Time Changes Everything.

I didn't originally plan to go walkabout today. I just woke up with itchy feet and decided I might as well go out and do something. After enjoying the artwork along the harbour in Central last week, I decided to see what was going on along the harbour in Tsim Sha Tsui.

I took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui East and exited into K11 Musea. The first time I visited here, I was trying to go to an exhibition. I was expecting K11 Musea to be just another typical Hong Kong, boring, we only sell extortionately priced designer stuff, type shopping mall. Instead I found it had lots of artwork and an outside garden area and I was really impressed. This time I went with visions of art and culture and wandered around thinking: "Why did I want to come here? It's just an overpriced shopping centre." The place itself had not changed at all, but I guess my expectations had.

K11 Musea from the outside.

The inner atrium of K11 Musea.

The Inner Atrium.

The Giant Glass Ball.

The Giant Glass Ball.

Inside the giant glass ball.

Art work is dotted around. Sponge Bob.

Art work is dotted around. Brown Bears.

Scary artwork.

In the garden a perfume display was being set up.

For Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia Cologne.

I liked the peacock slide.

And the peahen one.

After wandering around the mall for a while, I went outside onto the harbour front to see if there was any artwork on display here. There wasn't - nothing at all. Oh well, not to worry, I decided I would walk along the Avenue of Stars as far as Hung Hom anyway.

Now once again I discovered time had changed my perceptions. I walked along here last year, or the year before, on a Sunday and was amazed and delighted to find I had the whole place to myself. "How wonderful to be able to photograph the Bruce Lee statue without having to queue!" I had thought. This time, once again I had pretty much the whole of the Avenue of Stars, one of Hong Kong's biggest tourists draws, to myself. Only now I felt sorry for the cafes and bars along the front that were sitting empty and for the souvenir shops without a customer in sight. I hate crowds, but to see popular tourist sighs devoid of people for such a long time isn't good for the economy or for people's morale.

I photographed the main attractions even though I have done so before. I started with the statue of McDull. McDull is a cartoon pig that is loved by the Cantonese population here. He was created by Alice Mak and Brian Tse. McDull apparently grew up in the slums of Sham Shui Po and went through many typical everyday experiences that ordinary Hong Kongers can identify with.

McDull.

Next I had a look at the Anita Mui statue. Anita was a very successful Cantopop singer and actress. She is sometimes referred to as the Daughter of Hong Kong. She died of cervical cancer tragically young at just forty years old.

Anita Mui.

Anita's statue is very close to Bruce Lee's statue. They are positioned rather strangely on opposite sides of a Starbucks Cafe. However, one advantage of their new positions is they have water barriers around them to stop people touching them or climbing on them. Before there used to be unsightly metal barriers for this reason.

Bruce Lee, the very famous, martial arts expert and actor, also died tragically young at just thirty-two.

Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee.

Just past the statues, I walked up some steps to the Garden of Stars. This still contains two groups of statues connected to the film industry. They were supposed to be housed here temporarily while the Avenue of Stars was being redone, but because they look good with a harbour backdrop from here, they have been allowed to remain.

Art work.

Lights, Camera, action.

And we're rolling.

Harbour views

Harbour views.

Back down on the Avenue of Stars I continued my walk. I passed another oddly placed sight, the dragon head fountain, which is sort of hidden behind a pillar for some unknown reason. There were some garden areas here where you could sit and enjoy harbour views. I did for a while till I needed to escape from the heat.

Dragon Fountain.

This hibiscus seemed to be more beautiful than any hibiscus has a right to be.

Escaping the heat made me want to go somewhere indoors for a while, so I headed off to the Museum of History and the Museum of Science. These museums are opposite each other. I quickly discovered I could not get in to the Museum of Science, because it is staging a special dinosaurs exhibition and due to the large numbers of people who want to see it, you have to reserve a space online to get in.

Dinosaur bones in front of the museums.

Science Museum.

Science Museum.

Science Museum.

Science Museum.

I got into the History Museum without any problems, but it is undergoing major renovations, so only a very small part of it was open. That part focused on the different tribes that make up the indigenous Hong Kong population and on typical Hong Kong sights and experiences from the past.

The History Museum.

There was a section on traditional weddings. The bride traditionally wore red clothes for luck. White was a colour to be avoided, as it symbolises death. There were lots of rituals to follow such as serving tea to the elders, starting with the groom's parents.

This old sedan chair would have been used to carry a bride to her wedding ceremony.

The bride would have been dressed in clothes like these. Red is a lucky colour.

There were some sections on Hong Kong's indigenous tribes. These are the Punti, Hoklo, Tanka and Hakka.

The Punti were the first to settle in this area in the eleventh century. They are known as the "original residents." They lived by farming. Then came the Hoklo, who originally came from Fujian. They lived by fishing and were known as "river people”. Next came the Tanka, known as “sea gypsies”. They lived full-time on their fishing boats. Finally, the Hakka arrived in 1688. They also lived by farming.

