Horses, sneakers and temples | Surrounded by skyscrapers

Life has been busy here in Hong Kong. I have school five days a week, I spend evenings searching for new places to eat or just discovering new streets. On Saturdays we’ve had trips arranged for exchange students.

Cheung Chau Island – A place that impressed me greatly. This small island has a small village with fresh seafood. Its harbor is full of fishermen’s boats. Here local people ride bikes, something I hadn’t seen yet anywhere else. Only policemen had small cars.

On the other side of the island we went through Cheung Po Tsai Cave, which is named after a Guangdong pirate of the same name. According to legend he kept his treasures there. We also discovered some cliffs and an empty beach.

One day after school my buddy from PolyU took me to a Taiwanese restaurant. Pork ear and ox belly… What did I just eat? 😀 I also tasted some chicken feet already in my school’s canteen. It’s a very local thing. Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m eating. But if it’s good I don’t mind.

We had a trip to an indigenous village Chau Tau. No tall buildings there and we hardly saw any people in the streets. We also walked through some cabbage fields and I really felt like being in the countryside. But this image was easily broken. When I looked closely to the horizon I saw skyscrapers of Shenzhen on the other side of the border of China. This is a peaceful, quiet place but city life is not far away.

Altar inside a temple in Chau Tau. Those green tiles have names of the village’s ancestors. People often go there to worship them. That covered lantern above is lit when a boy is born in the village. Males tend to stay in the village carrying their family name. That’s why almost all villagers have Man as their surname. This kind of village culture is slowly disappearing since more and more people move to the city.

Kowloon Park. Spot the flamingos! A great place to go walking in the morning before lecture. Also saw local elderly people doing Tai Chi together.

Hong Kong Park. Downside: Sometimes, especially when the wind blows from the mainland China, pollution levels go high up. Visibility was bad that day.

Lately I’ve been visiting a few temples. Funny thing here, if you don’t have any plans it’s like: “Hey, let’s go somewhere.” “Okay where? Wanna join us to see some temples?” “Sure.”

Give a try in coin tossing! If you get one into that fish statue’s mouth you will have good fortune. (Repulse Bay)

A statue of god of wealth. People rub their hands or money to that statue’s face and belly to be wealthy. Here’s me doing the same. Will I become rich now?

Horse racing is a big thing here. Happening mostly on Wednesdays, people gather in Happy Valley to bet on horses with funny names. It was exciting and like many other places, I will go there again some day!

Fa Yuen Street AKA Sneaker Street in Mong Kok. Shoes, shoes, shoes everywhere. If you want to buy new sneakers here is a place to go to. I lost count of how many Adidas stores I saw there.

In love with those street lights. (@Mong Kok)

Festival Walk – The biggest shopping mall I’ve seen here so far. And slightly expensive, I’d say. On the upper floors there is an ice skating rink as well.

It’s not all about wandering around in the city. School is keeping me busy. Here’s a pic from splinting class.

Why use a watch when you have the time at the top of ICC tower?

We’ll see what my next month here is all about. Maybe more temples? Maybe some hiking? Chinese New Year is near and I’m really looking forward to it. Stay tuned!