzheng and pipa.

There were also lots of cymbals in the orchestra, too

I stayed for the next performance, too. Id like to have stayed for all four, but there were long gaps between them and it started raining torrentially after the second performance.

The second performance was a unicorn dance performed by the Hong Luk Fung Unicorn Dance Troupe.

The unicorn dance is a traditional Hakka Chinese dance and it has been around for about four hundred and fifty years.The Hakka people were originally farmers, but they were driven out of their native lands in Northern China during periods of upheaval and warfare. Many of them then travelled south down China towards the Guangdong and Hong Kong area. They had to try and find land to settle on and were frequently attacked by other Chinese groups or pirates, so they had to learn how to defend themselves, as a result the unicorn dance incorporates several moves that originate in martial arts.

The unicorn dance features a qilin, which is the Chinese equivalent of a unicorn. The qilin is believed to ward off evil and bring good luck. Nowadays the unicorn dance is still performed at important Hakka celebrations, such as: Chinese New Year, weddings, and ancestral hall inaugurations.

The qilin has a dragon's head, a deer's body and an ox's tail. Its body is constructed from lengths of black, white, red, yellow, and blue fabric, which represent the Five Elements in Chinese philosophy.

I read online that the dance is normally performed by a team of at least six people; there were more than this at the performance I saw. Two performers bring the unicorn to life — one handles the heavy, bamboo-and-paper head, while the other maneuvers the tail and body. I noticed that people took turns to be the head, probably because it is so heavy. I think they took turns to be the tail too, as it involves being bent over for a long time.

Again online I read that three musicians accompany the dancers using traditional percussion instruments: a drum, a gong, and cymbals, but for this performance there were more musicians than this and one was playing something that looked like a horn.

I often WhatsApp my friend, Jason, who is Hakka. He usually greets my photos that I send him with indifference, but this time when I sent him a video, he got really emotional, saying that what I had sent was a Hakka unicorn dance and that it had huge cultural significance for him. He also said there were two types of qilin. The bigger one represented the Hakka farmers who settled inland and the smaller, which has twirly bits on its face, which are meant to look like waves, represented a smaller number of Hakkas, who settled by the sea.

Dance troupe, musicians and unicorn heads.

Dance troupe, musicians and unicorn heads.

The qilin.

Smaller qilin.

Smaller qilin.

Bigger qilin.

Bigger qilin.

Bigger qilin.

Posing for photos on the stage.

One last performance as they leave the stage.

Leaving the stage.

The museum and the unicorn heads.

I went home without any more incidents after this performance.

"Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas."

Elizabeth Murray

Ah, the joys of summer in Hong Kong! Roasting hot one day, rainstorms, thunder and lightning the next. Repeat this all the way from June to September, and don't forget to throw in the occasional typhoon. Is it any surprise that I am currently looking for indoor pursuits!

Well today I decided to take myself off to an exhibition in The Hong Kong Museum of Modern Art. It was called 'Blooming: The Art of Gardens in East and West'. This exhibition contrasts gardens in the east with those in the west and considers the need people have to connect with nature.

The exhibits on display came from The Hong Kong Museum of Art, The Hong Kong Palace Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago and The Palace of Versailles. One of the reasons I wanted to see this exhibition was that there were two works by Claude Monet included in it.

Before going to the exhibition I went to K11 Museo Shopping Mall, as I thought there was an exhibition on here, too, but if there was I'm afraid I missed it. Just outside the museum there was a model of a junk with a flag saying Black and White. This was part of the Black & White Milk Tea 85th-anniversary pop-up event. Apparently Black and White is a form of evaporated milk used in milk tea here. When I wandered in, I was offered a milk tea, but I didn't take one.

Black and White evaporated milk.

Black and White evaporated milk.

I wandered along the waterfront on the Avenue of Stars, noting that there were two orange sailed junks sailing up and down.

Junk on the harbour.

Junk on the harbour.

Junk on the harbour.

There was also an event promoting Budweiser beer. It seemed to be linked to The World Cup.

Budweiser.

As usual nowadays there were lots of tourists around enjoying The Avenue of Stars.

Tourist on The Avenue of Stars.

I then arrived at The Hong Kong Museum of Modern Art, which is usually shortened to HKMOMA. This is a really good museum and most of it is free, including the special exhibition I had come to see.

HKMOMA.

HKMOMA.

'Blooming: The Art of Gardens in East and West' was being held on the second floor of the museum. I went straight there. This exhibition has been advertised a lot and is very popular. It was really quite busy. My friend Lai later told me she took her sister and brother-in-law here one long holiday weekend and they couldn't see anything for the crowds. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as that on my visit.

Blooming The Art of Gardens in East and West.

In the past many western style gardens were created along geometrical lines, while many Chinese gardens tried to create natural landscapes in miniature. Although the styles of these gardens differed, they had the shared purpose of creating a peaceful sanctuary filled with natural beauty where people could sit down, relax and ponder the universe.

