Ocean Park Hong Kong

Ocean Park Hong Kong was built almost 40 years ago and has morphed into a huge oceanarium, marine mammal park, amusement park and animal theme park. Ten years ago it went through a rough patch and was expected to lose much of its custom to the newly-built Hong Kong Disneyland - but it invested almost one billion US$ in order to compete and subsequently grew into the largest theme park in Asia.

Today, we were keen to see the revamped Ocean Park as we last visited it more than 10 years ago. Then, China had just liberalised visas for mainland tourists and the place was swamped by huge groups, every attraction demanded lengthy queues and the exit lines were...humongous. When you were visiting with a couple of teenagers in tow, it made for a l-o-n-g day.

Today, it was just the two of us and we were taking advantage of the new South Island Line of the MTR (Mass Transit Railway, Hong Kong's uber efficient underground railway) that opened yesterday; its four minute commute in air-conditioned comfort replaces the previous half-hour coach journey from Admiralty to Ocean Park.

The MTR decamped us at the entrance to Ocean Park. The picture below shows the bridge from the train station to the Park. The day was dull, overcast but dry and warm at about 17 Censius.

First stop was something billed as a half-hour 'Cyber-Illusion Spectacular.'

That involved loud music, flashing lights, robotic dancers - and some excellent magic and illusions, the best involving a couple who performed multiple costume changes in less than ten seconds with only a flimsy sheet as cover; indeed the girl once changed costume in the couple of seconds that it took for a falling stream of petals to obscure her. The applause at the end was well deserved.

Because we've visited the Ocean Park several times before, we planned to be selective in our visits, avoiding anything strenuous (so the adventure games were out) and focusing on old favourites and additions since our last visit.

The Old Hong Kong display of stalls, birdcages, a tram, phonebox, posters and so on is pure nostalgia. The prices charged by the stalls for 'old time' food treats will bring tears to your eyes and make your wallet much lighter.

We took the cable car from the lower Waterfront side of the Park to the Headland side where many of the rides and attractions are situated. Each car holds six passengers and there must be a couple of hundred of them in the air at any one time.

It's a spectacular ride, moving gently through the air with views out past the south coast to the expanse of the South China Sea. Today it was misty and visibility was restricted but several large cargo ships and fishing boats could be seen making their way into Aberdeen port.

Our first stop on the headland was the Rainforest Attraction that presents animals from the world's rain forests, particulary from South America. Apart from the snakes and tree frogs, one of my favourites was the alligator gar, a large, prehistoric-looking fish native to north and south America. They grow to ten feet long and their ancestors lived over 100 million years ago.

We looked in vain for the seals in the Polar Adventure Attraction but they dived out of sight when they saw us coming.

In fact, when we spotted the crowd rushing to one particular viewing window we thought they had a good sight of the seals ...but the object of their excitement was two-legged, a diver.

Mind you, the penguins made up for it. They were waddling around, chests out, arms outstretched, looking the audience up and down as if they were assessing us.

Back on the Waterfront side, we went to the Amazing Asian Animals Attraction to see the pandas. It was getting quite dark now and my camera struggled with the light but one old panda was very considerate and posed briefly for me.

It was half past six in the evening now and we passed by the Goldfish Treasures section. I wished we had more time to stay and absorb the different varieties of goldfish, all effectively displayed in a variety of tanks and pools.

There was even a lantern-adorned display board so that young goldfish fanciers could write messages to each other (when they weren't busy texting or WeChatting).

My favourite attraction was the last; the Grand Aquarium of Aqua City Attraction. I remember the huge tanks full of a variety of fish of all sizes, from tiddlers to active sharks, all swimming in front of us and sometimes over us as we walked through tanks on moving walkways.

We began with the static exhibits, marine life in things like worms, starfish, shellfish.

...and then we moved on to the moving, twisting, turning, pouting examples that are guaranteed to make youngsters either shut up completely, slain with wonder, or explode in a delirium of excitement. Of course, nowadays everyone wants to capture the event on their mobile phone...

