Chris and Alla's Excellent Adventure (2024): 8. Hong Kong Day 2 of 2

Today was our last day in Hong Kong and there were a couple of activities that kept coming up in our conversations. One was getting a relatively expensive ($75) day ticket for the hop-on hop-off bus tour. The other was going to a park that was formerly the site of the Kowloon Walled City. I learned about this unique chapter in Hong Kong’s history as I was watching videos to learn more about what we would be seeing in Hong Kong.

Originally a military fort during imperial times, the Kowloon Walled City became an ungoverned residential enclave when Hong Kong was leased to the UK in 1898. Its population swelled starting in the 1950s because it was cheap and tax-free, and by the 1990s, more than 33,000 people lived in an area less than 7 acres. Because it wasn’t governed by any formal internal or external government, there were no building codes, no formal sanitation, and no policing of activities such as gambling, prostitution, and the sale of dog meat. With a height of 14 stories, no light entered the handful of narrow alleys through the streets. Residents carried umbrellas to protect from water leaking from the Gerry-rigged water pipes above.

With TWO credit cards today, we easily used the subway to get close to the park and then began a half mile walk through a decidedly non-touristic neighborhood. Just as we were crossing the street to enter the park, an old women permanently bent over at a 90-degree angle pushed out into the street with two carts piled high of flattened cardboard boxes, presumably for recycling. She had a total of four carts to move, which would have been more than half an hour at her pace. I think that Tiptoe, a giant turtle living in California and with its own YouTube channel, could probably move faster than she could. I couldn’t stand there and watch, so I approached her and gestured that I could take the carts and help. She nodded and pointed and then turned around to get the other two. I crossed the street and when I turned around, there was Mom getting instructions from her in Cantonese about how to turn the cart around for the best control. And just like that, Mom and I were both in the middle of the street with cardboard-laden carts.

Once our good deed for the day was complete, we entered the Kowloon Walled City Park at the gate with a scale replica of the city at the time of its demolition in 1992. We wandered along the paths through the park, staying in the shade and trying to avoid the multiple school groups with rowdy 11-year-olds occasionally darting across the path. The central building in the park was original from the days that the area was a military fort. We spent some time looking at the exhibits that provided more information on the remarkable development and destruction of the Kowloon Walled City.

For the afternoon, we decided we did not want to do any “work” to see the city. Cue the Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off experience. We took the MTR back across to Hong Kong Island and started our Big Bus tour on the “Green Route.” We circled the island in the pleasant air-conditioned lower level while enjoying an English narration, hopping off only once to have lunch in an area called Stanley. When we completed the loop, we waited for the next bus on the “Red Route” that toured the waterfront and the financial district. We learned about several iconic neighborhoods and buildings on Hong Kong Island.

One fact that surprised me was the amount of the central city that was built on reclaimed land. We also learned that when the British first took over, Chinese were not allowed to enter the financial district on Hong Kong island, and it was after those laws changed that Hong Kong’s growth really took off. We enjoyed the tour from the open roof top since the afternoon sun was being blocked by the high-rise buildings.

Getting back to the hotel was a multi-stage process that involved the Star Ferry and getting turned around in Kowloon’s tunnels and pedestrian overpasses. We had a brief detour at a gelato shop and finally ended the day at the hotel’s rooftop pool deck to watch the sky change colors at sunset. We skipped dinner and instead washed clothes in the sink and began packing for our departure to Hainan Island tomorrow. In the end, it was a very successful three days in Hong Kong.

PHOTOS

Morning Walk in Kowloon Park