I found myself in the New Kowloon area again yesterday. I took the subway to the Lok Fu station. I decided I wanted to see the Kowloon Walled City Park. I have seen plenty of parks this vacation, but the history of this one intrigued me. The area around New Kowloon seems a little depressed. It’s not as vibrant as the areas around Prince Edward, Mong Kok or Yau Ma Tei.
The park used to be in a fortress in 1847. Apparently a legal oversight left the park in Chinese control after the British leased the New Territories. During WWII, it was leveled and a ghetto called the Walled City was built up. It was a draw to triads, drug dealers, heroin addicts, pornographers, and large rats (allegedly the size of small dogs). In 1992, it was torn down and replaced with a park. It still has a sketchy feel to it, which isn’t surprising with all that history.
Since it was near, I also went to the Hau Wong Temple. It was built in 1737 during the Qing Dynasty and has had renovations done sporadically between 1822 and 1988. It was built to honor the emperor Ping’s most loyal advisor.
I then took the subway back a few spots to Mong Kok and walked around that area again. I saw the Gold Fish Market, which I hadn’t seen. It was pretty crowded when I went.
Alice and I will go to Hong Kong Island tonight for dinner since we didn’t go last night.
I woke up and got organized. Ready or not, I leave tomorrow. Funny, I was longing for home when I left, and now I am not ready to go back. I guess it’s always like this. It’s nice having nothing to do. I wake up each day and decide then what to do. At home comes responsibility.
I have a good life. At times during the trip, I felt like I was one of the “privileged.” It’s not really a comfortable feeling for me. No way am I in the top 1% being battled at home, but in the overall scheme of life in the universal family of humans, I have it good.
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