The Chinese University of Hong Kong has the most beautiful campus among the city’s universities. The following are some snapshots taken not long ago at its Chung Chi College, just a stone’s throw away from University MTR Station, at the base of a hill. The College is no doubt the most accessible place of the university and attracts visitors for its peaceful and scenic environment. There is a canteen at the lake side which remains open during the summer. So you can have a stroll around the college before unwinding here with some drinks and snacks.
It is very likely that you will not notice the existence of Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market even if you pass by Yau Ma Tei. For the market is bustling with activity only from midnight. It is not a retail market, as you can image. It is a wholesale market with lots of trading and transportation activity going on when the city sleeps.
Having been designated as a heritage place, the market enters its centennial year this year. It has long been Hong Kong’s major fruit trading place and its peak time fell in the 1980s and 1990s when the market was thriving with more than 330 stores. Now the number has dwindled to about 230 facing stiff competition from mainland China as well as supermarkets.
It is a typical scene that hourly workers, shirtless, transport cartoons of fruit across the area. It is said the market is embodiment of Hong Kong’s can-do spirit, as you have a sense here that people diligently do menial jobs and rigorous trading just to make a living.
During the day time, while the place is largely quiet, a few stores are open and sell fruit in bulk. I was told that these buildings are the oldest in the whole market dating back 100 years.
How to get there:
Take Exit B2 of Yau Ma Tei MTR Station; Walk along Waterloo Street toward the direction of Potland Street. Turn left at Reclamation Street. Continue along the Reclamation Street and the market is at your right hand side.
Hong Kong is a crowded and fast paced city, so much so that even dining out is not a very enjoyable and relaxing thing. In some restaurants, particularly those that are popular, dining time is divided into two sessions, one from 6pm to 8:30pm, with another from 8:30pm onward for 1.5 hours. If you want to reserve a table, you have to indicate which session you go for. Not fun. I suppose this happens only in Hong Kong.
I heard that the best British tea in town is served in Langham Hotel (8 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui). So I gave it a try. It is a very cosy place with comfortable and big cushioned chairs, and three-tiered platters are served filled with delicious nibbles with a wide selection of tea. Besides the platters, warm scones are also served. There is even live music.It could have been more enjoyable if not for the limit of the tea time to 2 hours only on weekends (from 2:15pm to 4:15pm and from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, two sessions).
Just some photos belatedly capturing the scene of 1 July 2013 march by Hong Kong people, when typhoon signal No. 3 was hoisted and there was pouring rain at times. People were bracing for bad weather in protesting the incompetence and unscrupulousness of Chief Executive CY Leung, a Bejing loyalist who cheated his way to be where he is, and is known for telling lies and empty talks.
This man holding a placard saying “Step Down, Wolf Leung – Real Universal Suffrage Wanted”
The march was also a strong showing of the public demand for democracy. It is obvious that many protesters support the “occupy central” movement which is poised to take place if no real democracy roadmap is rolled out by the Government. People are fed up with the snail’s pace of the city’s progress towards democracy.
The three in white t-shirts are the founders of “occupy central’ movement.
They shouted “step down, 689”, mocking CY Leung got 689 votes from a selection committee of 2000 people in a population of 7 million.
I saw so many people putting money into the movement’s donation boxes. It was later revealed that the movement had collected $0.8M donation during the rainy march, much higher than expected.
CY Leung was so scared of the movement that he claimed earlier his government would suppress the illegal movement. And the police recently arrested a volunteer of the movement, whom the police said participated in illegal assembly two years ago on 1 July, raising questions why the volunteer was not arrested earlier, but only now. It is any reasonable person’s belief that she was persecuted for political reason.
It was estimated that about 100,000 people have turned out for the 1 July march despite the typhoon weather.
There is a canteen at the lake side which remains open during the summer. So you can have a stroll around the college before unwinding here with some drinks and snacks.
