September 2021

Today I finally made it to West Kowloon Cultural District. I've been interested in visiting here for a while, but have always thought it was still largely a construction site. Actually parts of it still are, but there's enough of this area finished nowadays to justify a visit.

The idea for the West Kowloon Cultural District originated in 1996 when the Hong Kong Tourist Board conducted a survey of tourists and discovered that they claimed they found Hong Kong lacking in cultural sites. In 1998 the then chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, proposed remedying this with the establishment of the West Kowloon Cultural District. His idea was approved, but there followed a series of setbacks and delays. The first phase of the district finally opened in 2015 and the second phase is expected to be completed in 2026.

To get to the West Kowloon Cultural District I took the MTR to Kowloon Station and headed towards exit E. The first building I saw upon exiting was the International Commerce Centre (ICC), which at 108 stories and measuring 484 metres, is the tallest building in Hong Kong and the twelfth tallest building in the world.

The International Commerce Centre.

I then followed the signs to the West Kowloon Cultural District and arrived near the Freespace Building, which is a new centre for contemporary arts performances. On the way I passed a wall covered with hard hats indicating that construction was definitely still on-going.

Construction definitely continues.

The Freespace Building.

The Freespace Building.

Mural outside the Freespace Building.

Mural outside the Freespace Building.

Mural outside the Freespace Building.

Mural outside the Freespace Building.

After looking at the Freespace Building, I walked to the M+ Building, which is a museum of visual culture set to open on the 12th of November this year. Apparently this museum Intends to rival the Tate Modern in London, the MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris in terms of the breadth and importance of its collections. Only the museum's shop and cafe are open at the moment, but I photographed its shape, bamboo-like walls, hanging lights and reflecting doors. There was also a lovely harbour side cafe here.

M+ Building.

M+ Building.

Front of the M+ Building.

Detail of the M+ Building.

Reflections in the M+ Arts Centre Window, West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong.

Lights and Reflections M+ Building.

Lights M+ Building.

Lights M+ Building.

Flowers outside M+ Building.

Cafe by the harbour.

Cafe by the harbour.

Next I walked along the harbour front enjoying the views. It was a bit overcast, but the scenery was still lovely. There's a walkway along the waterfront with a lawn on one side and many people bring their tents and spend the day here at the weekends.

Harbour View.

Harbour view.

Harbour view.

Harbour view.

Harbour View.

Harbour View

Taking selfies by the waterfront.

Pitch your tent and enjoy a day by the waterfront.

I liked this building.

Along the harbour front there was an exhibition called 'Friends With You' featuring large colourful characters to take photos with.

'Friends With You'.

'Friends With You'.

'Friends With You'.

'Friends With You'.

'Friends With You'.

Overlooking 'Friends With You' plus harbour view.

Overlooking 'Friends With You' plus harbour view.

I then walked along the waterfront in the direction of the Palace Museum. On the way there is a large green expanse of lawn and more beautiful harbour views.

Harbour Walkway.

Harbour Walkway.

On the Waterfront.

View Across the Lawn.

The Palace Museum is still under construction and should, hopefully, be completed by July 1st 2022. It will exhibit artefacts from Beijing's Palace Museum. This building has been designed to look like the buildings in the forbidden city in Beijing.

The Palace Museum.

The Palace Museum.

The Palace Museum.

Just past the Palace Museum is the Competition Pavilion. This was the winning design of a Hong Kong Architects and Designers Competition held in 2017. It was designed by Paul Tse and Evelyn Ting of New Office Works and is called “Growing Up.” I have seen pictures of it and was not that impressed, but I found it much more beautiful in reality than in the photos. It was one of my two favourite places I visited that day.

The Palace Museum and Pavilion.

The Art Pavilion.

The Art Pavilion.

The Art Pavilion.

The Art Pavilion.

The Art Pavilion.

After the pavilion I continued along the waterfront a short way for views over Jordan and towards Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter. There were lots of ferries around here.

Waterfront near Jordan and Yau Ma Tei.

After this I wanted to visit the Xiqu Centre which stages Chinese operas. To get there I had to go out of the West Kowloon Cultural District and walk along the edge of a major road. Although these areas will eventually be connected, at the moment there is a large construction site between them.

The Xiqu Centre is a really beautiful building and together with the Competition Pavilion was my favourite part of the cultural district. One site I looked at described it as shaped like a Chinese lantern; another claimed it's meant to look like the curtains that can be found on a stage. Inside there is a Grand Theatre, a Tea House Theatre, eight studios, a seminar hall, restaurants, a gift shop and a large public atrium. The outer walls of this building are beuautiful and make wonderful patterns when you photograph them.

Xiqu Centre Sign.

The Exterior of the Xiqu Centre.

The Exterior of the Xiqu Centre.

Inside the Xiqu Centre.

Inside the Xiqu Centre.

