HK Green Route

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Fri 28 Dec 2018 23:37
Big Bus Hop On Hop OffGreen
Route, Hong Kong
 
 
 
Green Route
 
We left the Red Route bus at the start point – Star Ferry Terminal and after waiting ten minutes got on the next bus for The Green Route
. Plus the inset map (bottom right corner) – far left Aberdeen (sampan ride and Jumbo Floating Restaurant), middle Repulse Bay and right Stanley, a stop for those who fancy
an indoor market.
 
 
IMG_0140  IMG_0141
 
Sitting at the top front of the bus Bear was very taken with this black Tesla, because of the gull wings.
 
 
IMG_0143
 
We left the Ferry bus stop and no sooner than we had pulled into traffic, we saw a really odd shaped building.........
 
 
IMG_0145  IMG_0071 
 
......the Prince of Wales Building opened in 1979 as the head office of the British Army until Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese. This twenty-eight storey building now has the pithy title and officially called The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building fortunately shortened to PLA Forces HK Building. No wonder locals still use Prince of Wales or more commonly Upside-down Gin Bottle because it resembles an upturned Gordon’s Gin Bottle. The crucifix that was on the outside wall was taken down and now the building is full of crack shots patrolling and keeping a lookout sporting machine guns and those stationed here, seen as a plum posting - never allowed to leave the building.......
The IFC (International Finance Centre) was built in 2003 on reclaimed land and at that time was the tallest building in Hong Kong. The fifty-fifth floor is were the banking chaps look after the Hong Kong dollar against any mishaps in value. The IFC was designed by Cesar Pelli, born in 1926, this Argentinian American is still going strong aged ninety-two. We have visited two of his landmark buildings – the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the World Finance Centre in New York City. 
 
 
IMG_0036  Koala
 
The Bank of China building had the feng-shui devotees panties all in a bunch because of all the sharp edges and strong angles. Designed by I M Pei, who is still going strong at one hundred and one (clearly something to do with architects and longevity ???) was married for over seventy years until his wife, Eileen died in 2014, Together they had three sons and a daughter. The BCB was completed in 1990, I M Pei’s dad was the first manager of the Bank of China during the Nationalist era. I M Pei has an incredible list of designs all over the world, just to name one we have visited was the Louvre in Paris, famous or infamous for the glass pyramid that had Parisians at the time snarling at the designer in the street.
The Lippo Centre – so want to say liposuction at this point – is actually two towers at forty-four and forty-eight storeys – I could only fit one in as we shot past. The distinct ‘C’ shapes had the feng shui followers knickers strangling them but eventually the building was given the all clear. However, since it went up in 1988 its fortunes have been very mixed. The one point three million square feet that has seen some huge corporate failures is now in the hands of an Indonesian company. Most locals now fondly refer to the buildings as The Koala Tree or simply Koala as they thinks it looks just as the nickname implies. We rather liked it.
 
 
IMG_0094 - Copy  IMG_0109
 
In the centre of town stands The Pawn, a
four-storey iconic landmark and historical site dating back to 1888. Acquired by the Urban Renewal Authority is listed as a local heritage conservation and was leased to tenants after its restoration, currently a high-class restaurant. The name is a clue to the type of business that originally ran here, its original tenant came from a famous family who had been in the pawn business for over a hundred years. Woo Cheong Pawn Shop is
now a high-class restaurant but now simply called The Pawn. St John’s Cathedral was built in 1847 held its first Sunday Mass in 1849 and our audio guide told us it is the oldest Anglican Church in the Far East.
 
 
IMG_0152
 

The Happy Valley or Hong Kong Cemetery has seventy-nine WWI Commonwealth burials scattered through the cemetery and sixty-two from WWII cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Christian families gather to be with their relatives on All Souls Day and party during this annual clean up.

