Once sparsely dotted with small fishing and farming villages, Hong Kong is now one of the world’s largest financial centers. Walking on the crowded sidewalks among the skyscrapers, one feels particularly insignificant and anonymous. With a population of nearly 7.5 million, Hong Kong has the fourth highest population density globally. It also has an interesting history. Once a British colony, it was lost by China following the First Opium War. Hong Kong was also occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945, and in 1997, it was handed back to China.
1. Witness Traditional Livelihoods at Aberdeen Fishing Village
The Aberdeen Fishing Village, also known as the Aberdeen Floating Village, is located in Hong Kong’s Southern District. The port at Aberdeen grew in importance between the 14th and 17th centuries, a time when Hong Kong was a small settlement. During those years, sandalwood was transported by boat from nearby Lantau Island and Sha Tin. From the 19th century onwards, it was one of Hong Kong’s most important fishing ports.
Nowadays, Aberdeen Fishing Village is the only fishing port left in the Southern District, with around 1/3 of Hong Kong’s fish caught there. Roughly 6,000 people live in the village, most of whom are fishermen. Historically, most of the village’s residents lived on houseboats, though this is much less common today. Instead, most people use their boats for fishing during the day and then return to their apartments at night, with mainly the older generation remaining permanently on their boats.
Those who continue to live on their boats are primarily from the Tanka ethnic group, who came to Hong Kong between the 7th and 9th centuries. The Tanka are known for living on the sea and are sometimes referred to as “boat people.” They were often outcasts from mainstream society, though today most have assimilated into Han Chinese culture.
Today, the village has a much smaller population than in the past. Many left the village during the 1990s and 2000s as more competitive fisheries in nearby areas made them less competitive. Though the Aberdeen Fishing Village looks like a traditional fishing village, the area is now semi-commercial. Still, some residents rely on their boats as part of their daily lives and participate in traditional livelihoods, such as fishing and processing fish.
Visitors to the village can explore, try freshly caught seafood, and visit the Hung Shing Temple, which dates back to the 1700s. The village also hosts a Dragon Boat race each year during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
2. A View That Can’t Be Beat: Victoria Peak
Victoria Peak, known locally as “the Peak,” is a 1,811-foot hill on Hong Kong Island. It is the tallest hill on Hong Kong Island, though only the 26th tallest in all of Hong Kong. From the 19th century, European residents of Hong Kong, a British colony at that time, flocked to the area due to its views and cooler climate. People built homes and traveled to and from their residences by sedan chairs, which were carried up and down the Peak’s steep hills.
The difficulty of the terrain kept development at bay until a funicular tram opened in 1888. From this time onward, demand for homes on the Peak grew. Between 1904 and 1947, The Peak Reservation Ordinance stipulated that the Peak was an exclusive area for the residences of non-Chinese citizens only, and the use of the tram was reserved for non-Chinese during busy times. In the 1920s, Robert Hotung was the first Chinese person to live on the Peak. This was considered acceptable because Hotung was mixed-race.
Nowadays, the Peak still features some of Hong Kong’s (and the world’s) most expensive real estate. There are amenities for residents, including schools, hospitals, and malls. Still, the mountain is mostly green and features historic nature trails. You can reach the top using the Peak Tram, which takes you from Hong Kong’s Central District directly to the Peak Tower. The Peak Tower is a complex at the top, which has a rooftop viewing deck.
The Peak welcomes around 7 million visitors per year, who visit to enjoy the views of Victoria Harbor, central Hong Kong, and the surrounding islands. The Peak is also home to wildlife, including many species of birds and butterflies, as well as wild boar and porcupines.
3. Praying to the God of Healing
The Wong Tai Sin Taoist Temple, also known as the Great Immortal Wong Temple, is on the southern side of Lion Rock, in north Kowloon. The temple features traditional Chinese architecture and dates back to the 1920s. It covers an area of 190,000 square feet. The temple is dedicated to Wong Tai Sin, also known as the Great Immortal Wong, a deity that is thought to possess healing powers. Wong Tai Sin was essentially unknown in Hong Kong in the early 20th century.
In 1915, a man named Leung Yan-am moved to Hong Kong’s Wan Chai area from Guangzhou. He created an altar to Wong Tai Sin in his apartment, which he later moved to an herbal medicine shop that he opened in 1916. Visitors began going to the altar to ask advice about their ailments and to pray. In time, Wong Tai Sin became more well-known which led to the construction of a temple to Wong Tai Sin.
During World War II, many Chinese refugees escaped to Hong Kong and settled in the area around the temple, which became a place of worship for them.
The temple is famous for answering prayers using kau chim, or Chinese fortune sticks. Visitors to the temple stand in front of an altar, ask a question, and then interpret an answer using the sticks, which are inscribed with numbers. There are usually 100 sticks, which look similar to incense sticks and are kept in a bamboo cylinder. After the question is asked, the person shakes the cylinder while tipping it downward. When a stick falls to the floor, the number is read, which corresponds to a written oracle.
The temple is listed as a Grade I historic building. It is the first Taoist temple with permission from the Hong Kong government to issue marriage certificates and host Taoist weddings. The temple is a very popular tourist attraction and features numerous halls, pavilions, fortune-telling stalls, and a collection of Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian literature. It is particularly busy during the Chinese New Year when worshipers go to light incense, make offerings, and pray.
