Hong Kong - Fashion and Antiques

Yesterday, I alluded to the commercial character of Hong Kong, so it should not surprise that a major activity for visitors is shopping. Since we're already familiar with most of the "tourist attractions," today, after the initial trip across the harbor on the Star Ferry (about US$0.28 for a pleasant 7 minute trip made by thousands every day), we started with some of our usual wallet-lightening stops.

Now I'm not sure whether it was the sub-tropical humidity or the stress of watching Lois' excitement at our first stop, but I sure was sweating at pricey Shanghai Tang. The creation of entrepreneur David Tang (who also operates the exclusive China Club), Shanghai Tang offers modern takes on classic chinese fashion. From custom-made silk chongsams to silk or cotton or linen or denim tang jackets to tee shirts with quirky, kitschy designs based on Mao or kung-fu fighters, the shop does, I admit, offer some nice stuff, some of which is going home with us.

Then on to Hollywood Road, and its concentration of antique emporiums. But keep in mind that Hong Kong island is a very vertical city; not only the skyscrapers and high-rise apartment complexes, but the island itself. The central part of the city climbs a hill eventually known at the top as "The Peak." To get from Shanghai Tang's lower neighborhood known as Central to Hollywood Road involves climbing hills, striding up stairs, or taking the world's longest escalator system. Taking advantage of the latter, we arrived on "antique row" without getting too much out of breath.

Our usual stops on Hollywood include Honeychurch Antiques and the Man Mo Temple. Honeychurch, owned by some expats, offers real antiques rather than the commonly found restorations and reproductions. Catching our eye this time around were a carved Japanese panel and a large step tansu, as well as a nice painted porcelain panel and a small side table, but we put off any purchases since we'll be back in town in about a week after the mainland portion of our trip. Something else that the folks at Honeychurch are good at providing are recommendations for eating places. Four years ago, they sent us to Manchu Bistro for some delicious dumplings. This year, they sent us to a Vietnamese place called Song, which offered a good lunch buffet featuring some tuna and wasabi mayo spring rolls, a roast duck salad, fish curry, and some interesting "pudding" which was more like a fruit soup with coconut milk, mango and pomelo. Nice and refreshing after the curry.

Also on Hollywood Road is the Man Mo Temple. Already old when the British arrived, its coiled incense hanging from the ceiling, offerings of fruit and joss sticks on the altars, juxtaposed with some electric "candles" and strings of what some might consider "Christmas lights" make for an interesting experience.