William Brodie was the oldest known Western burial in Hong Kong. He died on the 17th June 1841, aged fifty-six of malaria. He was the commander of the troopship HMS Rattlesnake, (half the crew was stricken down with what was believed to be malaria). It appears he was initially buried in Happy Valley – in those days a mosquito ridden swamp area and then relocated to Whan Chi Burial Ground. William was moved back to Happy Valley along with many others when Whan Chi was developed for housing.

 
 
IMG_0153  IMG_0155
 
In 1982 the Aberdeen Tunnel opened. We disappeared underground through the tunnel that eighty thousand cars use each day, popping out at the other end the scenery changed dramatically.
 
 
IMG_0156
 
IMG_0158
 
We passed the popular attraction called Ocean Park that has a cable car, we guess with amazing views over Repulse Bay.
 
 
IMG_0160  IMG_0162
 
There are mixed tales as to where the name Repulse Bay came from but a very popular one is the fact that many, many pirates sheltered here and began to cause grave safety concerns to merchant shipping coming and going so in 1841 the British Navy repulsed the pirates. The road we followed runs just back from the beach and the sandy beach is only peeped through the trees.
 
 
IMG_0163
 
The “Building with the Hole” is The Repulse Bay, a private residential building that from 1920 to 1982 was the colonial-style Repulse Bay Hotel. The building comprises of four towers (the tallest being thirty-seven floors) now houses apartments ranging in size from ninety-one to five hundred and forty-two square metres. Bearing in mind that each square foot in this area can fetch upwards of fifty thousand Hong Kong Dollars, the biggest pad could fetch just shy of three hundred million pounds........ Why has it got that big hole. The feng shui bods know that when a dragon wants to come down the mountain at the back he can take a short cut through the hole to go paddle in the sea. Oh, OK then, just what you expect really........
 
 
IMG_0165
 
Had we have not known the price of real estate here we may have been surprised to come across a Ferrari shop.
 
 
IMG_0175  IMG_0174
 
We passed the entrance to the Cyberport, a huge area in Stanley and went by the waterfront watching the many sampans (we intend to come over tomorrow and take a ride as part of our bus ticket) spuddle about in the harbour. The Chinese name for Stanley means Red Pillar or Bandits Post, another popular hang out for pirates back in the day. The British made Stanley their temporary administrative centre and the British troops side by side with the Canadians made a last stand during The Battle of Hong Kong. The survivors surrendered to the Japanese Forces in December 1941.
 
 
IMG_0177
 
The reputable Queen Mary Hospital was opened on the 13th of April 1937 by the then Governor Andrew Caldecott and today this teaching hospital has one thousand seven hundred and six beds.
 
 
IMG_0179
 

Back through the tunnel. Amusing Planet wrote five years ago: The private cemetery on Pok Fu Lam on the western side of Hong Kong Island is an amazing sight. Built into the mountainside in terraced steps and interconnected with staircases, the cemetery resembles a giant outdoor amphitheatre. The Pok Fu Lam Cemetery, also known as the Chinese Christian Cemetery, was built in 1882 on the hills in the Pok Fu Lam neighbourhood of Hong Kong, sandwiched between Pok Fu Lam Road at the top and Victoria Road near the bottom. The cemetery was built from the higher contours and as the cemetery grew, it was expanded downwards towards Victoria Road. Today, a part of the cemetery lies beyond Victoria Road.

 

 

IMG_0181
 
Everyone has a favourite picture and mime is an odd one, a road, but what a road, it runs along at about eight storeys high and drops down after the left turn into a tight sweep that spirals to ground level.
 
 
IMG_0189  IMG_0094  IMG_0190
 

We were so cold by the time we left the bus that we went at speed to the end of the Pier, passed a Chinaman with a Red Indian headdress playing Andean pipe music and hurried on to a cafe for a cappucinno and a piece of cake. Fortified we joined the queue at six for the night tour which begins this side and ends up on the other.

 
 
 
 
ALL IN ALL A REALLY ENJOYABLE – IF COLD – TOUR
                     VERY INTERESTING