As an international City, We know a lot of spots in HK. Every tourist should be able to tell some: Central, the tram, Tsim Sha Tsui, etc. All these places are full of HK style. But, HK as a place of the fusion of the eastern and western, I would say, Sai Wan, is the only place that full of the mixing of the New and Old, Chinese and British, in my eyes. Today, I will introduce Sai Wan to you, and some place in Sai Wan that worth visiting.
The series will be divided into Part 1 and Part 2. Remember to read part 2 also!
Sai Wan is located at the west of the HK Island, around 30 mins walk from Central. Initial, Sai Wan is only an old district. Since MTR, the train service of HK, was connected to Sai Wan in 2014, the transportation becomes more convenient and many new style restaurants and western shops were opened in Sai Wan. At the same time, the old HK style of Sai Wan attracted many foreigners to move in, resulting in a lot of Bars opening. Gradually, Sai Wan becomes a fantastic place of the new and the old, the Chinese and the Western.
In Sai Wan, you may see many new shops and old shops next to next. Beside a bar can be a Chinese drug store. Beside a new apartment can be an old Chinese tenement. But all these looks so nature without any conflict. I believe, not only HK, over the whole world, we may not see another place fusing these so well. In this articles, I will introduce 4 good places in Sai Wan to visit
1 西營盤港鐵站 Sai Ying Pun MTR Station
The MTR station of Sai Wan is already a place worth to visit! In the lobby of the station, you may see pictures of hop spots and daily life of the residents in Sai Wan. Going through the C exit, there is a picture of the full view of Sai Wan. And the B exit, there are lots of old photos of Sai Wan. Many of them had already become history. The only thing left are the photos letting us to memorize. Keep going, there are the Bas-Relief panels “North, South, East, and West panels in situ” by British Artist, Louise Soloway Chan. From the panels, we can see the daily life of Sai Wan residents.
2 西區社區中心 Western District Community Centre
Going out the B2 exit of the MTR, we go along the Second Street to the Western Street. Then we see a building made of red bricks. It’s the Western District Community Centre, the Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital. The building was built in 1922, with almost history of 100 years. It was also the first Chinese maternity hospital in HK. Later, the hospital moved out and the building became to Western District Community Centre.
In the Western District Community Centre, we may see a long and high spiral stair with the style of Edwardian era. It is the only stair with such kind of style left in HK.
3 香港佐治五世紀念公園 King George V Memorial Park
Leaving the Western District Community Centre, we turn in the Third Street and walk to the Eastern Street. We see the King George V Memorial Park. The park was built in 1936, to memorize of passing away of King George V School of the Great Britain. From photos, we may see the stone walls, the white fences and old lamp posts are still the ones 80 years ago, and keep the feeling of the old colony age of HK. Together with the old banyan trees, we will have a strong feeling of the movie world in the last decade. Yes! The place attracted many movies! Just like the famous HK film “Don't Go Breaking My Heart“
4 高街鬼屋 High Street Ghost House
Next to the King George V Memorial Park, we see the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex. 70 years ago, the building was the execution ground of the Japanese army, and also the Mass grave of HK people. We have another name of this building – High Street Ghost House.
High Street Ghost House of the most famous ghost story of Hong Kong. The building was built in 1892, in the usage of a Mental Hospital. In the World War II, the Japanese army took it as the execution ground and the mass grave, and there was non-stop screaming from people every night. After WWII, it became a metal hospital again. As the medical technology was not so advanced at that moment, most patient were just going to the hospital and waited to die only. In 1971, the hospital was closed and left empty of 30 years. At this period, there were a lot of paranormal event in this building.
But today, the ghost house is already the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex and is listed as a Grade I Historic Building of HK. Stepping inside, although I saw many friendly staffs with smile, I feel so bad! I only took some photos and left immediately.
Frankly speaking, there are a lot of great stories just around us, around the place we are living. It only depends on if we are willing to find it out. Sai Wan, a place that wasn’t in our focus for so many years, is consist of such many old buildings and interesting stories. If we can spend some time and discover the things around us, we can have a fantastic life every day.
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