Hong Kong by Night

Here it is folks the hustle & bustle, the style, the lights and the skyscrapers ...

Hong Kong by Night


 

View from the Peak

Any visit to Hong Kong wouldn't be complete without going up on the Victoria Peak.

This place is so exclusive that it is said to be one of the most expensive pieces of land in the world.

Unfortunately the Hong Kong haze was around throughout my visit there ... a by-product of the huge industralization of nearby provinces in China. Their factories now polute the entire area.

 

Hong Kong Markets - Part 2

But of course - these markets have their own attractions:
- fish so fresh they're still jumping around hoping to find the water,
- dried fish, octopus and anything else that can be dried
- pickled snakes !!!
- stag horns

 

Hong Kong Markets - Part 1

As you would imagine, a Hong Kong market is a place of many wonders.

You can find all sorts of food - from roasted ducks and raw meat to fresh seafood and lots of dried stuffs.

 

Fire Dragon dance in Tai Hang

Coinciding with Mid-Autumn Festival is the unique Fire Dragon Dance - a spectacular ritual.

The 67-metre-long dragon is studded with thousands of burning joss sticks that at night produce an incredible spectacle of fire, smoke and dynamic fury as the dragon wends and dances through the backstreets of Tai Hang.

The three-day event commemorates a series of mishaps that befell Tai Hang in 1880 culminating in a plague breaking out in the village. Appearing in the dream of a village elder, Buddha instructed the villagers to light firecrackers and perform a fire dragon dance for three days and nights during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Sulphur from the firecrackers dispelled the plague and the ritual has been repeated annually ever since.
Go here for more pictures from this exciting event.

Mid-Autumn Lantern Celebration

Every year, around beginning of October, Hong Kong - and I think the whole of China - celebrates the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival.

It's a great opportunity to hang lamps all over the place, have fireworks display or simply have huge statues shining light into the night.

It's also the time when one writes it's wishes on a little piece of paper, in the shape of a fish, or rabbit and hangs them on this little wall you can see in the first picture.

 

Here be Dragons !

I don't know about the rest of China, but Hong Kong is definitely a city in love with Dragons!

They are everywhere - standing proud & tall.

 

Welcome to Hong Kong

Here I am in Hong Kong ... more by chance than by design.

I was supposed to go back home via Bangkok ... but just the following morning after I booked the ticket the military coup happened so my company forced me to change my ticket.

Not that I regret it ... Hong Kong is an amazing city and I had the chance to arrive right during the Mid-Autumn festival ... lucky me :o)