Hoklo boat.

Fish drying.

Traditional Hoklo Paddle Dance.

Tribal hat.

Child's clothing. It's Chinese but makes me think of Laplanders.

Typical Hakka Clothing.

There was also a section on Hong Kong Memories. Typical homes, shops, cafes, restaurants were recreated in this section. I didn't really like the way part of the display was like a black and white sketch and part was made up of real objects. It was the black and white sketch part I didn't like.

Inside a typical home.

Inside a traditional cafe.

Typical restaurant.

Hardware Shop.

Grocery Shop.

Grocery Shop.

Old Fashioned Barbershop.

One wall was decorated with traditional street scenes and Chinese art.

Painting of Hong Kong street scene.

Hong Kong Art.

When I had cooled down, I returned to the waterfront. I passed a rather nice fountain on route. When I finally reached Hung Hom, I ran out of promenade and had to leave the waterfront. It was shaded here due to overhead roads. This meant several people were sitting around enjoying the relative coolness or fishing in the not so clean harbour waters.

Fountain in Tsim Sha Tsui East.

Approaching Hung Hom.

Harbour viewed from the shade.

Enjoying the shade.

I was now next to the Hong Kong Coliseum. This is a multipurpose indoor stadium which dates from 1983. It hosts sporting events, concerts and conventions and can seat 12,500 people. It's been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. There was a concert here by Hong Kong boy band, Mirror. I'm not a fan personally, but you can't escape them here. Their images are everywhere. Anyway during their concert a huge screen fell down onto the stage. Two of the group's backing dancers were injured. One of them is still in hospital and may be paralyzed for life. A terrible thing to happen to anyone, but when you are young and fit and largely just starting out in life, totally tragic.

The Hong Kong Coliseum.

The Hong Kong Coliseum.

Hong Kong Coliseum is right next to Hung Hom Station, and I decided to go and see one more area before going home, so I got on a train and headed one stop to Homantin. I'd have walked, but I wasn't sure of the way. I wanted to visit the Kwun Yum Temple here. Kwun Yum is the goddess of mercy. She is worshipped by Taoists and Buddhists.

This temple was built in 1873. For Chinese people this is one of the most important Kwun Yum Temples in Hong Kong. It has quite an interesting history.

In 1909 a road was built close to the temple. When the road builders were digging, red water suddenly spouted out of the ground. The workers were superstitious and believed they had ruptured the vein of a dragon that inhabited the area. Laboratory tests showed that the red colour was actually due to a mixture of underground deposits of mercury and sulphur, but this did not calm the workers' fears, so they donated large sums of money to the Kwun Yum Temple in the hope this would cancel out any bad luck they had acquired.

During the second World War, the Hung Hom area was heavily bombed due to its proximity to the nearby Hutchinson Whampoa Dockyard. Civilians sheltered in the temple and a nearby school. Many people were killed or injured in the school, but the temple remained intact and those sheltering there were unharmed.

Every year on the 26th day of the first lunar month, the Kwun Yum Treasury is said to open. People flock to this temple in droves. They write down their names, birthdays and how much money they want on a piece of paper, pray to the goddess then select a red packet. Inside the packet is a piece of paper with an amount of money written on it. This is the amount they can 'borrow' from Kwun Yum. Of course the money is not real, but I guess if the goddess is prepared to lend you a lot, it symbolises good fortune.

I'm not sure really why I like visiting Chinese temples. I'm pretty much always in everyone's way, but for some reason I find them very interesting. In fact I guess I find all religious buildings interesting.

Sculpture near Homantin Station.

Kwun Yum Temple, Hung Hom.

Kwun Yum altar.

Kwun Yum altar.

Lightning Incense.

Placing incense.

Worshippers.

Shrine inside the temple.

Another shrine.

Revolving Buddha images.

Making lotus flowers from red packets. The lotus flower is the symbol of Kwun Yum.

Coils of incense.

Near temples there are always shops selling offerings such as flowers, incense etc.

Here's another one.

And another.

Further away from the temple there were more normal shops. Some of these were very colourful, laden down with fruit and vegetables.

Vegetables.

Fruit.

On my way to the MTR, I passed a temple in the middle of the pavement. This is the Fuk Tak Temple, which is dedicated to the earth god. The temple was founded in the late nineteenth century before Hung Hom became built up. The authorities wanted to demolish it, as it was in the way of their urbanisation plans, but the locals were not happy with that idea, so Hung Hom was pretty much built around the temple, hence its weird location. I believe this temple was damaged in the war, then later restored.

Fuk Tak Temple.

Fuk Tak Temple.

After that I realized I had ended up back in Whampoa again. I found the nearest MTR and headed home.