Tags
Avenue of Stars, Bruce Lee, Chengdu, china, Crazy Indian Man, hong kong, Pub
In the morning I bade my new wife farewell as she headed off back to her home town and I flew from Chengdu for a day in Hong Kong before flying on to Bangkok. Despite being a little down in the dumps about our abandoned honeymoon proper, I really wanted to get out and see Hong Kong.
However in that typical disorganized manner I had no guide book and only a few hours to see things. So I didn’t make it to the Buddha (in fact, I’ve never made it – at least to date), or Disney or any of the other big tourist draws.
After checking in at an anonymous five star hotel, whose name I don’t remember. I just decided to wander about for the day. What an excellent decision that was, I wandered down the waterfront near Tsim Tsa Tsui looking out at all the ships and the buildings rising high on the shore behind them. It was (and nearly always is) hot and humid, but though this normally makes me tired and irritable getting married had put a spring in my step and I didn’t mind at all.
I stopped for my usual morning coffee (slightly delayed as I landed at lunchtime) at the entrance to the Avenue of Stars and sipped from my take away cup in the only smoking area for a mile or so. Hong Kong unlike China is fanatically anti-smoking and you can be fined up 1,500 HKD (about 120 GB – $180 USD) even for smoking outdoors, so don’t unless you can find one of the little leper colonies set up for people like me.
Then it was onto the Avenue of Stars itself, which is kind of like that street in Hollywood where stars leave their hand prints and feet prints in the pavement. However all the stars enshrined here are from Hong Kong cinema and I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t recognize a single one. This didn’t stop me from enjoying the day, the walk, the water and the enormous statue of Bruce Lee, who was China’s first really big international star and thus much loved and recognized even by tourists like me.
It’s a fabulous walk, the big hotel (the Intercontinental if memory serves) dominates the skyline on the side away from the water, and it is beautifully done with ornate water features. And as I walked past it wistfully wishing my wife was there to share it with me, I came across the one and only problem I’ve ever had in Hong Kong.
An Indian man (rather stereotypically he was an older gentleman with a turban) approached me and offered me the chance to have sex with two girls at once for a small financial consideration. I politely declined, and he got angry, really, really angry. Screaming and shouting and chasing me down the avenue of stars and distracting me so much that I couldn’t even read the names of actors I didn’t know anymore.
Usually that area is packed with people but as is typical of my luck there was no-one else around and I actually began to fear for my safety a little. (I don’t like getting into punch ups in other countries; I’m told that foreign prisons cannot be considered desirable vacation spots). Fortunately as I turned the corner, as if by magic, a policeman came into view and my troublesome follower quickly remembered he had other white men’s days to ruin and disappeared off back the way he came.
Despite being a little shaken nothing was going to spoil my day, and it didn’t. When I’d walked the entire length of the avenue and come out by the Star Ferry Terminal, and the collection of museums opposite I was still a happy chappy. And a thirsty one, so it was time to call an end to my sightseeing, and my visit to China by finding a pub down by the water and watching the world go by, smoking to my heart’s content in one of the outdoor areas. And so I did.
thirdeyemom said:
I would love to go to Hong Kong and bet I would enjoy it.
shardsofchina said:
I think everybody enjoys a trip to Hong Kong, it’s a sanitised version of China with loads of English speakers. It’s also quite beautiful with plenty to see and do. So keep it on your list, it’s very much a nice time. 🙂
Abby said:
So happy you escaped the deranged pimp just in time 😉
I’m envious of your time in Hong Kong though!! It looks beautiful.
shardsofchina said:
I’m glad I escaped him too – it really was most bizarre, normally a polite “no thankyou” is enough around the world, he must have been desperate for a commission that day. Hong Kong is lovely though. Thanks for stopping to comment. 🙂
mimo khair said:
very interesting blog! Thanks for visiting my site! I look forward to following you!
shardsofchina said:
Thanks for popping in – your photos are excellent. 🙂
yannahthewanderer said:
Wow, you have a nice blog here! Anyway, this post made me remember a terrifying experience… also in HK. I went to Avenue of Stars alone in one of my visits in Hong Kong.. I was walking and fixing my camera, when suddenly an Indian man looked at me and trying to make me look at him too… then suddenly he is following me, which I noticed and then I walked faster and he did too.. then I ran! and he followed woahh! Luckily, there are a group of Filipinos, I went to them and asked for help! Anyway, when he saw me talking with some Filipinos he ran off! It is good that Avenue of Stars always has always a lot of people!
shardsofchina said:
Hi, thank you for dropping in to my blog. 🙂
I didn’t realise that being harassed by random Indian chaps was so common on the Avenue of Stars but I am glad the like me you came out of the experience unscarred. 🙂
But to give readers hope – that area is still lovely, and I’ve walked up and down that part of Hong Kong dozens of times now and remained unmolested after the first experience – which may be a vaccination effect or it may be that the HK authorities gently escorted the scary people on to other places.
Aaron said:
My wife and I were just in Hong Kong a few weeks ago as phase one of a big trip to China; we had a great time and I loved taking pictures of the harbor and the impressive skyline. Really enjoyed it.
shardsofchina said:
Hong Kong is a lovely place, and I’m glad you enjoyed and thank you for taking the time out to comment here. 🙂
crazygoangirl said:
Read this post and then of course had to read about the brief honeymoon and then the marriage. Enjoyed your writing style and had a smile all the while 🙂 Except for the HK incident, which just angered and saddened me.
shardsofchina said:
Thanks very much – thankfully the Hong Kong incident was atypical and normally Hong Kong’s a great place. 🙂