2__ Art Supermarket Pick up a picture
Until the late 1960s, Hong Kong had just a single gallery. Today there are countless art venues and major players like Gagosian and White Cube have been represented in Hong Kong for many years. Art Basel has even responded to the increased demand for contemporary Asian art with the opening of a local presence. In Hong Kong just about everything revolves around money. Money needs to be cultivated in a way that makes the most sense economically, and those who already own an electric lawn mower as a status symbol often invest in art. (This, in fact, is no joke, as someone who needs a lawnmower has a correspondingly large lawn. And at prices of €10,000 per square metre for a building plot in fringe areas, gardens don’t come cheap.) The Art Supermarket at Mid-Levels takes a new route. The idea is to integrate art into everyday life and to allow a wider audience to surround themselves with it. Everybody is familiar with the concept of the supermarket, so the space is unintimidating. The gallery hopes that customers’ curiosity will overcome some of their inhibitions. Even the name implies that paintings and sculpture don’t have to be expensive, just as exorbitant prices don’t inevitably express a high appreciation for the artist. And it is not unusual for high-priced art to end up in vaults as sober investment decisions. A native of Switzerland, gallery owner Michael Manzardo, who sees himself as a curator rather than an art dealer, focuses on emerging Chinese artists, many of whom have never been exhibited outside China. The mixture of contemporary paintings and sculptures at the Art Supermarket is unconventional and relaxed – pictures in stacks lean against the walls, or pile up in a shopping cart, and the inauguration of a new exhibition is often accompanied by a life art performance. The only thing you won’t be able to do is pay with the Octopus Card. 12
Address G / F, 1 Prince’s Terrace, Mid-Levels, Tel +852 9422 6120, www.artsupermarketasia.com | Getting there MTR Island Line (blue), Central, D 2; just next to Central Mid-Levels Escalator | Hours Tue – Sat 1pm – 8pm, Sun, Mon, & public holidays by appointment | Tip If you take the escalators up to Robinson Road, and go west for about 400 metres, you will reach the Ohel Leah, Hong Kong’s oldest synagogue.
7__ Blue House Power to the people
In February 2016 Hong Kong was ranked number one in the world’s freest economies for the 22nd time in a row. In 2015 Hong Kong’s fifth-richest property tycoon bought a US$48.5 million diamond for his 7-year-old daughter. In contrast, about 95 percent of Hong Kong’s 25-year-olds and younger still live at home, because they cannot afford to rent their own flat. Against this background, the victory that the residents of the Blue House in Wan Chai have achieved is more than remarkable. The Blue House belongs to a group of buildings from the 1920s and 1930s, whose inhabitants have not only managed to preserve their home from the omnipresent wrecking ball, but also remain there as tenants. The protests that preceded the demolition of the Queen’s Piers in 2007 had emphasised the significant sociocultural role of architecture in the collective memory of the citizens – even if it concerns buildings from the recent past, which at first sight might not look worth preserving. Feelings and personal memories are linked with neighbourhoods and communities, where social structures have emerged, and far too often are destroyed by progressive gentrification. The government responded, and in 2008 launched the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme, a programme to rejuvenate architecturally and historically valuable buildings with the help of partners. Under this scheme they bought the block of flats around the Blue House, in order subsequently to convert them into a hotel. But the residents organised themselves, started up a cultural centre, the “House of Stories,” and submitted counterproposals to the government. Success! The renovation will be kept to a minimum, so that rents can remain at a moderate level; residents will make their individual skills available to the house community and new jobs will be generated by the opening of two restaurants. 22
Address 72 Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai | Getting there MTR Island Line (blue), Wan Chai Station, Exit A 3; Bus 6, The Zenith, Queen’s Road East, or Buses 6A, 6X, 10, 15, 66, 109, or 113 to Wan Chai Market | Tip A nullah is a water channel and Stone Nullah Lane is an extension of the original stone water course. At the end of the lane you will find the exquisite Pak Tai Temple, the largest on Hong Kong Island.
