Tour Hong Kong -- Walking through Wanchai

Join the Batgung on a walk from the current seafront back in time to the coastline as it was when the British arrived in the 19th century. You should be able to finish the walk in around two hours, but there are plenty of places you may want to stop a while, so it could easily extend to half a day. The walk is mostly flat, so nothing too strenuous. If you'd like a place to stop and eat, batgung-approved places along the way are suggested. You have several options to check out the route: - This online map covers the area you'll be walking. - If you don't have easy access to a printer, you can also pick up a printed street map from the tourist association offices. - Or you can even follow the route as seen by satellite. (If you haven't played with Google Maps before, you can click the "+" and "-" buttons to zoom in and out, and you can also click-and-drag the map to see other areas of Hong Kong - or in fact the whole world.) Where to begin? There are two easy places to join the walk, though since it is a circuit you could start anywhere that takes your fancy. Starting point A is the Wanchai Star Ferry pier, and is the natural place to join if you are travelling from Tsim Sha Tsui. Otherwise, Starting point B is the Wanchai MTR station, easy to reach from anywhere that has an MTR stop. Starting point A If you are joining us from Kowloon side, catch the Star Ferry signposted to "Wanchai" from Tsim Sha Tsui.

Shrinking Harbour #1 At the time of writing (May 2005), you'll see large barges and other heavy construction equipment directly across from Tsim Sha Tsui, near the island's shoreline. This is the latest phase of Hong Kong's continuing reclamation to expand the limited area that is available for building. There are signs that the pace of reclamation may be slowing to a near-halt, as the public objects to the loss of the harbour. The reclamation you see was halted for a short time by a legal challenge, but the government eventually won the right to continue with the work.

Wanchai Star Ferry terminal As you pull close to the terminal, you'll see the new phase of Hong Kong's Convention and Exhibition Center on your right. The handover ceremony between UK and China happened here in 1997.

Shrinking Harbour #2 When Mr Balding arrived in Hong Kong in 1989, the Wanchai ferry terminal marked the Northern edge of the shore, as the new phase of the Convention center had not yet been built.

As you leave the ferry terminal, take the staircase on the right up to the pedestrian walkway. From Wanchai to Central district, there are several areas where it is difficult to navigate at ground-level. What seems easy on a map becomes impossible, as you are unable to cross busy roads. Instead you need to move up on to these raised walkways, linking key buildings together. At the end of the walkway (in front of the green "Harbour Shopping Arcade" sign) turn right. At the corner, turn left, then right onto the short bridge leading in to the old phase of the Convention and Exhibition center. You might want to check out what is on show at the moment, in case there is something that catches your interest. Turn left and left again to cross another short bridge leading into the triangular Central Plaza building. Central Plaza When it was completed, this was the tallest building in Hong Kong. (More about the building is available here.) It also stood out because of the coloured lights at the top of the tower, which change to show the time of day. They seem very tame now, but at the time the lights and neon advertisments on buildings were much simpler (no flashing lights, for example), to avoid distracting pilots landing at the old Kai Tak airport. If you're here on a weekday, take the escalator up to the lift lobby, then the lifts up to the 46th floor to get a great view of the city. Gloucester Road From Central Plaza, we're heading into the older area of Wanchai. Follow the signs on the walkway towards the MTR, Hong Kong's undergound metro system. As you step into the open air again, you could be forgiven for thinking Hong Kong must have a very high population of foreigners. In fact the building behind you is the main office of the Immigration Department. This, together with the nearby Convention center, makes for a more mixed crowd than usual. (The 2001 census recorded 95% of the Hong Kong population are ethnically Chinese). The walkway crosses a busy multi-lane highway, Gloucester Road. Over on the right is The Luk Kwok Hotel, location of the hotel with the same name that featured in The World of Suzie Wong. That's a great book to read if you want to get a feel for Hong Kong - and especially Wanchai - in the 1950s.

