Of Smoke, Paper and Wood.

Happy New Year, and New Decade! These photos are from the inside of a Chinese temple along the Lung Yeuk Tai Heritage Trail in Fanling, and then an Ancestral Hall on the Ping Shan Heritage Trail in Tai Po, Hong Kong.

The coils are incense, burning slowly. Incense is also available in the more familiar stick form, placed in incense holders by worshipers. I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of incense, and so far I've gathered that the way to connect between the earthly life and the other life (of ghosts, ancestors, gods, deities) is through burning. I think the sticks are offerings, along with fruit and three cups of tea.
Ancestral worship is probably one of the more foreign (to us western reared people) aspects of Chinese religion. Ancestors are held in great reverence, and should your clan be a wealthy one, you can build a large Ancestral Hall. In it are two large courtyards, one in front of the other. At the very back of the ancestral hall, there is a wall featuring multitudes of these rectangular plaques, topped with folded gold paper triangles. Each of the plaques, I think, represents one ancestor whose generation number is inscribed on the wood. There's obviously still plenty that I don't know about what's going on here.

Displays Next To Which Hong Kong People Like To Stand And Have Their Photo Taken


There are certain things that Hong Kong people do. One thing is To Queue Up. Hong Kong people are exceptionally good at getting in an orderly line. When McDonalds has a new toy accompanying a meal, everyone - kids, business men and women, grandfolk, will line up efficiently for their collectible rubber statuette of say, Mickey in a traditional Chinese emperor outfit. When a new stamp is issued, people will line up. Manga convention. Members only designer boutique sale. Public bathrooms. If you see anyone cutting in line, or pushing and shoving, most likely they are from non-Hong Kong China. Is that terribly un-PC to say so? It's usually true. The rest of China was not exposed to the British culture of queuing up.

Another activity of which HK people find irresistible is to have one's photo taken next to displays. EVERY mall in HK (or so it seems) puts up seasonal displays. I'm not sure which came first - the displays (which are very photo friendly), or the snap-happy habits. It is probably safe to say that they Co-Evolved. The displays at large malls can be very elaborate, a multi-sensory immersion into a mini theme park. Characters may be made up, such as these deer, or well known such as Snoopy (pronounced See-Noo-Pee) and Shaun the Sheep. Here, my friends demonstrate how to pose with a display. If one is feeling particularly HongKongy, one will of course do the victory sign.

I'm pretty sure Bjork did not expect her Swan dress to be immortalized in fiberglass, placed under one of the largest Christmas trees in Hong Kong.

A New Friend, and More Things Chinese

This little guy has since been scrubbed clean. His rubber piglet skin was perhaps once pink (under the armpits, he is a little pink) but now is olive green. I found him in an abandoned lot in front of a cluster of old houses. The houses, probably a few hundred years old, were crumbling, flooded with polluted water and were supported by metal beams, yet the walls and roofs still showed the original artwork and caligraphy that must've at one point been someone's pride and joy. The area was claimed by weeds and littered with long forgotten work boots, flip flops (why so many shoes?) plastic water bottles, gloves. No really Gross trash, otherwise I wouldn't have been picking around there. I came across this rubber piglet, and moved it to a patch of flowering weeds for a photo. But it was too cute to leave behind.

In case you are ever on Jeopardy and a category named National Flowers comes up, and when you "Make It A True Daily Double, Alex" and the clue reads "HONG KONG", you can answer confidently: What is Bauhinia and be the runaway winner. A stylized version is featured on the Hong Kong flag, and the $5 coin. Perhaps other coins too, but they're smaller in diameter so I've not paid as much attention.
Weeds and TV antennae; both rooftop dwellers. One of my funner compositions today. I do like making artistic images out of things of little importance; stuff most often not given a second glance, or even a first glance. I like to give recognition to the mundane.