11__ Cattle Depot Artist Village The wide arch of history
The old slaughterhouse in To Kwa Wan – still in operation until 1999 – is worth a visit for many reasons. In 2001 some members of the former Oil Street Artist Village were relocated from North Point to the studios of the newly renovated Cattle Depot. Their ateliers are spread across a large number of old buildings that once were the main slaughterhouse, a fodder store, offices, quarters, and a “room for Indians.” This last room seems strange at first glance, as religion prohibits the slaughter of cattle in India. However, the staff were Indian Muslims from the Colonies, where the British had built slaughterhouses for cattle since 1760. But with their dairy products, manure for the fields, and cattle urine as a natural pesticide, the cow had provided the Indian population with a livelihood. Coupled with severe droughts and the forced conversion of pastures and farmland into opium fields, this caused one of the greatest famines in Bengal, where an estimated 10 million people died between 1769 and 1773. The opium in turn was smuggled into China, which triggered the Opium Wars and the cession of Hong Kong. Together with a number of studios, the site houses the enterprising not-for-profit gallery 1a Space with its temporary exhibitions, workshops, and lectures, as well as the Cattle Depot Theatre and On and On Theatre Workshop, which both put on a wide range of events, from concerts to experimental theatre. During the week it’s rather quiet at the Cattle Depot so you can stroll around, visit the different buildings and intriguing outdoor exhibits, and, if the opportunity arises, talk to the artists about their work. From the grounds of the Depot there is a good view of a typical 1950s’ housing estate on Ma Tau Kok Road, still preserved as a whole complex – a rarity in Hong Kong. 30
Address 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, Ma Tau Wai, Kowloon | Getting there MTR East Rail Line, Mong Kok East, Exit B; Buses 3B, 5C, 5D, 11B, 11K, 12A, 21, 61X, 85A, 85X, 106, or 106P – Bus stop H.K. and China Gas or Jubilant Place | Hours Daily: 10am – 10pm | Tip Because of its proximity to the former Kai Tak Airport, the building height in this area was restricted to 12 floors, and when you walk through the surrounding streets you’ll see very few neon signs because flashing lights were also strictly prohibited.
14__ Chancery Lane
A small alley behind the prison wall
Right next to the old granite steps that lead from Arbuthnot Road up to Chancery Lane, looms the old prison wall. A noticeboard from a bygone time warns passersby not to throw anything over the wall – weapons or opium, for example. In 1841 Victoria Prison was one of the first stone buildings erected in the young colony. The grounds of the prison reached down to Caine Road, which runs parallel to Chancery Lane. Behind the prison wall a small footpath was established, which later became a lane, named after a street in London that houses the High Court of Chancery, today’s Chancery Division, part of London’s High Court of Justice. It’s remarkable that such a huge old building complex right in the centre of the city has stood the test of time. But Hong Kong with its constantly growing population and waves of refugees was permanently running behind with the construction of public housing and government buildings, so that the prison was still in use until 2005. The Former Central Police Station, Central Magistracy, and Victoria Prison had all been declared monuments, and between 2010 and 2016 the complex was extensively restored. Following this period of rejuvenation it now connects the districts of SoHo and Lan Kwai Fong. In the sleepy alley behind the wall, with its small terraces in front of the entrances, time seems to have come to a standstill. As there is no direct access to the lane, it was only marginally affected by the renovation of the prison. Several galleries have settled here, and are worth a visit, some small restaurants, and, to match the ambience, the antiquarian bookshop Lok Man Rare Books. In times of eBooks and large chain bookstores, independent booksellers have become scarce in Hong Kong. For over 10 years the bookstore has been offering all kinds of rare editions that you can browse at your leisure in the calm atmosphere of the shop. 36
Address Chancery Lane, Central | Getting there Bus 10 to Old Bailey Street or Buses 12, 13, 26, or H1 to Old Central Police Station | Tip You can follow the steps all the way down to D’Aguilar Street to join the crowds for a drink at happy hour. Cross Arbuthnot Road, follow the Centrium Stairways and then down the stairs at the back of the LKF Tower.
Address Discovery Bay, Lantau Island | Getting there DB Ferry from Central Pier Number 3, Man Kwong Street, Central | Tip Just behind the bus stop at the corner of Seabee Lane is a footpath that is steep right from the start. But it’s worth the effort, as at the end you’ll have a fantastic view over all of Discovery Bay.
