On Thursday for lunch, one of my uncles took me to one of those famous places that only locals know, a curry noodles place in Central called 九記牛腩 (literally “nine & co. beef brisket”). Everything is written in Chinese, including its sign! (At our table, sat Asian-looking English-speakers) The menu is one of those minimalistic … Continue reading “九記牛腩 (kao kee ngau lam) curry noodles in Central”
On Thursday for lunch, one of my uncles took me to one of those famous places that only locals know, a curry noodles place in Central called 九記牛腩 (literally “nine & co. beef brisket”). Everything is written in Chinese, including its sign! (At our table, sat Asian-looking English-speakers) The menu is one of those minimalistic ones: three kinds of noodles (yii mein, ho faan, mai faan), two kinds of soup base (curry or broth).
Continue reading “九記牛腩 (kao kee ngau lam) curry noodles in Central”
Shekou, Shenzhen, China Briefly put, Shenzhen is the Special Economic Zone saddled on the Chinese border with Hong Kong SAR, while Dongguan is a city, roughly the same size (we talk in terms of municipal delimitations) than the former. Some parts of Shenzhen look like Beijing, and is certainly one of China’s richest cities (if … Continue reading “Shenzhen and Dongguan”
Shekou, Shenzhen, China
Briefly put, Shenzhen is the Special Economic Zone saddled on the Chinese border with Hong Kong SAR, while Dongguan is a city, roughly the same size (we talk in terms of municipal delimitations) than the former. Some parts of Shenzhen look like Beijing, and is certainly one of China’s richest cities (if not the richest).
Yantian, Fengang Town, Dongguan, China
Last Tuesday and Wednesday, I travelled to Shenzhen and Dongguan, on my way back from Kaiping. It was a bus ride of about three hours (90 yuan) from Kaiping to Shenzhen’s Luo Hu hub (at the border with Hong Kong). I took the subway (5 yuan) to the end of the green line at Windows of the World and a cab (60 yuan) to the new suburb of Shekou (蛇口), in southwest Shenzhen, where one of my cousins, an expat sent overseas by his Montreal company, lives.
On the next day, I went to Dongguan, where I visited an uncle’s factory, in the district of Yantian (雁田 – not like the Shenzhen port), a 1h30 ride by private taxi from Shekou. Then, I returned to the northwest district of Shajing (沙井), to visit the factory where my cousin works.
More elaborate posts are to come, once I compile the pics.
On Monday and Tuesday morning, we visited Kaiping, a town about 150km west of Hong Kong, famed for its diaolou. We visited only one cluster of diaolou, Zili Village, a 30-minute ride by taxi (around 60RMB). Diaolou are the heritage of returning Overseas Chinese. They are fortified towers, dwellings, constructed to sustain attacks from invaders, … Continue reading “Diaolou in Zili Village, near Kaiping City”
On Monday and Tuesday morning, we visited Kaiping, a town about 150km west of Hong Kong, famed for its diaolou. We visited only one cluster of diaolou, Zili Village, a 30-minute ride by taxi (around 60RMB).
Diaolou are the heritage of returning Overseas Chinese. They are fortified towers, dwellings, constructed to sustain attacks from invaders, thieves. Their architectural influences are unique, in that they incorporate elements from outside of China, such as flamboyant balconies.
When we traveled to the village of Zili, near the small town of Kaiping (famous for its diaolou, and a UNESCO World Heritage site), one of the “tourist attractions” was home-style countryside food, such as free-range chicken. The meat is either considered strong or rubberish. I like to think that our Canadian chicken tastes like … Continue reading “Very fresh chicken, in four times”
When we traveled to the village of Zili, near the small town of Kaiping (famous for its diaolou, and a UNESCO World Heritage site), one of the “tourist attractions” was home-style countryside food, such as free-range chicken. The meat is either considered strong or rubberish. I like to think that our Canadian chicken tastes like paste.
This chicken was steam-cooked, with Chinese mushrooms, some orange peel and soy sauce.
My Internet hole in Hong Kong is the Central Library located in Causeway Bay.
My Internet hole in Hong Kong is the Central Library located in Causeway Bay.
Continue reading “Hong Kong Central Library in Causeway Bay”
Seen in Beijing, April 2008.
Seen in Beijing, April 2008.
