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Aberdeen
Aberdeen, on the southwest side of Hong Kong Island, is famous for the thousands of boat people living on the thousands of dilapidated boats in the harbor; its two very large, very good floating restaurants which serve magnificent seafood; and its small harbor. At night, the myriad of neon lights up the area. Near here are the Ocean Park and Waterworld complexes (see below) so it’s not a bad idea to combine the two into one trip. Some 200 years ago, Hong Kong’s Aberdeen district was a haven for pirates. Located on the southern shore of Hong Kong Island, it was also home to the Tanka boat people and a popular destination for floating restaurants. Today, there is lively marina crammed with junks, sampans, water taxis (kai do), cruisers and yachts and the fishing harbour is a wonderful way to experience the activity of life on water. Tours along its watery stretches can be enjoyed onboard one of the many sampans offering half-hour trips around the harbour and the sensory delights of Hong Kong cuisine can be experienced within the unique environment of the famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant.
Bank of China Tower
It was designed by architect I. M. Pei. The building is 315 meters high with two masts reaching 369 meters (1209 feet) high. The 70 storey building was built in 1989 and is located near Central (MTR). This was the tallest building in Hong Kong and Asia from 1989 to 1992, It was the first building outside the United States to break the 1000 foot mark. That also means it was the tallest outside America from its completion year, 1990.
The structural expressionism adopted in the design of this building resembles growing bamboo shoots, symbolising livelihood and prosperity. The whole structure is supported by the four steel columns at the corners of the building, with the tranangular frameworks transferring the weight of the structure into these four columns.
The building has been criticised by practitioners of feng shui for its sharp edges.
A small observation deck on the 43rd floor of the building is open to the public; visits to the main obsevation deck on the 70th floor is by appointment only.
The formal address of the building is: 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong.
The Flagstaff House or Headquarter House
Situated in the beautiful Hong Kong Park and overlooking the ultramodern mania of Central, Flagstaff House is the oldest surviving colonial building in Hong Kong. The Flagstaff House or Headquarter House, constructed in 1844 to 1846, was the office and residence of the Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong. t was converted to the Museum of Tea Ware in 1984, with a new wing, The K.S. Lo Gallery, added in 1995. Alongside its exhibitions, the Museum holds regular presentations and lecture programmes to promote Chinese tea drinking culture.
Opening Hours:
10:00 am - 5:00 pm daily
Closed on Tuesdays and the following public holidays:
Christmas Day and Boxing Day
New Year’s Day and
the first three days of the Chinese New Year
The Hong Kong Museum of History
The Hong Kong Museum of History showcases Hong Kong’s history through a display of artifacts, photographs, traditional costumes and models that span 6000 years. Glorious period sets tell the story of Chinese life in replicas of village houses, streets and stores. These memorials to the past are contained within an incredible building opened in the year 2000. The Hong Kong Museum of History was established in July 1975 when the City Museum and Art Gallery was split into the Hong Kong Museum of History and Hong Kong Museum of Art. But some of the Museum’s collections date back to the City Museum and Art Gallery founded in 1962 at the City Hall. In 1983, the Museum was moved to the temporary accommodation in Kowloon Park.
Address: 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui;
Telephone: 2724 9042;
Transport: MTR Tsim Sha Tsiu, then walk via Granville Road; maxicab no 1 from Kowloon Star Ferry in Tsim Sha Tsiu to Science Museum Road;
Opening time: Daily 10am to 6pm; Sunday 1pm to 6pm; closed on Fridays; Admission: HK$20
Hong Kong Space Museum
Located in front of The Peninsula hotel on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, the Space Museum is easy to spot with its white-domed planetarium. Occupying an area of 8000 square meters (2 acres), the museum comprises of two wings. As the planetarium’s nucleus, the east wing located under the dome comprises the Space Theatre, Hall of Space Science, workshops and offices. The west wing houses the Hall of Astronomy, Lecture Hall, Gift Shop and offices. The construction of the Hong Kong Space Museum commenced in 1977 and completed in 1980.
Thrilling wide-screen Omnimax and Skyshows are presented. The Hong Kong Space Museum was the first museum in the world with a theatre equipped with a fully automated control system. One showing of each presentation is in English, and headphones for simultaneous translation in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese are available free of charge. Hong Kong Space Museum has two thematic exhibition halls: the Hall of Space Science and the Hall of Astronomy on the ground and first floors respectively. The exhibits, predominately interactive, enable visitors to learn through a series of entertaining and educational experiences.
Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Building
The Hongkong & Shanghai Bank on the Bund is a classically sumptuous piece of imperialist financial architecture. Notwithstanding that kind of publicity and the building’s subsequent overshadowing by far inferior competitors, it remains a unique architectural achievement and a small wonder of the modern age. It was the most expensive building in the world for the usable floor area when it was built. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited’s headquarters remains an icon for the “building as machine.” And yet it is slowly being dwarfed by its neighbors.
The bank is a very good example of a building in which the fassade is an expression of the supporting structural elements. Each part is clearly articulated These images were taken on one of the very rare days when the sky is blue. A grey haze is the most common background. The vertical supports are huge Vierendeel Trusses that extend from the foundation to the rooftop. This kind of a truss does not have the diagonals that are found in standard trusses. Each and every member is rigidly connected to the other at right-angles This is not a very efficient use of the materials, but aesthetically quite interesting. These “legs” support “arms” which reach out horizontally to grab onto the hangers. Each hanger suppports a block of office floors.