4. A Tribute to the Gods of Literature and War
Though Hong Kong has more than one Man Mo Temple, the largest and most famous Man Mo Temple is on Hollywood Road in the Sheung Wan area. The temples are a tribute to the God of Literature (Man) and the God of War (Mo). During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Man Mo temples were visited by students and scholars hoping for good results in their civil examinations.
Built sometime between 1847 and 1862, the Man Mo temple at Sheung Wan was declared a protected historical site in 1994. The temple features green tiled rooftops, is laid out in a courtyard style, and has a brass bell that dates back to 1847. It has undergone multiple renovations, but its traditional structure, carvings, figures, and murals remain.
Visitors today can find the temple amid the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong’s financial district. It is especially known for the giant incense coils that hang from the ceiling throughout the temple. It is the site for several ceremonies, including the Man Cheong Festival (which occurs on the God of Literature’s birthday), and for the Autumn Sacrificial Rites.
5. A Lawless Enclave Turned City Park
Kowloon Walled City, though no longer in existence, is still a subject of interest to many. The city was an enclave in British Hong Kong and the most densely populated place on earth. Roughly 35,000 people lived in 300 buildings on around seven acres of land, the equivalent of 3.2 million people per square mile. What made the city famous, however, was that it was lawless, known at the time as the “City of Darkness.”
The site was originally developed as a Song Dynasty (960-1279) military outpost, though not much happened at the site in the ensuing centuries. When China’s final dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, ended in 1912, the walled city was officially left to the British. However, the new rulers largely left the walled city and its residents to their own devices. The area’s population climbed as refugees fled the Chinese Civil War and lived in the walled city as squatters.
The British government attempted to drive away the squatters in 1948 but failed, and from that time onward left the city’s residents alone. By the late 1980s, the population was around 35,000 people. There was no semblance of law and order, and the city was a hotbed of gang activity, gambling, prostitution, drug abuse, and trade in banned goods. Police stayed away, and if they did have to enter, they did so in groups.
In the 1960s, developers began to expand the city vertically by building structures on top of existing buildings. There were eight pipes providing water to the entire city and citizens in the lower levels lived in darkness, with no sunlight coming through.
Police efforts eventually decreased the influence of gangs in the city, and most citizens were law-abiding. In 1987, due to the poor sanitary conditions and quality of life in the city, the British colonial government declared their intention to empty and demolish it. Residents were evicted, and demolition took place between March 1993 and April 1994. In December 1995, Kowloon Walled City Park opened in the former area of the city, with some artifacts still displayed, including remnants of the southern gate.
6. A Tsim Sha Tsui Mainstay
Hong Kong’s Clock Tower, formerly known as the Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower, was built between 1913 and 1915 and stands at 167.3 feet. It was initially part of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which terminated in Tsim Sha Tsui district, facing Victoria Harbor. The station was built by the British colonial government in 1913, though there were delays in delivering materials due to the First World War.
The station and Clock Tower were completed in 1915 and opened in 1916. The tower’s bell was cast in Leicestershire, England, by John Taylor & Co., and arrived in Hong Kong in 1920. The clock tower at this time only featured a clock on one side, recycled from the demolished Pedder Street Clock Tower.
In 1920, clocks were installed on the remaining three sides. The clocks began operating in March 1921, and have run ever since, stopping only when Japan occupied Hong Kong during World War II. At that time, the tower’s distinct red bricks were painted grey, but it was nonetheless damaged by shelling. The grey paint was removed in 1945 and the damage was covered in plaster, though it is still detectable today.
By the end of the 1960s, the existing railway could not accommodate the growing number of passengers, and construction began on a new station nearby. The Heritage Society and locals emphatically opposed the government’s plans to demolish the station, but the demolition took place in 1978. As a concession, the clock tower was left intact.
The tower’s bell was removed and displayed from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s but put back inside the tower in 2010. From December 2021, the bell was again used to mark time, ringing each hour between 8 am and midnight.
Today, the Clock Tower is a prominent part of the Kowloon waterfront at Tsim Sha Tsui. The tower sits next to a fountain that is lined with palm trees and is a convenient stop for tourists enjoying views of Hong Kong’s iconic skyline from across Victoria Harbor.
7. Visit Homes on Stilts in Tai O
Tai O is a fishing village located in the western part of Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. The village is located near Stone Age archaeological sites, though it is believed that the village itself has been inhabited for around three centuries.
In 1669, the Hong Kong government lifted restrictions on settlements in coastal areas, and Tai O was one of the five villages that was settled on Lantau Island as a result. Near the village, a fort called Fan Lau was built in 1729 to promote shipping on the Pearl River. However, the illegal smuggling of tobacco, guns, drugs, and people with mainland China proved to be an issue. At the time of the Chinese Civil War, Tai O was established as an entry point for immigrants escaping from China, and many immigrants settled there.
Like the Aberdeen Fishing Village, Tai O is home to many people from the Tanka ethnic group. Here, rather than living on boats, most live in homes that are built on stilts above the tidal flats. These homes, which have stood in Tai O for generations, are connected to one another. Unfortunately, newer generations are increasingly less interested in the fishing lifestyle, and most leave the island after finishing public school. Those that continue to fish are barely able to make ends meet.
Visitors to Tai O can enjoy peaceful surroundings, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the city center. Visitors can explore the village on foot or by boat, with many choosing the latter in hopes of catching a glimpse of Chinese white dolphins. The area also features hiking trails, viewpoints, and restaurants serving traditional dishes and snacks.
Popular local products for sale include salted fish, dried seafood, and shrimp paste. The village is particularly exciting to visit during the Lantern Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival.
