Hong Kong is very organized and loves to label things and put up signs. They even label and number trees and slopes as these four pictures demonstrate:
REMINDER: click or double click on the pictures to make them bigger!
The following are a collection of interesting and funny signs that we have seen in our travels in Hong Kong and area.
This skull seemed way too happy to
be a skull....and don't you think this is
overkill for a flash flood warning?
This sign 'welcomes' you to a playground - an interesting
statement on this society that you have to tell people
not to hang your laundry here, and keep your
kids from gambling!
Once again this "sitting-out area" (park) reminds us not to hang our laundry.
Who needs to go to Newfoundland to
see the icebergs? Apparently they
are for sale near the Tai Mo Sham
waterfalls. Sadly, it wasn't open
to inquire about pricing.
This could be the worse vegetarian
restaurant EVER
Found on a Christmas display in a mall - are they
expecting a herd of buffalo? Picture this - a herd
of buffalo running through the mall, stopping here
and saying "oh, crap, there's a sign, Norman, I guess
the trampling's off"
(should be a Far Side comic)
Not a sign, but the scariest Santa
we have ever seen!
Is this sign REALLY required?
Seems odd to call it "down floor" but
that is the literal translation of the
Cantonese
Okay - technically I took this picture in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, when I was there with
Brenda Halk - however, you think someone
would run this through spellcheck before printing
the sign...ah, the Swids!
What should we keep clean? The beach or us?
How many people ran into this door to require
this sign to be put up?
This sign we pass daily as we ride the escalator home. The story goes that request was made to produce a sign for this street - however the sign maker (Cantonese speaker) read the name backwards, and Alexander Terrace became Rednaxela Terrace (try saying that three times fast)
At a price of $46 Canadian each,
we think these crabs flew
First Class from Canada.
A recycle bin at a picnic area....we were a little
stumped by the BBQ fork recycling - can't we just
wash them and reuse them?
When an area is open and full of picnic tables, is this sign really necessary??
And speaking of hikes and parks, see who we met last weekend while hiking! The hiking book said we would see some monkeys - however, in reality there were several hundred monkeys which was a little disconcerting until we learned to just keep walking, don't make eye contact and once they realize you are not going to feed them, they will leave you alone.
When you keep your eyes open, it is always entertaining wandering around Hong Kong!
Love you all,
Linda and Jeff
Hong Kong has so many sides other than the famous skyline of Central, Hong Kong Island....and whenever we can, we go out and explore the hiking side. I am more fortunate than my hard-working husband to have time to explore, and am thoroughly enjoying an every other week hiking group of women from the American Women's Association (who are from all over the world....there is even another Canadian who is often in the group!)
Yesterday we went to Lantau Island and did Stages 5 & 6 of the Lantau Trail. Hong Kong has five long hiking trails, beautifully marked and scattered over all of the country. The Lantau trail is a 70 km total route that circles part of the island, and is broken down into 12 stages - each stage starts and ends at accessible points for people. Lantau Island is the largest island in HK (even larger than the one we live on), is home to the airport and the Big Buddha which you have seen in past blog posts, and is mainly open green hills with numerous Buddhist and Taoist monasteries and nunneries scattered in the hills.
Enjoy these pictures.....the weather was foggy (as many of the most recent days have been) so sometime I will return with Jeff on a clear day and get pictures of the view, and then show them to you. Welcome to Lantau Trail, Stages 5 & 6!
Our first peak...Kwun Yam Shan 434 m
One our way up....
Still on our way up...
My new friend....these cows are wild on the island
On Ling Wui Shan peak 490 km
Finally on our way down....
One of the many monasteries and nunneries in the hills
Lantau Island has so many trails that we often stopped and made good use of the signs!
This beautiful property is Lung Tsai Ng Yuen, a private villa built by a Buddhist businessman exiled from Shanghai many years ago - it is empty now but still beautiful!
Does a lunch spot get any better than this?
Memorial to ancestors along the path (if you make it bigger you will see pictures of them on the centre front section)
We ended in Tai O, a fishing village on stilts
What a wonderful way to spend a few hours! Hope you enjoyed the trip, too.
We will see what adventures happen next in Hong Kong....one never knows!
That is Cantonese for "Happy New Year", which we are part way through. It has been a fascinating and exciting time, and I was thankful to take a seminar all about the traditions to help our understanding of it. The greeting you hear most of all is "Gung Hei Fat Choi" with means good wealth, may your wealth continue to grow, which certainly seems to be the focus of the celebrations. What I do like is that it is all about gathering as a family without the commercialism and buying presents of Christmas.
