Hong Kong: Mar 14: Victoria Peak, Wan Chai, and more

On Sunday, my only obligation with Di Yin and her parents and family friends was in the evening, so I had the day to myself to explore. As I did, I took a goodly number of pictures.

I was up and out by 9:30am, with the morning goal of hiking around Victoria Peak. To get to the Peak, I made my way to the lower terminus of the Peak Tram.

The Peak Tram (actually a funicular) climbs an incredibly steep slope; it rises 1200 feet over 1.4 kilometers, with slopes as high as 27 degrees. It felt steeper than the funiculars I rode in Barcelona and Flam -- I was pushed back into my seat like a roller coaster. As for the technical comparison, the remarkably steep Montjuic funicular I rode in Barcelona is both shorter (0.75 kilometers) and shallower, with a smaller maximum steepness (18%), than Hong Kong's. The impressive Flam line, which I rode in Norway, does have a greater altitude change (2800 feet) but is much longer (20 kilometers); the steepest it gets is around 6%.

I found a small, neat historical gallery at the lower terminus of the tram. There, I learned that even fifty years after the tram was built (1888), the upper-class still rode in sedan chair carried by coolies. How exploitative of underclass is that?

It wasn't the best day to attempt to enjoy the views at the peak: the sky was overcast, and there was a ton of fog at the upper elevations.

Getting off the tram at the upper terminus, I was surprised to find myself in a mall. Indeed, there are two substantial malls at the upper terminus. (They were easy to build because roads wind themselves up the peak.) Atop one of the malls were free binoculars, a nice change from the ones in the states that charge money.

As the upper terminus is not at the top of the mountain, I decided to do the what-turned-out-to-be steep (500 foot elevation gain) hike to the top to see it and the adjacent Victoria Peak Gardens. This was not worth it. The views weren't much better and the gardens were nothing to speak of. Furthermore, the air was muggy when there was no breeze, making the walk rather uncomfortable.

In contrast, the 50-minute-long peak circle trail was definitely worth it in spite of the fog that only occasionally allowed one glimpses of mid-level apartment buildings and not much farther. After the peak hike, I almost skipped this walk. I'm glad I didn't. First, the trail began at the upper terminus and involved no climbing. Second, perhaps due to the different altitude or maybe changing weather, but the temperature was agreeable (no more mugginess). Finally, the trail was so pleasantly forested that it was worthwhile despite the impaired views.

For both hikes, incidentally, I was sometimes joined by chirping birds.

After completing the trail, I took the tram down, then walked to Yang Kee Restaurant for lunch. From lunch, I took the mrt to Wan Chai to finish exploring the neighborhood I began exploring the previous day. Walking this route through the north part of Wan Chai, I discovered quite a crowd: the H.K. Academy for Performing Arts was having an open house trying to recruit students. I also stopped by the H.K. Arts Centre, which turned out to be having an independent short film festival, but none of the movies playing at the moment struck my fancy so I moved on.

I walked along Wan Chai's waterfront for a little while, then took a bus to Causeway Bay, Hong Kong's primary shopping district. I found Causeway Bay packed with shops and people. Many streets were closed to vehicles, making getting around a bit easier, though I nevertheless found the crowds overwhelming. Next on my agenda: Victoria Park.

Beginning a few blocks east of the Causeway Bay mrt station and continuing for many blocks and into Victoria Park, I saw thousands of people who I believe are Indonesian domestic help. (Some may be Malaysian--it's hard to tell--but I'm leaning to Indonesian because I saw a couple of Indonesian restaurants just south of the gathering and no Malaysian ones.) The crowd was astounding. It must be their day off. All women, they sat in groups on and under pedestrian overpasses and lined the wide sidewalks and all the open space in Victoria Park. The vast majority chatted and picnicked, though I did see the occasional group dancing.

Victoria Park, by the way, is a nice multi-user space, good both as a pretty green space and for exercise/recreational activities.

I took a bus to the vicinity of the Happy Valley race track to meet Di Yin, her parents, and a few new-to-me family friends at Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant. It's one of those restaurants where you can pick your seafood out of tanks. We ordered a variety of fresh seafood and had yet another great meal, continuing the theme of the weekend, though by this point I was kind of tired of grand Chinese banquets.