Hong Kong 1996: Gallery

An Image Gallery

The following are a series of images that were taken with the Kodak DC-40 Digital camera that was loaned to the author between December and April 1996. The images have been group according to subject areas. They will be incorporated into the Topic sections of the site as time permits.

Hong Kong is a lesson in crass contrasts. The density and devotion to capitalism have created a society that focuses on two things: profit and self. Everything that does not support the acquisition of money has a decreased value. Even the roots of the family trees are beginning to rot uder this onslaught. This impression is reinforced every day of life in this City on the Brink.

Victoria Harbor

The Cantonese fisherpeople gave this small place the name "Fragrnt Harbor." The government has been slowly filling the nooks and crannies of the coastline in order to "win" more buildable land from the sea. Boats of every size and description ply its waters; from daunting super-power warships to ferries of all descriptions to miniarature front-loading garbage picker-uppers. The aging fleet of green and white Star Ferries were part of almost every iconographical picture of Hong Kong. The automobile and subway connections under the harbor now ensure their demise. Yet, their gleamingly polished teak and elegant curves proudly pretend that they too have a place in the new Hong Kong. Victoria Harbor is busy 24 hours a day. And it's fragrance is nothing to behold.

Wan Chai

The heart of the Island of Hong Kong with a varied past. Known throughout the last three decades as the "wet spot" for dry throats and dreams; it is now being gentrified. Pieces of the original jungle remain, isolated among the towers. They are harder and harder to find. The green foliage on the slopes has been lost to fields of sprayed concrete and mounds of garbage. A jungle of metal, concrete and dripping air conditioners has replaced the bushes and trees of the past.

Central

The financial center of Hong Kong. It also once had buildings that would have been the envy of Paris and green space that would have rivaled New York's Central Park in importance. However, progress felled and filled.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Once the site of a rock quarry for the dam that closed off an estuary which was being turned into a fresh water reservoir, the campus flows up and over a very steeply sloping hillock. It is now a small island of green in the New Territories. The harbor below its' majestic view is scheduled for partial filling by garbage. After a few years of scows dumping the daily refuse of 6.5 million, another housing project with prescribed mall and "luxury" hotel will be built. The Univerity is a stop on the Kowloon Canton Railway and has its own internal light-bus system.

Images of our aprtment can be found here.

Mong Kok

A vibrant center. As most of Hong Kong, this area looks like one big construction site. Everywhere one looks there are buildings being torn down and new skyscrapers being erected in their place. The 1960's urban renewal, which most of the urban planners in America terribly regret, is fully underway here. One must only wonder why different cultures simple cannot learn from each other's mistakes!

Tsim Sha Tsui

This is the area that most tourists see. It occupies the tip of the Kowloon penninsula. A promenade snakes along the waterfront; a ribbon of concrete perced upon piles that were driven into the harbor. From this popular spot one can look over to the "Island." The prominade, and pink monstrosity behind it that is known as the Cultural center, are built mostly on land-fill. They were built where the original terminal station of the KCR was located. The station was a beautiful building. TST is a jumble of stores, shopping malls, construction sites, tailors, restaurants, and well, everything. The old and new jammed together in a bizarre dicordant harmony.

Kowloon Station

The last stop of the KCR. Here one can walk to the tunnel bus to ride below Victoria Horbor to the "Island." The advertisements are fascinating. It seems like the tobacco industry can afford to relinquish the American market. They still have the largest number of lungs in the world to target. It is simply impossible to walk anywhere in the city without seeing cigarette ads. I do not know how many people use the public transportation systems here, but I would guess it must be about 6.3 million. It functions like a well oiled machine. The biggest question is, how long will it remain so once the politics and graft that greases the Chinese machines infest Hong Kong?

The Markets

Every area has a wet and dry market. There are also markets for flowers, jade, birds, stainless steel, clothing, etc. The wet market is perhaps the one with the most suprises. A sturdy pair of shoes and an iron stomach are appropriate for the first visit.

Friends

A few friends. Here are images of packing and our journey to Hong Kong....


Frank Sun	Andy Foster	Ashley Sun	Steve Lombardi

And Images of Christmas 1995 with our new friends....