Here is the group of us at the seminar.... It is only the Western World that calls it the Chinese New Year - it is actually Cheun Jit (Spring Festival) and is the first 15 days of the lunar new year. The legend goes that a sea monster, Nian, would leave the sea and enter a village on New Year's Eve to eat the villagers. The villagers quickly learned to leave the village that night. One year, an old man passed through town, and dispute warnings to leave with them, he stayed to fight off Nian. When the villagers returned the next day, the old man was fine and had scared away Nian with red and gold couplets hung on each side of the door way, and by lighting firecrackers when Nian arrived, hence scaring him off. Since then, the Chinese have been doing these traditions, plus more, to scare away the evil spirits as the new year starts.
It all starts five days prior to the new year, with the opening of New Year Fairs. Everyone must visit, and even up to midnight if they had not gotten there before. I visited on a Friday around noon, and was very glad (because of the crowds) not to have gone that evening or Saturday.
As you can see, so many of the things for sale are about wealth...
There are also many flowers for sale, and once again you buy the flowers for your desires for the new year - peach blossoms if you want a new relationship this year (I didn't buy that one Jeff was relieved to learn), water narcissus for health and orchids for good fortune. Everywhere we saw little tangerine trees that were supposed to bring good fortune also. (in the picture)
In Hong Kong they have outlawed firecrackers, so people hang stings of fake firecrackers on the outside of their doors to keep the evil spirits away. Here is a picture of what they look like. Before mid-night on New Year's Eve everyone cleans their house to sweep away all the evil spirit from the past year, and that, coupled with the firecrackers, will keep new evil spirits from coming into their homes or places of business. The family gathering happens New Year's Eve, and everyone comes home for it. In Hong Kong people had three days off, but so many people were gone all week that the streets were noticeably not as busy. On the Mainland people get a week or two off, which has lead to the largest mass migration of people - and it happens every year.
Right after midnight, people try to be the first to light their incense in the temples to get the best good fortune in the new year. If your sign is a bad combination for the year, this is really important. So - this is the year of the dragon, which is supposed to be good for markets and is powerful, but will be unlucky for you if you are a dog or a dragon. People will make numerous trips to the temple to try and change their luck.
The second day of the New Year is the night for fireworks, as Hong Kong goes all out for these! 25 minutes! Enjoy just the last few minutes:
We were fortunate enough to go to dinner with our friends for the fireworks, so had a lovely evening...well, other than the cold! We ate outside, under heaters and wore warm clothes. Okay, 6-10 degrees isn't cold, however nothing is insulated or heated, so we got cold! (flashbacks to Oruro.....brrrrrr) The God of Fortune was there handing out little money candies, and it is good luck to touch him. I am with my friend Caroline, and new friends from Spain, Rita and her girls Sarah and Marie. The men were obediently taking the pictures.
During the first three days of the New Year there are things you cannot do - sweep the floor (I took great advantage of that!) or you may sweep away the good spirits that have arrived. You also cannot wash or cut your hair for the same reason (we did wash our hair), you cannot buy new shoes because when you sit to try on the shoes your sigh sounds like "hai" which encourages the evil spirits. The list goes on and on.
The decorations are spectacular, both the big and the small.....
One of the most confusing traditions for us westerners is the giving of Lai See packages.
These are traditionally red packets and hold money that you want to give someone for the new year. It is very 'clear' who to give them to...well, clear to those who have been here for many many years....an adult who is unmarried, people who regularly help you out (like all the door people and security at our building) a boss give to employees, who get double if they are single and more. We handed out our Lai See in these packages:
It is the word "fok" which means luck. The symbols are - on the left, the symbol for clothes, and on the right there are three symbols - the symbol for one is on the top, then mouth, then rice field...basically meaning may you have enough clothes and food this year. You start giving these out the first day of the New Year, and boy, were the staff at our building around that day! I was happy that all my favorites were there to give the Lai See to, since they are very friendly and put up with my practicing my Cantonese.
As you wander the streets, there are lion dances happening, which also is about scaring away evil spirits. Dragon dances are to bring good weather, for the crops, but lion dances are around at the beginning of the new year to scare away the evil spirits. These performers were actually brought into the courtyard of our building. Enjoy - I am always amazed by what these athletes can do!
Just to give you perspective, this is how high up the yellow lion was!
It has all been great fun, and there is much more to share, but I think that is probably enough for you to sift through. We have many more pictures if you want to see them sometime.
What did have me pause and reflect on was the focus on luck, and changing your bad luck. They take this very seriously, as the baby boom of the year of the dragon will reflect. What do you think about this luck - can you change it, does it exist at all? Oh, there are times we feel unlucky...drop coffee on our clothes, trip on a sidewalk, miss an appointment because of traffic...but is this really luck? Are there things you do to try and change your luck? A routine you go through? Hmmmm...just got me thinking, that's all
We are ready for what happens next in Hong Kong! Thanks for sharing the journey with us,
When an area is open and full of picnic tables, is this sign really necessary??
