Walking tour of Hong Kong

Despite being so tired, I didn't sleep very well. I had booked a walking tour this morning, so I had to be up anyway! I had a shower, which was of the 'over-the-toilet' variety. It's not a problem for me having spent so long living in caravans and campervans. I'm used to showering in confined spaces 😂.

I made myself a coffee and had a makeshift breakfast with the items leftover from my airline meals yesterday, and then went to get the metro to the meeting point for the tour. It was only two stops. My Octopus card worked like a charm, and surprisingly, it wasn't too busy!

The meeting point was Statue Square. We met our guide, Audrey, and were given headsets so that we wouldn't miss anything.

The tour today was just a general introduction to Hong Kong, which Audrey, told us would be split into three sections. The first one being government and finance, the second one being food and culture, and the third one being religion.

We were standing just below the HSBC building, so it was here that Audrey explained to us all about the 'one country, two systems' situation that's been in place here in Hong Kong since the territory was transferred back to China in 1997. There is definitely a sense of worry, shall we say, now that we're more than halfway through the 50-year handover period. People seem genuinely concerned about what's going to happen when this period ends in 2047 because for now, China have agreed that they have to respect Hong Kong's sovereignty in terms of currency and lots of other aspects including the judiciary and the police. Nobody knows what will happen in 2047. I'm glad I'm seeing it now. It's an interesting time to be here.

We talked a lot about the government and the judiciary. We saw a historic, colonial, domed building built by the British and used today as the Supreme Court of Appeal. It was dwarfed by the huge, huge skyscrapers that completely surrounded by us. And I'm not sure why the square is called Statue Square. We only saw that one, although there was lots of work ongoing so it could be that there are other statues but they weren't visible at the moment. I did see a massive Christmas tree, the first one I've seen.

Audrey talked quite a bit about the currency. Hong Kong has a similar system to Scotland, where they have different banknotes for the same denomination depending on which bank has printed them. So, for example, all of the Hong Kong banknotes printed by HSBC have lions on them because lions are the logo of HSBC.

We walked across to the extraordinary HSBC headquarters, designed by British architect Norman Foster, and met Stephen and Stitt, the two bronze lions guarding its entrance. Both still bear scars from Hong Kong's turbulent history, including bullet damage from the Second World War and damage during the 2019 protests. One of the biggest surprises was discovering just how much of Central stands on reclaimed land. Places that were once right on the waterfront are now surrounded by roads and skyscrapers!

From the HSBC building, we walked up a flight of steps which had waterfalls running down it. It was very nicely done. At the top, we were in the grounds of St John's Cathedral, which was the first oasis of calm we'd seen all morning. We sat in the shade of a tree and Audrey told us all about her history and background. She was born and brought up in Hong Kong. She moved to the UK for a while but then came back because she missed her parents. Her parents are interesting. Her mum was born in mainland China and was brought up under the communist regime. Audrey described her as being very Chinese in her outlook on everything. In contrast her dad was born in Hong Kong and is very westernised, speaks English fluently, and looks to Western capitalism for everything that he strives for. So for Audrey, it was a real contrast growing up with the two of them as her parents. And she had to find her own path and decide which way she was going to go.

Built in the 1840s, St John's Cathedral is one of Hong Kong's oldest surviving Western-style buildings and has been a place of Anglican worship since 1849. Inside, I was particularly taken with the stained-glass windows, including one depicting Jesus in a red robe alongside a Hong Kong policeman. There are some fascinating reminders of the city's colonial past, too, including a carved emblem marking a pew once reserved for British royalty and colonial governors, and an old Hong Kong flag displayed in a side chapel. It is the only pre-1997 Hong Kong flag that's allowed to be flown in Hong Kong now because it was banned when Hong Kong reverted to Chinese ownership. St John's Cathedral is built on freehold land, so they are still allowed to fly the pre-1997 Hong Kong flag.

From the cathedral we walked down through the Central Business District where Audrey told us about the astronomical rents that are paid in Hong Kong. It's eye-watering!

The reason for walking down there was to get to the bottom of the Central Mid-Level Escalators. This was fascinating. We only rode on it for a short way on the tour. Later, I went back and I rode the whole thing from bottom to top. Opened in 1993, this extraordinary 800-metre-long system of 16 escalators and three moving walkways is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. It was built to help commuters travel between the residential neighbourhoods high above Central and the busy business district below. It runs downhill from 6am to 10am to take people to work, then reverses direction for the rest of the day!

It's completely free to ride on, takes around 20–25 minutes, and offers a fascinating bird's-eye view of everyday life in Hong Kong as you glide past shops, restaurants, apartment buildings, and narrow streets. I even hopped off to visit the peaceful Jamia Mosque along the way. Women are not allowed to enter. But I did look at it from the outside. There was quite a bit of scaffolding around it because it's undergoing renovation. But it was somewhere quiet and peaceful for me to just sit for a few minutes out of the chaos because Hong Kong is bonkers!! It is so busy!!

Back to the walking tour! We got off the escalator so that Audrey could tell us about Hong Kong's food culture and give us some recommendations about where we might eat.

She pointed out two restaurants on opposite sides of the street that are famous for wonton soup. There's Mak's Noodle, which is in a very historic building. It's famous for serving the original wonton soup with small wontons. It's a light lunchtime meal. In comparison, Sim Chau Kee on the opposite side of the road serves bigger wontons. Audrey said they are more the size of ping pong balls. They're more modern and appeal to people with larger appetites.

After the tour I did have my lunch in Mak's Noodle. People were queuing down the street so that was, for me, a sign that it's got to be good. It has only got a few tables inside. You are expected to share, which I don't have a problem with. As a single diner, I didn't have to wait long. I jumped in front of the groups ahead of me in the queue and was shown to a table where a gentleman was already having his lunch. Unfortunately, I couldn't try the famous wonton soup because it contains shrimp. I ordered noodles with spicy minced pork which were delicious. They came with a black tea. I'm not a tea drinker at all. I don't like the stuff. I couldn't tell you the last time I had a cup of tea. But today, it proved to be a very good accompaniment to my spicy noodles 😀. My meal also included a clear soup with spring onions floating in it. I had two spoonfuls and then thought to myself, I think I can taste some shrimp in here. I asked the gentleman who was sharing the table with me and he told me that it probably had some fish sauce in it. That's one of the problems for me being here in Hong Kong. It's the same as when we lived in Vietnam, it was very difficult to find things that didn't have fish sauce in them. However, what I had was very good.

When I came to pay, I discovered that I could have used my Octopus card!

One of the other things that Audrey recommended was roast goose, a specialty of Hong Kong. She pointed out a place that is the oldest roast goose restaurant in Hong Kong. There was nobody in there. Audrey said that's because the food's not very good. She told us you should always look at the goose or geese roasting in the window to check that they are dripping fat. This shows you that the goose is fresh and is going to be delicious. The ones that were on display in the window of this place were very dry and looked like they'd been there for ages!

The other thing that is ubiquitous here in Hong Kong is the egg tart, brought to the former colony by the British. Audrey recommended Tai Cheong Bakery. The tarts come either in a cookie crust or a flaky pastry crust. She said you have to have the cookie crust. They're the best. I did pick up a couple which I ate later as a substitute for dinner! They were good, but not a patch on the ones my grandma used to make!Read more