I had a great time on Sunday doing a cultural tour of Wan Chai done by the HK Secret Tour (www.secrettourhk.com) . The Tour started at Pacific Place, near Admiralty and then winded through the streets of Wan Chai in Central Hong Kong.
I learned about a tree on top of the Pacific Place Mall where the developers had to pay $3 million Canadian Dollars to try and preserve the tree in order to get the local support to build the mall itself. It is said to be the most expensive tree preservation in the world.
We then walked along the Queensway which at one time was the edge of the bay but there have been many landfill operations to extend the island. There are lots of old brightly coloured houses that have a fading roof in the shape of a half a pyramid. They are coloured that way because the owners wanted them to stand out so they can attract more tenants. They are shaped that way to allow more sunlight on to the street.
We went to the Old Wan Chai Market where they have replaced a lot of it with a new market, which wasn’t that busy and the outside local market which was packed. It is cheaper in the outside market while it is not as clean and starial. Also people have been shopping with the same people over and over
The tour ended at the blue house in Wan Chai. The government is trying to restore it back to its original use. There are people who still live in the building. The whole area is being transformed into a modern place and a lot of the old buildings are being ripped down and turned into huge condos. It is a bit sad to see the area be more sanitised of what was once there.
