First impression is the strongest one
We exited the station into a crazy buzz of central Kowloon – I’m stunned.. Keep repeating “amazing..” every 30 soconds.. I’ve never seen anything like this before. This city is full of life, in fact it IS life. Streets are buzzing with all sorts of vendors, restaurants, food stalls.
Fish mongers covered in gut and blood smashing axes into still wriggling tunas and eels. Smoked goose, pork belly, dried roots, mushrooms, previously unseen sea creatures and who knows what – all this is hanging off the walls, that seem to be alive themselves.
People of all sorts and occupations enjoying a meal or wondering around minding their own business. All this creates an organic city maze. The walls themselves look alive, the city have been working in this crazy harmony for so long, that every crack in the wall has its use and purpose. It reminded me the characters from “Pirates of the Carribian” that have been living in the sea for so long that they became one with their ship and grew oysters on their faces.
We enjoyed the harbour walks and the light show “symphony of lights”, and the fantastic night city view from the Victoria peak. But this unique city buzz was the strongest impression Hong Kong offered me.
Kowloon walled city
It was very interesting to visit the park built on the place where the shocking Kowloon Walled City once perched. Some 30 years ago this was probably the most densely populated land on Earth. With neither HK or Chinese government wanting to deal with it, the city had no administration, no trash collection or proper drinking water supply. Obviously it attracted all sorts of unlicenced businesses, drug and other black market dealers. Until it was completely demolished in early 1990x.
4 days in HK is it too much?
Unique history of this place gives the city its “one of a kind” feel. We spend 4 days here and we couldn’t place it. Is this city Chinese or Western? Is it rich of poor? Is it modern or dated? Overall it was great to discover the unique vibe of this city, however, we felt 2 days would have been enough. Especially as we were on a very tight budget and spending nights on benches in the park (rather than in the street bars) was somewhat less thrilling.
