The Hong Kong Museum of History

The Hong Kong Museum of History

My brother, Rennie Knowlton, designed the exhibits in this fabulous museum in Hong Kong, on Chatham Road in Kowloon. You can see why I'm so proud of and in awe of such a talented brother! He has since designed a dozen other such fabulous museums and interpretive centres across Canada and U.S. (plus he paints fabulous paintings).  I spent hours exploring the 3 floors. Here is just a taste. Enjoy!

 Bread towers - still made today.

 "As cold waters to a thirsty soul so is good news from a far country." adorns the model Post Office. Hint, hint...

 A real street car - I could just stand up in it.

Hong Kong January 12th to 28th, 2014

Hong Kong   Jan.12 to Jan 28th

Dear Kathleen met me at the airport, and my first experience in Hong Kong (other than many trips through HK on tour buses filled with university students with Camp China) was through the window of a double-decker bus winding across bridges, through tunnels and along narrow streets. Kathleen lives in Kowloon (on the mainland) in a huge condo complex(see photo of her view) with stores on the first level. Her sofa bed was very comfortable and I spent many hours recouping, reading and enjoying the fast wifi. Kathleen and I took full advantage of the subways and trains and I refilled my transit card many times. Downtown Kowloon is filled with shoppers from around the world (particularly from the mainland) wheeling suitcases. I couldn't believe the line-ups to enter designer stores such as Prada and Coach. Purses there cost more than a months salary! But the crowded street markets and Marks & Spensers had interesting 'stuff' and I was able to buy winter clothes (particularly boots large enough to fit 2 pairs of socks). I kept saying that I wished I owned an escalator repair business - I would be making a fortune! Inside malls have at least 3 sets of 6-8 story escalators, and many outside markets/streets use escalators too.
Hong Kong is full of history and I tried to visit as many museums as I could, enjoying the peace and often pretty views. Hong Kong, like Vancouver, is never far from the water and has many walkways along the shore. Kathleen and I also enjoyed an Artwalk, where hundreds of artists held open house in an industrial area of north Kowloon -from realistic to abstract, paintings to sculpture- all showing the wonderful creativity God has given us. We took the Star ferry to Hong Kong central then a double decker around the island to the less busy south side with breathtaking quiet beaches and had lunch at Stanley, once a little fishing village, now a resort town. Another day I took the ferry and road a street car from one end of Hong Kong central to the other, enjoying a marine defense museum, then took a bus up to the Peak for a long walk around the peak then wandered around capturing views and waiting for the famous sunset and night colours. Many of the buildings changed colour, and one tower flashed at least 20 different greetings on its 30 story tower. Sure wish I had a night lense on my camera, but I am reassured to see advertisements shot from the peak with the same smoggy background!

So please enjoy the photos. The last picture is my brother's Museum of the History of Hong Kong. My next blog will be full of those photos.

 This is Stanley once a little fishing village, on the south side of the island.

More photos of Rennie's museum in next post!

The Great Train Ride: Lhasa, Tibet to Chengdu, Sichuan

After lining up for an hour to buy my ticket, I excitedly waited the 20 days to departure: 46 hours from Lhasa through Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Shanxi, and Sichuan provinces.
Going through 2 check points before getting even near the huge terminal, I shivered in the Lhasa morning cold.  Everyone stays in line and carries their sundry baggage excitedly, into the building, up the escalator to a large waiting room and onto the platform. I find my car and compartment, settle in and we're off!

This is first class, home for 46 hours. The other passengers were quietly friendly, but left as new people appeared @ midnight at the 3rd stop.

The rail lines are built into the permafrost along the side of valleys, a true engineering fete. You can see the train's wheel wells were crusted in ice. We were able to disembark at stops to breathe fresh air and to buy hot food from vendors on the platform.

Rolling out of Lhasa. The sky is usually this blue and the mountains change colour with the angle of the sun. (Remember, we are above the tree line, so very different from the Rocky Mountains.)

Here is a photo of the train tracks taken from my return plane. On left center, you can see the tracks disappearing into a mountain, and the highway veers away from the mountain. You can also see how dry everything is.

Typical farm house. Yes, those are piles of yak dung, drying in the sun, ready to be burned for fuel.

Kekexili National Reserve: 5,072 meters altitude (Lhasa is approx 3600m). Glad the train was oxygenized.

                                 Every few km, a soldier stands at attention. You really understand isolation!

Breathtaking frozen Qarhan Lake "salt lake", and yes, the colours are true!

                              

These are not really frozen rivers, but appear to be frozen water over the grasslands.

We stopped at NaQu, Delingha, Gelmud, and then Xining metropolis the next morning. Then on to Lanzhou, Baoji, Guangyuan, and into huge Chengdu city on the 3rd day.

    You can see why there are dozens of distinct languages - the farms are very isolated.

 The North East is expanding quickly. There were at least 11 huge new complexes in a row as we pulled into Xining.

We arrived in Chengdu at sunrise (therefore no photos); I found a taxi to the airport and awaited a flight to Hong Kong, my next adventure.