Faking it in Aldrich Bay.

Old man consulting his phone amidst hearts and flowers. Eastern District Cultural Park, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong.

'My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them'.

Mitch Hedberg

I often get my ideas for what to see and do in Hong Kong by watching other people's videos of where they've been and what they've been doing. One video I watched recently showed me a young woman posing for selfies surrounded by tulips and roses. Well, it's the wrong time of year for tulips. Plus tulips and roses don't even bloom in the same months, so I was a bit intrigued by this and suspected that someone must have filled a park with fake flowers. I decided to go and have a look.

It's not always easy for me to understand the videos I watch. Some are in Cantonese and some, if they are made by the many Filipinos living here, are in Tagalog. However, I thought I knew where this park was, as I recognised a wooden boat in one of the scenes, so I took the MTR to Sai Wan Ho, exited through Exit A, turned right and headed to Aldrich Bay Park. I've been here once before when it was hosting a lantern festival. It's a pleasant park with lots of lawns, seating areas and a pond with an old wooden fishing boat and two sampans. These were all present and correct, but there wasn't a fake flower anywhere in sight.

Sampan and fishing vessel in Aldrich Bay Park.

Reflections in the pond in Aldrich Bay Park.

I quickly realised I was either in the wrong place or the fake flower display had ended, "Oh well, never mind." I thought . "I'll just look at the park and then head to the waterfront."

The waterfront here is known as Aldrich Bay Promenade. This whole area was once part of the sea, but following land reclamation is now largely residential with some attractive parks and a very pleasant seaside walkway.

Aldrich Bay is called after Major Edward Aldrich who lived from 1802 to 1857. He was a British military engineer, architect and surveyor with The Royal Engineer Corps. His name in Chinese, based on its sound, rather appropriately translates to 'loving discipline,' so you could say I was in Loving Discipline Bay.

Aldrich Bay Promenade runs alongside the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter and there is a wide variety of boats here from small sampans, to houseboats, fishing vessels, ferries and pleasure crafts.

Colourful crafts in Aldrich Bay.

Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter.

A jumble of boats.

A sampan.

I think these may be small ferries.

Boats with the hills of Kowloon in the background.

Typhoon Shelter.

Boats.

Across the sampans.

When I came to the end of the Promenade, I was at The Eastern District Cultural Square and there, to my surprise, I came across a little park filled with fake flowers. I had found my tulips in May.

Well, if you think tulips in May is incongruous, you would probably be even more thrown by the Christmas reindeer and Mid Autumn Festival Cinderella carriage on display here, too. There is a sign that tries to make sense of it all. It says: "With numerous LED flowers and interactive devices, Blossoming Garden @ Eastern wishes to present a picturesque garden to citizens and tourists."

I had a wander around immersing myself in the floral archways and fields of tulips and roses. There were seats decorated with love hearts and various creatures hidden amongst the foliage. I found squirrels and other animals as well as the reindeer, but they were positioned so as to be almost unseeable. It was all very strange. Nonetheless, it all takes a good photo and is probably a hit on Instagram. I particularly loved the old man sitting so contentedly in the midst of it all engrossed in his phone. I believe this is all lit up at night. That would probably be very pretty.

Pathway.

Pathway.

Fields of tulips.

Fields of roses.

Roses and tulips.

Carnations.

Roses and carnations.

Fields of flowers.

Roses.

Closeup of roses.

Closeup of Carnations.

Reindeer.

Reindeer closeup.

Reindeer.

Reindeer.

Reindeer.

Your carriage awaits, Cinderella.

Floral Archway in Eastern District Cultural Park, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong

Floral Archway.

Of course, I had to take the odd selfie here and there.

Selfie time.

Selfie time.

Just across the road from the park there's a temple I have visited before, but since I was right next to it, I went in for another look. This is Tam Kung Temple and it dates from 1905, making it one of the oldest temples in Hong Kong. Tam Kung was originally a native of Huizhou in Guangdong Province. He was believed to have supernatural powers. He could control the wind and the rain and forecast the weather. With all these traits he was particularly loved by fishermen. There is a quarry near this area and many workers from Huizhou came to Shau Kei Wan to work in this quarry bringing their beliefs and their gods with them. Each year on Tam Kung's birthday there is a big festival here.

Tam Kung Temple.

Doorway.

Model boat.

Dragon boat.

Lanterns.

Lanterns.

Images in the temple.

Closer view.

Images in the temple.

Images in the temple.

There's another temple I want to visit in Shau Kei Wan called Fuk Tak Temple, but since I lack the discipline of Major Edward Aldrich, I hadn't researched how to get to it and will just need to make another trip to Shau Kei Wan.