Shrinking Harbour#3 When the original Luk Kwok Hotel was built in the 1930's, it was located on the seafront of the time. In The World of Suzie Wong set 20 years later, this was still the seafront. Another sign of the changes is that when that first version of the hotel opened it was the tallest building in Wanchai - all seven storeys of it! Here's a photo of Gloucester Road in the 1950's when it was still the seafront, with the Hotel standing proudly above the surrounding buildings.

After crossing Gloucester Road, you'll be at eye-level with the fitness fanatics at California Fitness in the building on the left side of the walkway. You might want to see how many of the HK Gym-goers you can spot.

Eatery Alert: If all that exercise makes you feel hungry, there are couple of local chains here if you are in the need of a sandwich or a snack to keep you going. At ground-level on the right of the walkway you'll see Delifrance, and on the left you'll see Olivers.

Lockhart Road The walkway continues across a side street, then the next major street you see is Lockhart Road. (You'll see a taxi rank just down on the right. This is a "cross-harbour" taxi rank, where the rate is a little bit cheaper if you want to catch a taxi back to Kowloon). You'll also see plenty of neon signs, as this street carries on the World of Suzie Wong, being the nearest thing we have to a red light district for foreigners. Having said that it is a not an area you need to avoid - there are plenty of ordinary bars and restaurants among the girlie bars. It's not hard to tell the difference - if it's got heavy curtains across the doorway and an old lady sitting outside and offering you "Just one beer honey" - well, you get the picture. Why did Suzie Wong end up in this part of town? As with many things it depends who you ask. An article about Wanchai in China's "Peoples Daily" newspaper says: 'Indeed, the root of the vice establishments in Wanchai could betraced back to the Japanese Occupation period when it was a designated "entertainment area."' Frank Welsh's "A History of Hong Kong" suggests that organised prostitution in Wanchai was sanctioned by the UK government in the late 1930's, well before the Japanese arrived. He explains that the outlawing of prostitution in the early thirties caused a threefold increase in venereal disease among the British armed services! The government took the pragmatic decision to allow organised prostitution again, with Wanchai as the location.

Eatery Alert: Across Lockhart Road and down to the right of the walkway is Sonthra Kebab. It's a little hole-in-the-wall place, but the food (kebabs and curries) is cheap and tasty.

Wanchai Computer Centre Carry on, and we cross over busy Gloucester Road. The first building on the right is the Wanchai Computer Center. If you have any geeky tendencies, it's two floors of shops selling Notebook PCs, PDAs, MP3 players, Computer components & peripherals, etc, etc. A few steps ahead we've reached the end of the walkway. The escalator on the left takes us down into the MTR station. Ignore that and take the steps on the right that will bring you down to street level. As you reach the bottom of the steps, you'll usually see a small group of people sat on a selection of salvaged chairs. Their vacant gaze and sunken cheeks give a clue to why they are here - the government methadone clinic is in the building on the right. From the bottom of the steps walk to the right, heading forward to the tram line (or double back to pay a visit to the computer center if that catches your eye). Starting point B If you've been walking with us from the ferry, you're now standing with the tram line in front of you, and exit A3 of Wanchai MTR station behind you. If you've just joined us, welcome!

Shrinking Harbour #4 The 1901 government maps show this road as the shoreline, with many small piers and landing stages - so in 1901 you'd be getting wet feet right now! The tramline is the giveaway, as for most of its route it follows the 1904 shoreline - the year that the Hong Kong Tramways opened. At that time the road was still called the "Praya East", where praya is a corruption of praia, the Portuguese word for shore. The next maps in the Hong Kong Central library date from 1929, and were drawn to allocate the lots of land for the recently completed Praya East reclamation. Praya East has been renamed to it's current name of Johnston Road, and the land now stretches out to Gloucester Road, ready to build the Luk Kwok Hotel. Where did they get all the materials to fill in the sea? Another question gives the answer - "Why is the nearby Morrison Hill area not hilly?" They dug up the hill and threw it into the sea!

Cross over Johnston Road at the pedestrian crossing, and make a left turn.