As we went round the exhibition the tanks grew bigger, the windows larger, the fish more varied...

There was one spectacular tank, cylindrical in shape, maybe 20 feet high. It was completely full of fish of a similar size, swimming constantly round and round...(with cut out shapes of sharks hanging around the edges, like sheepdogs shepherding them).

At the end of the exhibition was a particularly large display window...

And, in what I feel may be a particularly Hong Kongesque touch, there is a restaurant in this attraction where the diners have tables overlooking the display (see below, middle left)...and no, they can't order the speciality of the day from the tank!!!...at least I don't think so...

Spanking the Devil in Hong Kong

On my walk today I came across one of Hong Kong's strange relics, a piece of Guandong folk sorcery called 'Da Siu Yan,' otherwise known as 'beating the petty little people' or demon exorcism. Guandong is one of China's 23 provinces, the one abutting Hong Kong.

At first, I thought it was just one of these media jamborees that Hong Kong folk enjoy; under the Canal Road Flyover between Causeway Bay and Wan Chai there seemed to be quite a fuss going on, bright TV lights, two cameramen with shoulder-held video cameras and several passers-by excitedly snapping the scene on their cellphones.

As I got closer it was clear that three TV channel celebrities - a well-know actress and two younger TV presenters - were doing a piece on Da Siu Yan.

Under the flyover were several altars with statues, food offerings and bowls of incense, each attended by an elderly lady. Apparently, these ladies specialise in ritually expelling demons by using a shoe to hit a person-shaped piece of paper bearing the name and details of the demon (someone you dislike) or group of demons (a group of people that you dislike...maybe parking enforcement attendants or people who talk loudly on mobile phones on public transport...).

Anyway, as the client, you give the details to one of these nice old ladies, hand over your money and then the beating starts.

Whack, whack, whack.

Actually, it's little more complicated...there are prayers, blessing, incense burning and candles, and, during Jingzhe in early Spring, you've got to feed the paper tigers...

 I've seen this ceremony several times, usually from a distance, but today I had to walk right by the women. And no, I didn't place an order; turning the other cheek is a much better approach.

The Curious Case of the Disappearing Hong Kong Bookshops

It’s a mystery, Holmes!

What is?

Why -  the case of the disappearing English-language bookshops in Hong Kong, of course.

Tell me more.

Well, there used to be lots of English-language retailers in Hong Kong, now there’s only a handful. Let me see: Swindon Book Company; Kelly & Walsh; Hong Kong Book Centre; Bookazine (10 small stores) and maybe I can include The Commercial Press branch in Causeway Bay (they are really a Chinese language book store but with a decent English book selection). That’s it!

Kelly & Walsh in an upscale shopping mall on HK Island

Hong Kong Book Centre - down the steps into the basement shop; Central

Bookazine - main branch in Prince's Building, Central

The Commercial Press, mainly in Chinese but with a large English section - Causeway Bay

Swindon Book Co in Kowloon side
 

The presumption is that there were previously more English-language bookshops?

Of course there were! Look, the Dymocks chain, an Australian franchise with 13 branches, closed down almost two years ago. Their bookshops were excellent, professionally run with an excellent range of magazines and books; they stocked the latest issues and promoted Asian writers too. Then there is Page One, a Singaporean group that owned three mega-stores, at Harbour City, Festival Walk and Times Square. They closed down a couple of months ago. They weren’t my favourite booksellers; while they carried huge stocks, customer service was sometimes lacking, books were occasionally misfiled and rarely displayed effectively.

I thought the  big Taiwanese bookseller, Eslite,  opened stores in Hong Kong recently?

Well yes, there are a handful of mega-stores now but Eslite is hardly a bookseller. Granted, the stores have 10,000+ books, most in Chinese language, but they also sell a lot of rubbish – boutique homemade jewellery, designer home wares, wine accessories, leather bags, organic products – expensive tosh.