This exhibition contained 106 artefacts, mostly paintings, but with some other objects thrown in.

Certain Chinese paintings were probably very famous, as they seemed to be constantly surrounded. The paintings that I recognised were by Claude Monet. There were two of his waterlilies paintings and a portrait of him painted by French artist, Albert André. I could never quite manage to get directly in front of 'Waterlilies 1906' due to all the people, so my photo is taken at an awkward angle.

Portrait of Claude Monet.

'Water lily pond' 1900

'Water-lilies' 1906.

There were several other paintings of western style gardens that I liked.

'The Villa Albani' by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, taken from a series of paintings called 'Views of Rome'.

'The Royal Isle Grove' anonymous, the Gardens of Versailles.

'View of the Grotta di Palazzo with Banquet' by Louis Jean Desprez.

'View of the Grove of the Domes' Jean Cotelle from the Palace of Versailles.

'The Grotto of Pan and Fame' by Italian artist Stefano della Bella around 1653.

There were even more gorgeous paintings of eastern style gardens. As I didn't photograph all the information about them, I am trying to identify them using A.I. which may or may not be correct.

Haishan Xianguan garden in Guangzhou.

Emperor Qianlong playing the Zither.

'The Palace of Nine Perfections' by Qing dynasty artist Yuan Yao.

'Yinzhen's Pleasure' depicting the private life of the Yongzheng Emperor.

There was a serious of twelve beautiful paintings depicting the leisure activities of the court ladies in each month of the year by Qing Dynasty court painter Chen Mai.

'Grooming in the Waterside Pavilion in May' Chen Mei.

'Monthly Leisure Activities of the Court Ladies', Chen Mei. I'm not sure if the ladies are appreciating paintings or calligraphy.

'Enjoying Antiquities by the Stove' Chen Mei.

'Moon Gazing from the Jade Terrace in August,' Chen Mei.

'Appreciating Chrysanthemums' for the ninth lunar month.

In keeping with the twelve months of the year idea there were twelve paintings by Robert Furber called 'Twelve Months of Flowers'.

July.

August.

October.

November.

Then there were paintings of flowers, plants, birds and insects that you might find on a garden.

Chinese painting in Gongbi (meticulous brushwork) style from the Qing Dynasty.

Chinese painting in Gongbi style from the Qing Dynasty.

'Lilies' a woodblock print created by Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai.

'Poppies' a woodblock print created by Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai.

'Cotton Roses and Sparrow' by Katsushika Hokusai.

'Chrysanthemums and Bee' by Katsushika Hokusai.

Then there were other items on display which were not paintings but which were decorated with garden scenes such as teapots, vases, tiles, plates, and an elaborate cabinet.

Teapot.

Porcelain jardinière from the Qing Dynasty.

Lacquer dish from the Ming Dynasty.

Tiles from Persia featuring a musician and dancer.

Pottery tiles from Iran.

Detail of the cabinet.

There was even a section where you could sit and relax in a pretend garden with a stream and birdsong.

Need a rest?

Ah, that's better.

I went round this exhibition twice in the hope that some of the places that had been taken over by tour groups would be free second time around.

I didn't want to go to all the exhibitions in HKMOMA, but I decided to take a look at one called 'Live'. This exhibition focuses on the works of nineteen contemporary Hong Kong artists who it described as 'actively shaping the city's contemporary art scene'. Media used in this exhibition included painting, ink art, ceramics, sculpture, video and multimedia. On a lower floor it was possible to go and watch videos on the story behind these works of art, but I didn't go there.

Live.

The exhibition began with an enormous mechanical merry-go-round called 'Pride of Labour '.

'Pride of Labour' by Joseph Chan.

There were sculptures called: 'Cloud... virtual', 'Mountains Beyond,' 'Arrow' and 'Mirage Lingering and beyond.'

'Cloud... virtual' sculpture by artist Kum Chi-keung.

'Mountains Beyond' by Ross Yau.

'Arrow' by Inkgo Lam.

'Mirage lingering and beyond.' by Angela Yuen.

There was an enormous painting called 'The Star Ferry Tale'. I didn't read the title of this at the time and thought the upside down star ferry was a spaceship. Later still I discovered that's what you are meant to think.

'The Star Ferry Tale' by Wong Chun-hei.

'The Star Ferry Tale' by Wong Chun-hei.

One painting called 'DollyLand' was a modern interpretation of an old Chinese painting called 'The Peddler'.

'Dolly Land' by Jess Leung.

'The Peddler' by Ji Sheng.

Other paintings included: 'I am painting', 'I live here' and 'Red sail in Victoria Harbour '.

'I am painting' and 'I live here' by Chu Hing-Wah.

'Red sail in Victoria Harbour' by Wong Hau-kwei.

There was lots more to see, but I find I can't take in huge amounts of art in one go, so I headed out shopping, then home.