22__ The Double Oval A widely travelled sculpture
In 1968 the sculptor Henry Moore, an ardent collector of driftwood, stones, and plants, received an elephant’s skull as a gift from friends. He was very excited by the skull’s cavities and curves, which were later reflected in his huge bronze sculpture Double Oval. In his early years Moore worked with stone and wood, his method being a process of retrieving a form from a given material, instead of using a material such as clay, which could be remodelled to create a work of art. As Moore aged, his sculptures continued to grow in size, making it necessary to find a new material that would be better suited to his creative process. The Berlin-based art foundry Noack, with which Moore worked closely, produced the Double Oval and cast it in bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. For the Double Oval many individually cast parts were welded together to form the final sculpture, with all the seams painstakingly beaten out from the inside. It was always vital to Moore to obtain the right graduation from light to dark on the surface; his works should be dark at the bottom and brighter towards the sun, where they should beam and shine. The sculptures’ special patina was achieved through a secret process developed by the manager and friend of Moore, Herman Noack. Even the locations of the sculptures were not chosen at random. For Moore, architecture and sculpture had to complement each other. He frequently took pictures of smaller models of his works, arranged in such a way that it was possible to visualise the final work’s effect in a designated location. Only when Moore was satisfied with the interaction of the sculpture and its surroundings was the object then scaled up to its proposed dimensions. However, the Double Oval, which was originally located in front of the main entrance of Jardine House, Connaught Place (the former Connaught Centre), was later relocated to its current position. 52
24__ Duddell Street Rats and lanterns
The four gas lanterns on Duddell Street, two-light Rochester models adapted to the subtropical conditions, have been in use for over a hundred years and are thus a part of old Hong Kong. Together with the steps, they have appeared not only in numerous movies, but also serve as an attractive backdrop for the apparently ceaseless stream of wedding couples on photo tours. However, the gas lamps are interesting in more than one way: until the 1970s, “rat bins,” small metal buckets with a lid, filled with the disinfectant carbolic acid, were attached to lamp posts and telephone poles at a height of about one metre. Here the citizens disposed of the rats that had been found or shot. It was a measure against the bubonic plague that came from Canton in 1894, then spread into Hong Kong and the colonial trade routes around the world, bringing death to millions of people, especially in India. Bubonic plague is primarily a disease of rodents. Carriers of the plague are the fleas of the brown rat, but if they find no host, they cross to the human population. By 1913, 650 of these rat bins had already been distributed throughout the city. They were emptied twice a day by a rat collector, who brought the rodents to a government bacteriologist, where they were examined. In 1926, over 90,000 animals were examined, and in the 1950s a total of 500 to 1,000 dead rats were collected daily in the 944 rat bins throughout the city. In the 1970s, the rat bins eventually disappeared from the streets, because collection was quite costly and no longer needed. The rat bins also repeatedly caused unpleasant situations when tourists, who came to Hong Kong in growing numbers, mistook them for dustbins. All that remains from this era is the amusing but rather uncomplimentary Hong Kong phrase that describes a tall thin man with his much smaller wife as looking like a “rat bucket on a lamppost.” 56
Address Ice House Street at Duddell Street, Central | Getting there MTR Island Line (blue), Tsuen Wan Line (red), Central, Exit G; Bus 26 to Zetland Street or Buses 1, 1A, or 2 to Hong Kong Central Hospital | Tip At the top of the steps you will find a retro Starbucks furnished in the style of an old Hong Kong cafĂŠ.
29__ The Fringe Club Theatre and all that jazz
Shortly before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, there was widespread insecurity among artists as to how the vibrant cultural scene of the city would evolve and advance under the new government. Especially concerned were the organisers of the Hong Kong Fringe Festival, which since 1983 had taken place every spring for three weeks. Based in a former dairy factory in Ice House Street, it attracted a great number of national and international performance artists and musicians. The continuity of the festival in the old dairy farm factory premises, which was built in 1890, lacked a legal basis. At the last moment, a local celebrity, Benny Chia, founded a club under UK law two months ahead of the handover, and its members financed the lease and operating costs of the art and event space through membership fees. But the building was in a very dilapidated state. For six years the building was renovated room by room, creating a space for drama, dance, music, and contemporary art that had previously not existed in Hong Kong. To date Benny Chia has organised over 30 festivals, 25 plays (of which he has written 6), and 15 exhibitions in the old building (which is next to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club). The ice house was originally used for storing the ice blocks brought in from Boston, with which the wealthy elite of Hong Kong cooled their champagne. Groups of Brits clad in winter coats used to gather there to experience winter once again while drinking cups of tea. Today, the Fringe Club offers emerging young artists a platform with its two theatres, the jazz-cabaret-room, and the gallery. During the day, guests and club members can enjoy a cup of coffee in the pleasant atmosphere of The Arts CafÊ down in the old cold-storage area, or round off the evening in the Arts Bar on the rooftop terrace, where quite often you can meet artists face to face after a show. 66
Address 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Tel +852 2521 7251, www.hkfringeclub.com | Getting there MTR Island Line (blue), Tsuen Wan Line (red), Central Station, Exits D 1, D 2, or G; Buses 13, 23A, or 26, bus stop The Foreign Correspondents’ Club – Fringe Club | Hours 10am – 10pm | Tip The rooftop terrace offers exceptionally good views over Bishop’s House.