Eslite - Tai Koo - describes itself as a 'bookstore'...ho hum!

You’re a little biased aren’t you, Watson?

I think a bookshop should just sell books, Holmes – maybe a decent cup of coffee while one is browsing - if that’s biased, then I’m biased.

And both Dymocks and Page One have closed down in the last couple of years?

Yes…but it’s even worse. The number of bookshops at Hong Kong Airport has also been drastically reduced. Page One and another company were granted a lease on 16 stores from 2009, now Page one has also lost its lease on its airport shops and the other company, Relay, is down to five shops…and, Holmes, you will not like this, a mainland company, Chung Hwa, will run five of the remaining ten.

Smell a rat do you?

Well, you have to wonder. There was all that kerfuffle last year with the booksellers who were allegedly kidnapped and ended up in mainland China. The airport bookshops often sold books that were very gossipy and salacious about the Chinese leadership…makes you wonder.

So, it’s all due to mainland censorship is it?

Do you have a better reason Holmes?

Tell me about the economic situation in Hong Kong just now.

Not good, I suppose. Retail sales are down, high street rents are down by up to 40% since the peak in fourth quarter 2013, there is slowing growth in China and the anti-corruption drive in mainland China shows no signs of slowing.

Even with the English-language bookshops that remain, they are reducing their stocks, not investing in as many new books. You know, I visited all the bookshops looking for the latest paperback by a Singaporean writer and ex-lawyer, Shamini Flint, and couldn’t find a copy. Just a couple of years ago most of the shops would have had a copy and several of her earlier works. Now, no one stocks her and there are very few new Asian writers supported.

Bookazine's flagship store on the top floor of Prince's Building in Central moved to a new location on the same floor in the last 12 months, one that is much smaller, the amount of books and magazines that they stock now is less than half the amount they had 12 months ago. The 'flagship' store has become a sampan store.

Do you notice anything in the streets, when you walk about, compared to, say, our last visit one year ago?

Well, there’s many fewer tourists. Westerners definitely, but also mainlanders; there used to be lots of them everywhere - do you remember the big crocodiles of mainland tourists with the leader holding an umbrella or flag at the front? Even the little entrepreneurs, the men and women who bought cheap stuff for resale back in China, they used to squat outside the stores and stuff their huge suitcases for the journey back across the border.

And did you notice any difference in the types of stores that you see now in the luxury shopping malls?

Now that you mention it – yes I did. I mean there are fewer restaurants and food outlets, more high end retailers of jewellery, watches, high end fashion brands. I suppose they can afford the rents. They say that while retail shop rents are falling, the rents in luxury malls are being maintained – just!

Maybe it’s become too expensive for booksellers?

What about alternative forms of consumption?

What do you mean, Holmes?

Do people just read books and just buy them in shops?

Well no…that’s good thinking, Holmes. You’re right you know! Everyone is on their smartphone now. I’ve never seen so many people using smartphones, they’re looking at them all the time, everywhere. I suppose they are also reading news…and articles, books even. Maybe they are ordering books on the internet too? Yes, of course they must be. And there are lots of free newspapers given away in the early morning by these old ladies who stand at the entrances on the MTR stations.

What about the use of English in Hong Kong?

Now, that’s definitely falling. Fewer people speak it, or speak it well; go into the big shops now and the priority is Mandarin or Japanese. In fact, although Chinese and English are the two official languages of Hong Kong under Basic Law, they tell me that more people speak Putonghua than English now. I suppose it makes sense with the shortage of Western tourists too. After all, this is a Chinese city, about 95% speak Chinese and only 3.5% speak English so perhaps it’s no surprise it no longer supports a lot of English-language bookshops, especially when the economy is suffering.

Hey! Maybe that’s why the number of English-language bookshops is falling? How did you work that out Holmes?

