香港 (Hong Kong I)

Hong Kong

I spent more than a week in Hong Kong and I had such an incredible trip there that I took what feels like a million photos. I will split the post about Hong Kong into two parts: Kowloon is more traditional, which forms its northern shores and Hong Kong Island is the sparkling side of town, which lies south of the harbour. 

Kowloon is authentic and edgier side of Hong Kong. It’s most densely populated area, but with this comes a diverse host of attractions to explore. Every step has attracted me some attention. I started my journey with the stroll on the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade with spectacular views of Victoria Harbour. I could sit here for hours and observe buildings, ships, clouds or people posing next to a life-size bronze statue of Bruce Lee.

I continued to stroll through the serene Kowloon Park to the bustling neighbourhood of Mong Kok. There’s no better place to experience the vibrant and fast-beating pulse of Hong Kong than in its liveliest district. Mong Kok is all about one thing, markets, and lots of them. I spent a whole afternoon exploring the Ladies’ market and the district’s specialist markets dedicated to birds, flowers and even goldfish. Goldfish are believed to bring good luck, so market has seemingly endless street of brightly coloured fish packed into plastic pouches. 

This area is everything you expect Hong Kong to be, excellent street food, shopping opportunities and sensory feast of neon lit streets. The densely packed signboards are one of the strongest visual identities of the city. Especially during the night. Just when I thought I’m done with the markets, because it was getting late and the sun slinked below the horizon, I discovered Temple Street night market. Traders, street performers and fortune tellers gathers here nightly. It was great place for me to experience local culture. 

Should I mention that I have returned to this part of the city several times? And discovered even some calm places, like Wong Tai Sin Temple (Sik Sik Yuen) rumoured to make every wish come true. Hong Kong can be described as organised chaos, its paradoxes and contrasts make it an exciting place to be.

TIP: The promenade is a prime spot to watch a nightly light and laser show which showcases Hong Kong’s landmark buildings on both sides of the harbour. The show takes place every night at 8pm, and lasts 15 minutes, accompanied by commentary and music. 

I hope you like this little photo diary I put together to share my time adventuring through Kowloon. Let me know if you have visited Hong Kong and how did you like it?  If anyone has any feedback I’d be so appreciative to receive your comments and questions below. 

♥︎ Unta