Address 30 Shelley Street, Mid-Levels | Getting there Bus 10 to Old Bailey Street | Tip In the immediate vicinity (500 metres) lies the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden. From Mosque Street, walking in a southerly direction, take the steps at Bishop Lei House down to the Zoo.
39__ Jao Tsung-I Academy A different computation of time
In Hong Kong, just about everything revolves around money. But money doesn’t buy happiness – knowledge and friendship do. The richest man therefore must be the remarkable polymath Professor Jao Tsung-I. On March 17, 2015, he celebrated his 100th birthday, and could look back on an admirable eight decades of research and teaching. The world’s most famous sinologist is at the same time a renowned painter, a calligrapher, and a poet, who has written 80 books and over 500 papers on ancient philology, archaeology, ancient bronze and stone inscriptions, history, historical musicology, classical literature, art history, history of religion, and many more, and has received numerous honorary academic titles. In 2009, the Hong Kong Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture, of which Professor Jao Tsung-I is honorary chairman, was officially selected to revitalise the former Lai Chi Kok Hospital with the aim of promoting Chinese arts and culture. On the second level of this carefully restored three-level complex lies a cafeteria and an outdoor area with a beautiful view over the lower part of the complex, which features an exhibition about the history of the building. At the end of the path between two narrow buildings a memorial has been erected in honour of Professor Jao Tsung-I. For western visitors, this statue has a strange detail: if you look closely, you might note that the professor’s year of birth is given as 1917. How, then, could he have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2015? In China you are already one year old at birth; it is called the “traditional age.” So in 2015 his traditional age was 99. And as the Chinese character for nine sounds like “long life,” it is common to look forward and celebrate the 100th birthday at the beginning of the same year, when turning 99. It’s not weird, it’s called a positive approach to life. 86
47__ Kwan Tai Temple The art of the potter
Long ago, Tai O was one of most important villages in Hong Kong, and even today it is among those with the longest history. Due to its location on the far eastern tip of Lantau Island it was frequented by merchant ships from around the world, sailing with the monsoon winds up to Canton, one of the main Chinese trading ports. The ships used to stop at this little fishing village to reprovision and to trade. One indication of the village’s former prosperity is the precious ceramic roof ridge on top of the Kwan Tai Temple. The temple was built during the regime of the ninth emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1488 – 1505) and restored in 1741. The roof ridge ceramics were made in Shiwan and were a gift from the citizens of Panyu (now a southern district of Guangzhou), a once-booming commercial centre in the middle of the Pearl River Delta and one of the oldest cities in China. Ceramics from Shiwan link to a 5,000-year-old tradition and are famous for the liveliness and individuality of their characters. The figurines usually have very realistic expressions, which is a regional tradition and reflects everyday life but in a greatly exaggerated manner. The Kwan Tai Temple is the oldest temple in Tai O. The second oldest is a Tin Hau Temple from 1644, in which Lin, the Queen of Heaven and goddess of fishermen and sailors, is revered. The Tin Hau Temple originally stood on the water’s edge and was built by the Tanka, the boat-dwellers who were despised by the mainlanders. Since by law they were not permitted to live on land, they built their houses on stilts. With the construction of salt farms, necessary for preserving fish, the Tin Hau Temple was surrounded by land and was gradually taken over by the salt workers. The boat-dwellers moved on to the next bay, to Po Chue Tam in the east of Tai O, where they built the Yeung Hau Temple, dedicated to General Yeung Leung-jit. 102
Address Kwan Tai Temple, 29 Kat Hing Back Street, Tai O, Lantau | Getting there Bus 1 or N 1 from Mui Wo Pier to the bus station of Tai O; Yeung Hau Temple: Kat Hing Back Street, Hung Shing Temple: 1 Hung Shing Street, Ap Lei Chau | Tip The Hung Shing Temple in Ap Lei Chau also has a rare Shiwan roof ridge.