It’s elementary my dear Watson! I believe you will also find that the successful bookshops are those that have a longstanding agreement to supply textbooks to local schools and colleges; that makes them especially resilient in a downturn…yes, it’s quite elementary.

Hymn to Hong Kong

The last six months have been quite demanding, mainly due to a variety of voluntary jobs that seemed to expand to fill all my spare time until something had to give – and that was this blog.

However, two days ago, around 6.00 am and almost 12 hours out from London, my Cathay Pacific flight began to descend towards Hong Kong. Ahead, the darkness was being beaten back by the pale gold and red of the sun as it began to rise over the South China Sea. The engines throttled back and at 10,000 feet we could make out the shape of islands far below us and the vastness of the water ahead.

There’s always something almost magical about approaching Hong Kong. It’s a mixture of eager anticipation and happy memories, as well as the knowledge that only rest and pleasure stretch ahead. There will be new and exotic experiences, the warmth of the welcoming family and lots to explore in this place of incredible materialism and competition, where constant growth and novelty generate winners and losers in the competition to succeed and live well.   

   

Driving into the city from the airport in our Alphard MPV (a Toyota marque built for use in Japan but exported to a handful of countries including Hong Kong) was a slightly surreal experience. We swept smoothly along the highway in a cocoon of grey as the heavy mist hid much of the surrounding hills; it was only as we approached Kowloon on the elevated road that the sun began to burn away the greyness and to our right we saw glimpses of the blue sea with a sprinkling of small islands and ships far below. Then we swept into the concrete canyons of the outskirts, with offices, apartments blocks and shops all around us, past the barriers and dipped down into the Western Cross-harbour Tunnel to pop up shortly after in our Hong Kong Island destination.

Later that day, I made the usual pilgrimage to Victoria Harbour, just to get a feel for life in the city. As usual, the Harbour was busy, the green and white Star Ferries criss-crossing the water, an occasional ferry brightly decorated, the Aqua Luna sailing junk pottering about and a large cruise ship moored to Harbour City Ocean Terminal.  Across the water, the buildings of Hong Kong Island reared up from the water, strangely insubstantial, grey-blue and indistinct in the haze.

Today, I thought I’d take the pulse of the city, see what’s on its mind. After all, there is much to be concerned about globally; for example, America’s scary President-Elect; post-Brexit worries about the effect of elections in Austria and Italy; a pending impeachment in South Korea, and the imminent rise in US interest rates…

In Hong King, it is the gay lions.

In front of the HSBC Bank headquarters in Central are sculptures of two bronze lions, Stephen and Stitt. They were placed there in 1935 when the building opened and are a local landmark, representative of the excellent feng shui enjoyed by the building. They proudly bear the scars of shrapnel holes dating from the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in 1941.

Recently, Stephen and Stitt have been joined by another pair of lions, also called Stephen and Stitt – but multi-coloured and ‘gay’ – that were placed at the opposite side of the bank as part of HSBC’s ‘Celebrate Pride, Celebrate Unity’ campaign. As the plaque puts it, ‘the design uses thick rainbow-coloured bars, creating a bold statement of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) pride.

The city is divided as a result. On one side there are many young people who support moves for anti-discrimination laws for LGBT people, 91% of a recent sample poll who were aged 18-24 spoke in favour, and a recent Pride support march attracted 7,000 people.

On the other side, several campaign groups have organised a petition against the gay lions with 4,500 people signed up so far. They argue that the iconic lions have been improperly hijacked to ‘trample family values’ in Hong Kong and project meanings that a lot of people disagree with.

While Hong Kong has laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of gender, disability, race and family values, there are none preventing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. That may be about to change, but, while the numbers of people in favour of changing the law are increasing, they still face considerable opposition, including the older, more traditional Hong Kongers, reminiscent of the same divisions in society that were exposed by the youth-led Umbrella Movement demonstrations of 2014.

As with the waters in the Victoria Harbour, there may be choppy times ahead.