China Photos 19

I had to take the MTR to get to some of the walks I had planned for the rest of the day. It's a pretty efficient rail system. I had no trouble with it on my trip.
This is a priority seat for people who have impaled their leg with a big candy cane, people who hump small children, people who are bloated from eating a very large meal and people who drink giant glasses of champagne.
This was an ad on the train. Many years ago I watched a movie called CSA: Confederate States of America. The idea, an alternative history of America where the South won the Civil War, was promising but was ultimately disappointingly executed. In the movie, which was set as a history documentary on a Confederate television network, they included commercials for what you are supposed to think are fictional products. However, at the end of the movie they show that most of them were actual products. One of them was Darkie Toothpaste. The company was established in China in the 1930's. When Colgate-Palmolive bought the company in 1990, the name was changed to Darlie because Darkie is a bit of a racial slur. The logo was also changed from a stereotypical old black man of the early 20th century to this guy who looks kind of like Duke Ellington. The odd thing is, the Chinese name for it still translates into English as "Black Person Toothpaste".
The first stop on this walk was the quite lovely Nan Lian Garden in the Diamond Hill area of Kowloon.
After walking around Hong Kong as much as I did I can really appreciate how much people really need urban parks like this as sanctuary in a busy urban landscape.
In the garden the are several buildings like this with exhibits in them like wood carvings and rocks.
The Pavilion of Absolute Perfection. It does look pretty darn perfect.
The entrance into the Chi Lin Nunnery.
The nunnery was founded in 1934 but rebuilt in the 1990's.
A handful of people praying at a small shrine.
After visiting the garden and nunnery I needed something to eat. Pizza-flavored chips and grapefruit soda, the lunch of champions!
Geez, another temple? Yeah, I know but there are so many of them and it's not like we have a lot of these back home. Anyway, this is the Hau Wong Temple.
Nice carving work.
I saw these in some of the other temples I visited. I have no idea what they are.
No, this Buddha is not a Nazi. The swastika symbol is sacred in Buddhism. Besides, the Nazi swastika goes the other way around. I hate Nazis.
Phys Ed class at a school across the street.
There are a lot of these recycle collection bins across Hong Kong. You will notice that there are blue stickers with slashes put on the sign.
Here's what the sign says without the sticker. Enough said.
Next stop is the Kowloon Walled City Park. It is located on the site of the the old Kowloon Walled City. By a quirk of history it remained outside of British jurisdiction after Hong Kong became a colony. For that reason it became a notorious place of crime and debauchery. It was demolished in 1994.
There was an exhibit with photos and films featuring interviews with former residents. One man described how when one building would decay to the point of falling over it would end up leaning against another building in the densely-constructed area. Funny though, this picture of the walled city doesn't look too much different than some buildings I saw in places on the trip.
The Yamen is the only historic building that remains in the Walled City.
It was built in 1847 to house offices of the Commodore of the Dapeng Brigade and the Kowloon Assistant Military Inspectorate.
During demolition of the slums, the Antiques and Monuments Office conducted archaeological investigations to confirm whether any remnants of the original Walled City still survived. One that did was this foundation of the original South Gate. The more important discovery was these two stone plaques bearing the characters "Kowloon Walled City" and "South Gate" which were mounted on the original South Gate.
The Mountain View Pavilion, a nice place to sit and relax.
The Garden of the Chinese Zodiac. This is the year of the goat, which I am glad Al Stewart did not use.
Again, much needed green space in the city.
Their pigeons look better than ours. They are a nice brown color as opposed to our gray ones.
Take a last look. We're leaving the park now.
South of the park is something known as the Kowloon City food district. This is a man chopping an animal to pieces.
The future of these chickens is not bright.
Perhaps you are a vegetarian. Well then browse through the piles of colorful fruits.

TO LUNG YEUK TAU