You can click on the photo to see the ceramic figures in a larger picture. Here we have a selection of worshiped beings placed on a red table in front of a temple. The combination of beings depends on the needs of the village (though most villages will want for things such as wealth and long life).
The distinctive long-bearded, massive-foreheaded fellow brandishing a peach is the Longevity guy. Not a deity or god, I'm told, but worshiped nevertheless as a revered legendary character (there are some repeat statues; you'll note 2 peach toting guys). Next over, with the beard and robes, is the God of Fortune and Money. In the middle, a very benevolent Goddess for General Purpose Good Things, like health. And over on the far right, deitified Han dynasty war generals, the more famous one being Kwan Wan Cheong, known for Integrity, Fierce Loyalty and Trust. Apparently, these generals are frequently found in Hong Kong police stations.
By now you're wondering, as I am wondering, What Religion is going on here? Fortunately I have a Chinese Anthropologist in the family. Chinese religion is different from organized world religions. It has folk roots. There is no scripture or book or anything to be studied, such as the Koran or Bible. There aren't any specific rules to be followed (though, Chinese people are generally influenced by ideas in Buddhism and Confuscianism; the latter of which is not a religion but does have writings, read by no-one but scholars.) Asking X God or Deity for something is rather a habit, integrated into life. It's not taught; there are no preachy leaders. If someone you know is sick, just head over to the temple, light some incense, place fruit on a plate and silently ask Benevolent Goddess for some help. This is not to say that the religion is simple; it has a large share of annual, elaborate celebrations, customs and traditions. I am only skimming the surface at this point.

A short lesson on some things Chinese


Instead of the usual highrise buildings, urban architechture, holiday lights, bustling traffic, throngs of people and trendy store fronts that I've photographed so often, I sought out a different side of Hong Kong. There are some parts that are not glass and concrete, but one has to go a bit out of the way to get to these remanents of old Hong Kong. They are mostly in the New Territories, the chunk of northern HK land that is attached to China.

Kat Hing Wai (also known as Kam Tin Walled Village) is a residential area that encompasses some old village remains from 300 years ago. Not THAT old, compared to, say, ruins in Italy, But still a refreshing change in photographic subject. I like old buildings, with peeling paint, rusting hinges, dilapidated roofs. These old buildings were intermingled with modern homes, 2-3 storey houses, so it takes some exploration through narrow alleys to find the old houses. In some cases, people still live in them; others were boarded up, windows painted over.
The people who live here are Hakka, which is a disctinct group of Chinese people, with their own language (apparently other Chinese can't understand it at all), food and customs. An interesting tradition: women do the manual labor and the men stay at home to take care of domestic matters, such as child rearing (this no longer applies to modern families). I'd first heard of Hakka when as a kid, I observed women working the few rice paddies in HK back in the 80s. They wore distinctive hats - wide brimmed straw hats with a curtain of gauzey black fabric encircling the brim edge (you can make it out on the top photo; the traditional hat with jeans and wind breaker). "Those are Hakka women" someone would offhandly mention. Of course, the modern Hakka woman looks like any other Hong Kong career woman, with jobs in commerce instead of the rice paddy.
The peeling paper on the red door are old prints of Chinese door guardians. In temples, they might be actual larger than life size statues, 2 burly armored Chinese dudes with weapons and Angry Eyes. They're also known as "Kum Kong", as in "Gold Sturdiness". Sound familiar? Westerners borrowed the words to name a certain Large Ape.
And this is a T-shaped key-hole. I really enjoy travel photography, not just for the new subject matter, but because the experience of travel is so quick and there is so much new information, I don't have time to investigate things further at the time. Photos allow further reflection and research at a later date, a delayed enhancement of the experience.

Kadoorie Farm Fun


I'd not been to Kadoorie Farm since I was a wee child, at which point I was too thrilled to be on a field trip to really pay attention to what KF was all about.

KF was established in 1951 by the wealthy Kadoorie brothers, British blokes, I gather. Post WWII, Hong Kong was overwhelmed with refugees, and the Kadoories hoped to give agricultural aid in the form of farm education and provision of livestock/ fertiliser/ tools etc to start new farms so that HK could be self sufficient. HK these days is way past farming for itself and imports food, so KF goals have since been changed to be a conservation and education center. Large areas of terraced slopes are dedicated to organic farming, and there are wildlife rehab centers as well as all sorts of gardens. Along the meandering tree shaded trails, it's easy to forget you're in Hong Kong. At the farm store, I purchased some organic dried KF grown chrysanthemum flowers for tea-making. They had home grown eggs and veggies for sale too.

The Barking Deer and Wild Boar are some of the lucky rescued wildlife that live at KF.

I contributed a small patch to this community tapestry. Anyone who comes along is welcome (after a brief tutorial) to add a rew rows. Incorporated are branches, dried grasses and scraps of fabric.

If you are inspired to visit KF, Fly to Hong Kong, take the train (previously KCR, now MTR) to Tai Po Market or Tai Wo in the New Territories, and hop on Double Decker Bus 64K towards Yuen Long. Ride about 20 minutes; the KF bus stop is at the crest of a steep hill.