Eatery Alert: The old Lung Moon restaurant is just in front of you, on the corner of Stone Nullah Lane. There are a couple of old photos of the restaurant on a sign in front of the main doors - it doesn't look like much has changed in 50 years. You can get better dim-sum in many places, but it certainly has character. It opens in the very early morning, and at that time it is filled with workers finishing the late shift, old men taking their caged birds out for a walk, and the odd late night reveler grabbing a bite to eat before going home to sleep.

Walk along Johnston Road, until you see the tram line veer off to the left. You should be on the corner of Wanchai Road, so take the sharp right turn to walk up this street. This area is a local street market, selling all sorts of fresh food. Hong Kong people tend to like their food fresh, and many a visitor is shocked to see half a fish in front of the fishmongers' shop, heart still beating! Take a right turn into Cross Street - it is definitely pedestrian-only, as it is jammed with stalls on both sides of the road. You might find the shops along the side of the street just as interesting as the stalls, so feel free to take your time to wander around this area. Turn left into Tai Yuen Street, and walk up to Queen's Road East, and cross over to the opposite side of the road. (You'll see Wanchai Gap Road heading uphill from here. This is the start of some great walks into the green hillsides above the city, but we'll save those for another day.) Up to your left is a Post Office, if you need to send any postcards. Otherwise we turn right along Queens Rd East, and walk for a few minutes until you see a very tall, round building at number 183. The Hopewell Center This was Hong Kong's tallest building from 1980 until 1989, when the Bank of China Tower was finished. Take the escalator up and turn right to the lift lobby. Then take the lift to the 17th floor, and follow the signs to the observation lifts. These bubble lifts climb the outside of the tower, and give great views over the area you've just been walking. At the top of this lift you have the option to sit in the "revolving 66" restaurant, or you can just stay in the elevator and head back to the ground level. I wouldn't recommend that restaurant for a meal, but it's a good spot to sit and have a drink while your table does one rotation of the tower. It should take 66 minutes, hence the name. (However, ask to check the view first - on Summer evenings the aircon inside means there is heavy condensation on the oustide of the windows, and so no view!) Back at ground level, there is a Fortress electronics store (look for the big orange sign) at ground level. If you are thinking of buying any electronic goods, it's useful to check the price in Fortress as a benchmark - you can usually find it cheaper elsewhere but at least you'll know if you're being ripped off or not. You can find more on this topic here. Turn left to walk along Queen's Road. A short distance along on the other side of the road you'll see a cluster of shops with fruit stacked up outside. Though you can buy fruit, most of it is sold as fruit juice. The prices are low here, driven down by the competition along this street. So if you didn't stop for a drink at the Hopewell, you might want to pay them a quick visit. Take a look at the combinations on offer - just about every mixture you can imagine. Keep walking along the left side of the road, and you'll soon come to the old Hung Shing Temple. It's worth a pause to wander around inside, unless you're already all temple'd out by this point in your stay. Although there are now many temples in Hong Kong island, it is believed that this is one of the four temples that existed here before the 1840's.

Shrinking Harbour #5 When the British arrived in Hong Kong in the 1840's, Hung Shing Temple was located on the shoreline. All the ground you have walked on from the Ferry pier to here has been reclaimed!

Cross over the road at the pedestrian crossing, so you are now walking along the right side of Queen's Road East. This section of the road has several shops selling chinese-style furniture, so feel free to pop in for a browse. At number 128 is the King Tak Hong porcelain store. It just sells housewares, but if you are visiting from overseas I'd say it is worth a few minutes to wander around. You'll probably find some unusual things inside - and maybe some small and inexpensive gifts to take home. Continue along the road then make a right turn into Gresson Street, home to another (much smaller) street market. This market had a starring role in MrB's courtship of MrsB, a local Hong Kong lady. Early on in our dating she told me that she found turnips very attractive. Well, to each their own. No, it turned out this was one of those occasional language lapses, and she meant Tulips. So, shortly after I went to buy her a turnip from this market as a little joke, but I left it late and had to buy the last one. MrsB's mum (who had owned a market stall for many years) saw the turnip later that evening, and declared that I knew how to pick a good turnip in the market, and would make fine husband material. The fact it was the last one in the market stayed our little secret. At the end of the market turn right - you should be back to the tram lines again. Watch out for Cosmos Bookstore at number 30 if you're in need of something to read while you're visiting. Upstairs they have a reasonable English-language book and magazine selection (magazines go through the book section and turn left). Also along this part of Johnston Road there are several stock-overrun shops, where you can pick up cheap clothes. Many are brands you won't have heard of, but opposite Cosmos at Super Brands (no 35-45) you can browse through brands like Nordstrom and Calvin Klein.