Looking out from inside the Xiqu Building.

Looking out from inside the Xiqu Building.

Looking out from inside the Xiqu Building.

Tea Shop Inside the Xiqu Centre.

Gift Shop inside the Xiqu Centre.

Chinese Opera Posters.

Chinese Opera Posters.

Chinese Opera Poster.

Chinese restaurant.

Chinese restaurant.

Beautiful Walls of the Xiqu Centre.

Beautiful Walls of the Xiqu Centre.

Finally, I walked to the nearby Kowloon High Speed Rail Terminal from where it is possible to catch trains to Mainland China. This is also a very beautiful example of modern architecture. This building has a massive glass curtain wall made up of over four thousand irregularly shaped glass panels and its elegant curved ceiling is made of over eight thousand tonnes of steel. Its sloping rooftop is covered with beautiful flowers and greenery. It is possible to climb up to a viewing point from which you can look out over the harbour or enjoy a view over Kowloon. at the moment the harbour view looks out over a construction site.

elegant Curving Facade of station.

Kowloon High speed Rail Station Side View.

More Views of the Station

More Views of the Station.

Rooftop Garden.

Flowers in the rooftop garden.

To the Viewing Point at the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station.

At the Viewing Point.

Looking over Kowloon from the Viewing Point.

Looking at the Xiqu Building from the View Point.

Harbour View.

By this time I had had too much sun, so I headed back to the MTR which was next to the Elements shopping centre and a tall building called The Arches. Then I took the train and a bus back home.

Arches Building near the MTR.

Yesterday evening was Mid-Autumn Festival. This is celebrated every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This festival is associated with harvest time. Chinese people celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival by eating brightly coloured round foods such as fruit and mooncakes while sitting outside and gazing at the moon. The moon will be at its fullest during this festival. It is also traditional to make or buy lanterns at mid-autumn and these are used to decorate buildings or are carried by children during their night time picnic.

Peter with the lanterns by day.

And by night.

Peter with lanterns.

Me with lanterns.

Lanterns.

Lanterns.

Lanterns.

My friend sent me this picture of Mid-Autumn in Ap Lei Chau.

There is a legend associated with the festival. There are many versions of it, but this is my favourite.

Long ago there were ten suns in the sky. It was constantly day time and always extremely hot. Plants struggled to survive in the heat and crops would often shrivel up and die. One day, a skilful archer called Hou Yi, tired of the eternal heat and light, pointed his bow towards the heavens and shot down nine of the suns. Hou Yi's actions made life much better for the whole of mankind, so as a reward, the goddess Xiwangmu gave him a magic potion. Anyone who drank this would achieve immortality.

While Hou Yi deeply wanted to be immortal, he only had enough potion for one person and he could not bear to live for all eternity without his beautiful young wife - Chang’e, so instead of drinking the potion, he hid it under their bed. However, an evil man called Feng Meng, who worked as an apprentice to Hou Yi found out about the potion and wanted it for himself. One night, Feng Meng forced his way into Hou Yi's home when Chang’e was there all alone. He tried to make her give him the potion. Knowing she could not fight him off, Chang'e stopped him in the only way she could, she drank every last drop of the potion herself. When she had finished, she became lighter and lighter and began to float through the air. She floated right out of her window, up through the night sky and all the way up to the moon which became her new home forever and ever.

Hou Yi was heartbroken when he discovered his beloved wife had gone, but knowing she was up on the moon, he would spend his nights gazing up at her. He also laid out fruits and cakes as offerings to her every evening until the day he died and from this practice Mid-Autumn Festival was born.

It was a funny day weatherwise. Like most days recently it began with a beautiful sunrise. I've been photographing these most days on my way to work.

Sunrise.

Sunrise.

Sunrise.

Sunrise.

Sunrise.

Later in the day it became stormy with torrential rain, thunder and lightning. I took some harbour views from school, because I thought the sky looked quite dramatic.

Stormy skies over the harbour.

Stormy skies over the harbour.

In the evening we went for a swim at our pool. There was a large group of people having a Mid Autumn Festival party there. I heard one of them say. "Where's the moon. We're all supposed to be looking at the moon." She was right there was no moon, it was too cloudy. What a disappointment! A short time later I heard lots of Ohs and Ahs. The moon had broken through the clouds. It was huge, bright red and very beautiful. My photos really don't do it justice.

The moon viewed from the pool.

The moon viewed from the pool.

After our swim we went upstairs to the restaurant and had dinner on the balcony, gazing at the moon.

Peter at dinner.

Moon Gazing.

Moon Gazing.

Me and the moon.

Peter with the moon.

The day after Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday here. We got up early and went for a swim. In the evening we are out on the Residents' Club. On the walk there we passed the beach just as the sun was going down. It was pretty crowded.

Discovery Bay Beach on a public holiday.