This is the photo of a crowd surrounding a reporter from TVB, Hong Kong’s top television channel, during the Wan Chai portion of the torch relay in Hong Kong. A very happy crowd assembled along Hennessy Road, the main artery passing through the centrally-located district of Wan Chai, nearby which are several Hong Kong landmarks, … Continue reading “The Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong through the eyes of an Overseas Chinese”
This is the photo of a crowd surrounding a reporter from TVB, Hong Kong’s top television channel, during the Wan Chai portion of the torch relay in Hong Kong.
A very happy crowd assembled along Hennessy Road, the main artery passing through the centrally-located district of Wan Chai, nearby which are several Hong Kong landmarks, like the Convention Centre. Flags of China were flying or drapped around bodies and umbrellas, among Samsung flags.
I was semi-expecting protesters, because of my exposure to Western press, but coming from a regular proudly-Chinese family, I should’ve known better, that it wasn’t in Hong Kong that you would see dissent.
There was a single occurrence of disruption, fifteen to thirty minutes before the torch’s passing, on Luard Street (perpendicular to Hennessy), at least 15 to 20 meters behind the crowd: a young blond-haired Caucasian male in a yellow t-shirt made a ruckus with the crowd. I never figured out what happened, and it was quickly suppressed by the crowd within a minute. Ten minutes after the torch passage, and after the crowd more or less dispersed, there was a police van barging in on Luard Street, with photographers snapping whatever they could through the van’s fenced windows.
Ironically, of the 300 pictures snapped yesterday, this previous pic is the only of two good ones that I managed to get. The carrier looked like some big business person or local politician. Only 40-something percent (approx number from memory) of the runners in Hong Kong were sportsmen, lower than at relays in St Petersburg and San Francisco.
Other than that, there was nothing worth mentioning. The best is to look at this Flickr set of pictures of the event, or check at these chosen pics below.
Continue reading “The Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong through the eyes of an Overseas Chinese”
This is expected and nothing really out of the ordinary: the Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong was heavily sponsored. Samsung flags and thundersticks (with Beijing logos too) were handed out to the people lining the streets. Here was a whole delegation wearing these green or red t-shirts and red caps with Coca-Cola’s signature. The … Continue reading “This relay was sponsored by…”
This is expected and nothing really out of the ordinary: the Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong was heavily sponsored. Samsung flags and thundersticks (with Beijing logos too) were handed out to the people lining the streets.
Here was a whole delegation wearing these green or red t-shirts and red caps with Coca-Cola’s signature. The torch group was preceded by a Coca-Cola truck (along with an official car, if I remember correctly), that hinted to the crowd that what they came to see was approaching.
What made the news in Hong Kong on May 1st wasn’t the Labour Day march, but rather this bus crash out in the New Territories burgh of Sai Kung. 17 people died and 45 more were injured. This comes another transport accident, involving two trains colliding in Shandong province, with one of the trains on … Continue reading ““Sai Kung bus crash”: the bad news in China”
What made the news in Hong Kong on May 1st wasn’t the Labour Day march, but rather this bus crash out in the New Territories burgh of Sai Kung. 17 people died and 45 more were injured.
This comes another transport accident, involving two trains colliding in Shandong province, with one of the trains on a high-speed route between Beijing and the port town of Qingdao, where sailing events for the Olympics are to be held.
Just like three years ago when I bumped into the annual Establishment Day march (July 1st), I again bumped into another march, this time for Labour Day, May 1st. I was walking in Wan Chai, near the small basketball court (nor Southorn), when I saw the local police cordoning off the left-most lane of Hennessy … Continue reading “Labour Day march in Hong Kong”
Just like three years ago when I bumped into the annual Establishment Day march (July 1st), I again bumped into another march, this time for Labour Day, May 1st. I was walking in Wan Chai, near the small basketball court (nor Southorn), when I saw the local police cordoning off the left-most lane of Hennessy Road, one of Hong Kong Island’s main artery (where the tram circulates). I first thought that they were doing some sort of repetition for today’s Olympic flame march, but it wasn’t the case, clearly as I saw the people with loudspeakers chanting familiar labour union slogans in Cantonese.
>> Listen to the march passing in Wan Chai (~25mins – 11Mb)
I would say that a good half of the marchers were migrant workers, usually what seemed to be domestic helpers as they are usually called. Can’t quote a number for this entry, but a majority of middle-class families employs domestic helpers in Hong Kong. They typically come from the Philippines, but based on the posters I’ve seen, also from Nepal, Thailand, and Indonesia. On this public holiday, they took the street on their day off (who aand chanted “ga yaan gong”, for “raise salary”.
It was a small, peaceful march. I am going to see the Olympic torch today in Wan Chai, the last leg of its passage in Hong Kong. That is, if I can get even get near the path!