Eatery alert: We Batgung like curry! If you're here around lunch or dinner time, the Jo Jo Mess Club is a good Indian restaurant, that we've been visiting since the 1980's. The entrance is on Lee Tung Street - look overhead for the sign pointing to the entrance.

Next on the itinerary is the Southorn Playground, across the tramlines from Jo Jo's. There's an interesting note on it from the Oral History project. At one point they say how "In the morning, labourers (commonly called "coolies") gathered to wait for employment." Several decades later and that is still the case - you might see groups of men outside the park, along the wall facing Johnston Road. You're most likely to see them in the morning, and the lorries driving up to collect labourers for short-term work. If you want a rest, you can take a seat overlooking the soccer pitch, and watch the world go by. I'm always amazed by the flimsy cotton shoes that the men wear to play soccer. When you come out of the other side of the playground, you'll be at the corner of Hennessy Rd and Luard Rd. Across Luard Rd you'll see a shop on the corner with several shiny tea urns. It is a herbal tea shop. The "24 variety herb tea" is a popular choice - but be warned that it is an acquired taste. Cross over Hennessy Road, and walk along Luard Road to the next cross-roads. You are back to Lockhart Road again.

Eatery Alert: If you are pining for Western food and drink, there is plenty of choice here. On the left along Lockhart Road are the White Stag at no 54, and Carnegies directly opposite at no 53. Both are pubs that we visit every few weeks, and are a good spot to sit and have a cool beer. Straight ahead is Delaney's, an Irish pub on the corner of Luard Road and Jaffe Road. The serve a tasty roast lunch each day.

Continue along Luard Rd until you reach Gloucester Road, and turn right. A few steps ahead you'll see a pedestrian footbridge on the left, and just past that on the right os the Luk Kwok hotel - the one we mentioned earlier as the hotel described in The World of Suzie Wong. Climb up over the pedestrian footbridge, and walk into the small courtyard between these three government towers. This is another good spot to sit and watch the world go by - I sometimes take a sandwich over there for lunch. Or walk a little further, and sit in the quiet park that is attached to the Grand Hyatt Hotel. To get there from the courtyard, walk toward the sea with Wanchai Tower on your right, then cross Harbour Road and walk up the steps on the left.

Eatery alert: If you've reached here in the afternoon, the afternoon tea buffet in the Tiffin restaurant in the Grand Hyatt is highly recommended.

Walk out of the opposite side of the park, cross the road and you've come back to the coastline again. You have a couple of options here. The first option is to follow the coastline to the left. You'll reach the Central Star Ferry Pier after 20-30 minutes walk, and from there you can catch a ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui. Alternatively, walk out around the reclamation for the Convention and Exhibition centre to get great views of the harbour. At the end of the reclamation you'll see a Golden coloured statue, known as the Golden Bauhina (the Bauhinia is Hong Kong's national flower). You'll probably also see tourist coaches, and Chinese people having their picture taken in front of the statue. The ceremony of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China was held in this exhibition center, and naturally it was big news in mainland China. The people having their photos taken are most likely visiting from the Mainland. Keep walking and you'll shortly end up back at the Star Ferry terminal, where you can catch the ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui. If you joined us at the Wanchai MTR, please go back to the start of the tour to get directions back to the MTR station. References Maps: - "2 Survey plans of Wanchai" (1929) ref HL 61-1 - Public Works Department "Victoria Hong Kong" (1901) sheets 17-20 - "Plan of the city of Victoria, Hong Kong" (1889) ref HG 28-3 & 4