The civic fathers of Hong Kong must be very pleased with the way that they have trained the population to keep the city clean, and to give up smoking. The fines for breaking these rules are substantial, which is no doubt why the campaign has been successful. Rigorous enforcement must take place, or at least used to, but it was not apparent to us.
The Temple Street night market is promoted as quirky, but it really just seemed to be a regular market, selling mostly cheap goods (we bought some socks), not much different at all to, say, Paddy's Markets in Sydney, either in the goods available or their price. The fortune tellers and Chinese opera singers, which are supposed to make this market unique, were mostly not apparent. What was interesting was the multitude of very popular eating establishments in adjacent streets. We noticed these mostly in Woosung Street. Tourists enjoyed mingling with the locals here, and enjoyed very low cost Cantonese cuisine.
At the other end of the spectrum was a visit to the Felix bar at the top of the Peninsular Hotel. This had been recommended to us by our travel agent - thanks Bob! You travel up to the 28th floor in a dedicated and suitably decorated lift. Lights are dimmed as you step out into the bar's lobby. Interior design at Felix's is fascinating, there are no straight lines, and no surfaces are horizontal, not even the ones you put your drinks down on. Of course, the view back to Hong Kong Island is stupendous, although venetian type blinds are an unnecessary distraction. The bar is very small, and we couldn't get a stool with a view, so we stood and soaked it all in. In such a location, you might expect the drinks to be way overpriced, but they were not, in fact barely more expensive than you would pay in the trendy hotels of Surry Hills.
Another touch of luxury we enjoyed was a very relaxed afternoon tea at the Intercontinental Hotel. The same view, stunning of course, but filtered heavily by thick pollution hanging over the city in relatively windless conditions.
Causeway Bay is a great place to visit, bustling in the city area, but calm and peaceful on Victoria Park. We were lucky enough the see the ceremonial noon day gun go off (see photo), and it's good to see that Hong Kong is preserving its traditional history from the colonial past.
For a change of pace from hectic Hong Kong and Tsim Sha Tsui, we took the fast ferry to Cheung Chau, an island about half an hour away to the south west, in the same general direction as Lamma Island which Mike visited on a previous trip. Cheung Chau proved to be a good choice for this excursion. It centres on a delightful and quite large fishing village. Hundreds of craft are protected within the artificial breakwaters. The township occupies a very narrow spit on the island, and it's only a short walk between the protected harbour side to a beach area on the other side. The beach was quiet, it being winter, but it looks as though it's very busy on weekends and in summer. The long waterfront features a neverending strip of popular seafood restaurants, and the back lanes of the town were a delight to walk through. There are no motor vehicles on Cheung Chau! There are some little gas powered buggies used by tradesman, but for the most part, people walk or bicycle around. We saw hundreds of parked bikes. The only regular vehicle we did see was a fire brigade van as it passed us, siren and all, on the narrow waterfront thoroughfare. Signage implied that no vehicles, including bikes, can be used on weekends. It's very worthwhile to make the trip to Cheung Chau!
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