Kowloon Park
A few minutes north along Nathan Road is Kowloon Park, which has a manifest of Chinese gardens with lotus ponds, a chess garden, and an aviary that shelters a colorful collection of rare birds. A Sculpture Walk is also located within the park for local artists to exhibit their magnum opus. Kowloon Park is a welcome respite from the crowds of Tsim Sha Tsui. Located above street level, the park has extensive recreation and sports facilities, including Chinese style gardens, an aviary, a sculpture exhibit, an air-conditioned game hall and an indoor heated Olympic-sized swimming pool complex. Kowloon Park is also home to the Urban Council Health Education Exhibition and Resource Center, where you can see interactive exhibits on health and Hygiene.
The garden opens daily from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Lamma Island
Lantau Island, Of the 235 islands that comprise Hong Kong, Lantau Island is the largest. It has a unique fishing village, very attractive mountain scenery (the highest mountain is Lantau Peak at 3,000 feet), and an impressive rocky coastline. There are also pretty white beaches. Surprisingly, not incongruously, some modern developments are nestled in the foothills. The island offers a pleasant respite from the sometimes cacophonic noises of a big city.
The ferries from Central District arrive at the town of Mui Wo on Silvermine Bay. The trip takes about an hour, and the ferry passes lots of tiny islands on its way to Lantau. The area of Silvermine Bay has a beach and lots of little restaurants. (Most of the restaurants specialize in seafood.)
Monastery is located on the Ngong Ping Plateau at an altitude of 1,700 feet. This is not an ancient site; the monastery was opened in 1970. The main attraction of Po Lin is its 250-ton, 102-foot-high Great Bronze Buddha statue. It is the largest Buddha statue in Asia. At Po Lin, there is also an excellent vegetarian restaurant operated by the monks and open to the general public.
Lamma Island, Hong Kong Island’s major offshore island, Lamma is very peaceful and tranquil, with lovely hills and forests. It is separated only by the narrow East Lamma Channel from Aberdeen. Lamma Island is where people take time to experience the real beauty of nature. There is a regular ferry service several times a day to and from Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwo Wan, the two villages on Lamma, and Central District on Hong Kong Island; schedules are available at the Central District Outlying Islands pier.
The ferry trip to Sok Kwo Wan takes only about 45 minutes, navigating along the picturesque west coast of Hong Kong Island into the quiet waters of the bay. There are many rafts in the bay where the fish farmers of Lamma Island live with their families. (Fish farming is one of the major industries on the island). From the pier at Sok Kwo Wan, turn right and walk past several seafood restaurants to the little pink Tin Hau Temple. Walk just a bit more until you see a path that ascends into the hills. If you take this path, you will pass a Chinese graveyard and then reach the peak of a little mountain where you will enjoy a spectacular view of the rocks and cliffs of the coast of Lamma and the islands that surround it.
One of the island’s easiest and most popular walks connects Sok Kwo Wan and Yung Shue Wan villages. A 90-minute amble along a paved path leads up the hillside and parallels the coast. The panoramic cross-island pathway connects the two harbors and passes by small swimming coves and fertile vegetable farms. Other paths lead up and around Mount Stenhouse in the south of the island, providing superb sea views. There are also two good beaches, Hung Shing Yeh Beach and Lo So Shing Beach.
Lantau Island
This island is suitated west of Hong Kong, which is almost attched to Chep Lap Kok, Hong Kong’s airport. The trip to the Po Lin Monastery is a long one, but once you get there, it is worth it. Take a train, bus or car from the airport to Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, and you’ll quickly cross to Lantau, then follow its old northeast coastline before a suspension bridge plunges you into the city. There isn’t much to see of Lantau along this route bar a characterless looking new town, and hillsides with grass and shrubs. Most people in this island inhabit in Mui Wo, Tai O, Tung Chung and scatter along the southern coast. Among them, Mui Wo is the most prosperous town. After the International Airport has been built, visitors can take a bus or the mass transit railway and reach the heartland of Lantau within 30 minutes from the city center.
With wild countryside, monasteries, old fishing villages and seriously secluded beaches, Lantau Island, for those who are tired of the noise and polluted city life, is definitely a place to visit or even to live with. There are a lot of outdoor activities that people can do such as hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing and etc. Lantau has otherwise registered few blips in the annals of Hong Kong’s history. In the thirteenth century, towards the end of the Song Dynasty, two boy emperors fleeing Mongol invaders sought refuge there — an uncle who tried to protect them is honoured at the island’s two Hau Wong temples. Lantau was important in guarding shipping routes through the Pearl River to Guangzhou (Canton). But its waters also harboured pirates ranging from brigands in small boats to the infamous Cheung Po-tsai, whose fleet was eventually defeated in a sea battle off Chek Lap Kok, the island that has been sacrificed for the airport platform.
Man Mo Temple
This temple is one of the oldest temples in Hong Kong and an interesting place to get a feel for the original culture of Hong Kong and southern China. Rebuilt several times, the temple still keeps its original appearance. Two images are enshrined inside t he temple, God of Literature who holds a writing brush in his hand and God of Martial Valour who wears a green gown and holds a long sword. The brass and pewter incense burners, and heavy wooden chairs with intricate carvings of images of the gods, make visitors feel the atmosphere of crowded worshippers praying in the temple in past years.
Dedicated to the gods of literature and war, it is located in the famous Hollywood Road/Cat Street quarter. Inside the Man Mo temple on Hong Kong island you will find the statues of the two gods Man and Mo. Each time when people make an offer, they slam the drum and gong three times.
This mid-19th Century temple dedicated to the Taoist Gods of Literature and War is one of Hong Kong’s oldest. Packed with richly coloured religious paraphernalia and coils of burning incense, Man Mo Temple also houses the god of Justice and the God of the city, protector of urban dwellers.
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