50__ Lock Cha Tea House A paradise for tea lovers
Hong Kong-style milk tea is one of the things that fuels the former Crown colony, and even the newly fashionable trend for drinking coffee hasn’t changed much there (although a few splashes of coffee have fallen into the milk tea, creating yuanyang, a new drink unfamiliar to most westerners). Completely different varieties of tea are available at the Lock Cha Tea House, from green, white, and yellow to light green, red, and black. Since 1991, the founder Mr Ip Wing-chi has been importing directly from tea farmers in China and has thus set standards in Hong Kong: the fair trade tea is unblended, pure, single-harvest, and comes from individual estates. Special packaging and advertising are deliberately avoided, so that you only pay for the quality, and nothing else. The company’s success has proved him right and now it is exporting its teas all over the world. The Lock Cha Tea House itself is a true temple to tea, where you can not only drink it but also admire or buy it. Particularly interesting is the Chinese Pu-erh tea, which is compressed into round, flat cakes. It is fermented twice, has a distinctly earthy taste, the colour of cognac and, like wine, it gets better with age. Some particularly valuable tea cakes are over 50 years old and in the hands of collectors. Each table has its own kettle from which you can pour water onto the tea leaves, which are brought to you in tiny pots. One of the friendly staff members then advises you on how long each tea needs to infuse, and how to pour the golden liquid into an even tinier cup. In addition, Lock Cha offers a long list of truly delicious vegetarian dim sum, and since 2001 it has been running two music programmes on a weekly basis. The K. S. Lo Gallery that houses the tea house is actually a new old-style extension to the Flagstaff House Museum of Teaware, one of the oldest colonial buildings in Hong Kong. 108
71__ Peng Chau Island Looking back on a long history
Peng Chau is a small, quiet island that is largely ignored by the tourist crowds as it offers neither spectacular skyscrapers nor a shopping mall. But this tranquil place can look back on a long history. Because of its freshwater source, Peng Chau is very likely to have been settled during the Neolithic period, about 4,000 b.c., but most certainly since the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 a.d.), when traders from Arabia, India, and Southeast Asia landed in Tuen Mun to trade spices and ivory against silk and porcelain. At this time, Peng Chau, with its two sheltered bays, was a fishing port and trading centre. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912 a.d.), 11 lime kilns were in operation on Peng Chau. The coral fishers used long bamboo poles with hooks attached to the end to collect shells and coral from the seabed. These were burned to make lime, for use as a fertiliser, for plastering walls, or for adding to mortar. In the 1930s, as the quicklime business slowly came to an end, due to cheaper imports and the growing use of cement, unemployment rose considerably. Just in time, the Shanghai match king Lau Hung Sang bought the site of the Bak Wan lime kiln, which had just gone out of business, and set up the Great China Match Factory on Peng Chau. In 1946 it was a thriving business that employed more than 1,000 people. The old cinema in the centre (Wai Tsai Street) originates from this period. In the 1970s, the increasing use of lighters rendered the match factory redundant. With a surface area of less than a square kilometre, Peng Chau is rather small and offers idyllic family trails that take you around the island. The remains of an old lime kiln are located at the south end of the harbour promenade. Through the centre runs a long market street and on the opposite side of the harbour you’ll discover a beach with a buddhist temple and its impressive furnace, a barbecue area, and a great view of Kowloon. 150
Address Peng Chau | Getting there Central Ferry Pier 5 | Tip Right next to the sports centre is Hoi King Seafood – a very authentic restaurant.
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111 PLACES IN LIVERPOOL THAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS emons:
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The Authors Kathrin Bielfeldt is a translator, copywriter and former expat. During a backpacking tour through Hong Kong and China in 1990, she lost her heart to the country, its people, and their culture. Life took her around the world, but Hong Kong remains, for her, the most beautiful city on Earth.
Raymond Wong is a native of Hong Kong. He is a successful author of travel guides, a ghostwriter, and a columnist – and one of the first men in Hong Kong to take parental leave.
The Photographer Jürgen Bürger is a translator, webdesigner, outstanding photographer, and an expert on street art. Since he walked through Hong Kong for weeks and still didn’t make it to the Walled City Park, he just wants one thing: to book the next journey to Hong Kong.