Shoeless in Tsuen Wan.

We are having a fairly typical Hong Kong summer: days of excessive heat, followed by days of thunder, lighting and non-stop rain.

Yesterday, which was Tuesday, we managed to get down to the pool between thunder storm warnings. For once we decided to treat it as if we were on holiday. We normally arrive, swim for around an hour, then leave. Yesterday we arrived, swam, had drinks and snacks from the poolside kiosk, relaxed, read a bit, then swam some more just as we might do if we had gone to a resort. We plan to try and spend a few more days like this.

Happy down the pool.

Happy down the pool.

Today, Wednesday, I decided to once again brave going out exploring. I have a whole list of hikes I want to do, but they'll have to wait till it's cooler. Instead, I have decided visiting a district of Hong Kong with transport and air-conditioned shopping centres is currently the way to go, because when I feel about ready to die of heat or the thunder and lightning starts, I can go inside. Thus, I decided it was time to visit Tsuen Wan.

I don't often go to Tsuen Wan, but when I have been, I have never actually liked it. I have decided this is because Tsuen Wan is a bit confusing to get around and very built up. Today, however, I took my time and had a good wander around and found Tsuen Wan is actually quite interesting.

Tsuen Wan started out life as a few sleepy villages located next to the sea. Then in the 1940's a group of Shanghai industrialists settled here and established textile factories. These factories developed rapidly and ended up employing thousands of workers and Tsuen Wan became well known for creating fabric and garments. Then the government began to develop this area by building large numbers of housing estates as part of its 'new town policy'. This policy was aimed at providing homes for a rapidly rising population.

I got to Tsuen Wan by taking the West Rail to Tsuen Wan West. I exited through exit B and headed along the waterfront promenade. On a previous outing, I once walked along the waterfront looking towards Tsuen Wan West from Tsing Yi. This time I was looking towards Tsing Yi from Tsuen Wan West. Despite how built up this area is, the waterfront was very, very peaceful.

Tsuen Wan Promenade.

Tsuen Wan Promenade.

Tsuen Wan Promenade.

Tsuen Wan Promenade.

The walk along the promenade joins on to Tsuen Wan Park, which is a very welcome green space in this built-up area. As I headed there, I spotted some beautiful flowers and went to photograph them. While doing this, I tripped over something and stumbled in such a way that my left shoe, which was a bit worn out, suddenly fell apart. Oh dear! I now had to sort of hobble through the park trying to keep my broken shoe on. All things considered, I think I still didn't do too badly on the sightseeing. Tsuen Wan Park has a maritime theme and is very pleasant with quite a few things to see, such as ponds, statues and towers. One of the residential blocks nearby had a beautiful peacock staircase.

Entrance to Tsuen Wan Park.

The flowers that broke my shoe.

Bridge over the pond, Tsuen Wan Park.

Tower, Statues and Fish, Tsuen Wan Park.

Turtles and Reflections.

Fish Statues.

Lighthouse structure by pond.

Tsuen Wan Park, Tsuen Wan West, Hong Kong

The Waterfall in Tsuen Wan Park.

Dolphin Statues, Tsuen Wan Park.

Ivy Tower surrounded by turtle statues, Tsuen Wan Park.

Good Old Boys Playing Chess, Tsuen Wan Park.

Flowers, Tsuen Wan Park.

Peacock Staircase.

Nina Twin Towers.

To my relief at the end of Tsuen Wan Park, I came across Citywalk Shopping Mall. I went inside looking for shoes and found some almost immediately, so I bought these and threw the broken ones away. There are two Citywalk Shopping Malls connected by a pedestrian walkway. Between them they have over three hundred and fifty shops and restaurants.

Looking Towards Citywalk Shopping Mall, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

Inside the City walk Mall.

Inside the City walk Mall.

What would you like for dinner? Choose your fish from a tank outside the Chinese restaurant.

Peaceful Buddah Face outside a massage parlour.

When I left the shopping mall, I noticed a colourful indoor market, so I went in to take a look round. The fruit and vegetables certainly looked tasty and fresh.

Inside the market.

Inside the market.

Inside the market.

Inside the market.

Inside the market.

Inside the market.

Inside the market.

After the market I followed a walkway towards Tsuen Wan's other MTR station. On the way I passed Tsuen Wan Town Hall and several beautifully decorated staircases. I came off the walkway to wander around some colourful streets with tall buildings and beautiful murals, many of them done by school children.

At one time Tsuen Wan was just a village then it was turned into one of Hong Kong's new towns with lots of housing estates.

Colourful Tsuen Wan Housing Estate.

Street Scene.

Looking towards Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

Colourful Street Scene.

Across a Playing Field.

Crowded City Streets.

Reminiscent of Causeway Bay.

Shop overflowing with health.

Muay Thai Fight Club.

I liked Tsuen Wan's Painted Staircases.

Another Painted Staircase.

Very Realistic MTR Mural.

And Another One.

Murals of Tsuen Wan Sights.

Murals of Tsuen Wan Sights.

Murals of Tsuen Wan Sights.

Murals of Tsuen Wan Sights.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals by Children Outside a Local School.

Murals under an Underpass.

Murals under an Underpass.

Mural Outside MTR. I think they are connected back to Tsuen Wan's textile industry.

Mural Outside MTR.

Next I went to an old Hakka walled village which has been converted into a museum. It's called Sam Tung Uk Village and was built by the Chan Clan in 1786. The Chans moved to this area from Guangdong in the mid-eighteenth century and earned their living here by farming.

Entrance to the museum is free. Near the entrance you can watch some videos about Chinese festivals. The ancestral hall of the village is still intact and brightly decorated. All of the side-rooms are intact but empty. At the back of the building there is an exhibition hall focusing on Chinese crafts. Exhibits here show how to carve a Tin Hau image from a block of wood, how to make a dragon head and how to build a bamboo theatre for staging Chinese operas. I loved the way each step of these processes was shown.

Entrance Sign of Museum.

Earth god shrine.

Museum Doorway.

Close up of doorway.

Lanterns between entrance and ancestral hall.

Close-up of lanterns.

Ancestral Hall.

Passageway.

Passageway.

Side Building.

Doorway with door gods.

Doorway.

Step by step making a dragon head for a dragon dance.

Close up of finished examples.

Movements in the dragon dance.

Exhibit from sights and sounds of festivals.

Building an opera stage from bamboo.

Bamboo.

Step by step making a Tin Hau goddess.

Step by step making a Tin Hau goddess.

Step by step making a Tin Hau goddess.

Lantern making.

Picture of Floating Children from Cheung Chau Bun Festival.

Entranceway.

The walled village.

The walled village.

Old and New.

Pond in Museum Garden.

Turtles in the pond.

Looking across museum garden towards entranceway.

Trees in Museum Garden.

Trees in Museum Garden.

I still had plenty to look at. There was a Tin Hau Temple in one direction and on the other side of the MTR a former mill building which has been converted into an arts centre, but I was starting to suffer from the heat and my new shoes were scraping the skin off my feet in two places, so I decided just to take a look at the nearby Panda Hotel with its large mural of pandas around bamboo then go home. After all I can always return another day.

Panda Hotel.

Inside Panda Hotel.

On the train ride home I took some pictures of the Ramblers Channel separating Tsuen Wan and Taking Yi.

Looking across the Ramblers Channel.

Looking across the Ramblers Channel.