Things Around Home

I made a conscious decision not to bring my camera along on my first day foray into the city on this visit to Hong Kong. It is very distracting having a camera - I decided that I would take everything in without documenting it. Next week I will make specific phototrips, and I will give myself little projects, e.g. storefronts, holiday decor, signage, produce. While on one hand having a camera is distracting, on the other, I've photographed Hong Kong so much that nothing is very novel and thus themes will help me focus my photo attention.

I photographed Things Around my Hong Kong home today. My Mom's orchids came to mind first; a great opportunity to demonstrate "bokeh", or the fuzzing out of background (or foreground) by having limited focal range. The thing with Bokeh is that what one chooses to be in focus is an important element of the composition. If I'd chosen the bottom left flower to be in focus, the photo would be strangely weighted. Even though many of the flowers are just blobs of color, they're still incorporated into the composition.
Photographing things around home makes me feel like a student photographer. The typical things to photograph as a student photographer are things that are easy to access and control, because it's scary to go into the unpredictable outside world to photograph (or draw, or paint, etc). If you see a portfolio with too many obviously Home Taken shots, tell that photographer to Get Out More.




























The lower picture is one of a frequently photographed scene; the Hong Kong Island skyline in the evening. During the winter months, many of the office building fronts facing the harbor are decked out with decorative lights, spelling pleasantries such as "Seasons Greetings", or forming images of reindeer, Santa, holly, etc. The lights are then switched around in celebration of Chinese New Year.

The upper photo was not taken by me, alas. My husband intentionally unfocusedly photographed the same scene (though with more zoom, it appears) for an interesting effect.


Bird Garden in Mong Kok is full of photo opportunities. This man saw me wandering with my camera. He struck up camera conversation in Cantonese, and then shared his parrot photos, taken with a little Canon point and shoot. I was pleasantly surprised, as I often assume Hong Kong people want to keep to themselves; it's rare to converse with strangers.

Then he picked up his parrot, Coco, who had been sitting on a branch. Coco quickly attracted a crowd with her/his tricks, which included hanging upside down on command. Parrot man asked me to email him my photos of himself and Coco. Certainly! Bird keeping is a hobby, with mainly male human enthusiasts. Bird owners will take their birds out for walks (the bird sits in the cage, the man walks carying the cage), to socialize, and if well trained, some off leash, uh, or rather, out of cage climbing time.

Bird Garden has come a long way from Bird Street. Less than 10 years ago (approximately), it was a tear-jerking nightmare of illegally imported birds, packed into tiny unhygienic crates, with no moving room. The birds in the middle often didn't have food or water access. Mangy and obviously miserable. Bird vendors cleaned up their stores thousand-fold, as a part of an urban renewal project. Birds now have clean spacious cages. Not necessarily free from the illegal bird trade, but a vast improvement nevertheless.



Kung Tak Lam Shanghainese Vegetarian Restaurant, at 1 Peking Road in TST, Hong Kong. I've not been to many Chinese veggie restaurants, but this one has an impressively extensive menu, and very tasty food.

The bowl of noodles looks standard, but dishes like the above imitation ham wrapped in seaweed with young chinese veggies are opportunities for the cooks to really show off.



















I was a bridesmaid for a traditional Chinese/ modern Western combo wedding yesterday. Far more comfortable wielding a camera than a bouquet, I enjoyed the insider benefits of photographing preparations in the bridal suite and such, to which the hired male photographers didn't have access. Yet, without the pressure of having to properly cover an event. As I lack photo editing programs here in Hong Kong, I'll save people photos for a later post.
The western ceremony was aboard a Chinese junk - a boat with large red sails, often featured in tourist advertising for Hong Kong. The truth is, these boats are only ridden by tourists and hired for special events. The view of both sides of the harbour were excellent, and I kicked myself for not bringing a wide angle lens with me (when traveling, there's only so much I want to carry). Above: the view from the top deck of the junk. There's a ferry crossing our path. I became very conscious of passing boats, as our boat bobbed in their wake - try standing on heels on a sloping, bobbing surface in the wind while holding a bouquet or camera & champagne glass. Anyways, If I had photoshop, I'd bring brighten and warm the pic, bring out the reds. And straighten the horizon.

It was my first experience witnessing a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony. Ideally, the bride wears close toed non-strappy gold shoes, but the wedding planner and bride compromised on red shoes. When perusing a western female wedding photographer's portfolio, there will inevitably be photos of the wedding accessories. I learned why: it's fun! And shoes, dresses and jewelry are such easy subjects; they don't move, I can pose them, I don't have to talk to them. OK, all that and they're pretty and important to most brides.