Another 18 Strange Hong Kong Images

17 May

Volume 2 - The Strange side of Hong Kong Culture

Me Jamie, English and 52 years living in Hong Kong and I know the know the place - I personally completed 2,324 Private Tours (6,000+ guests) from 2011 - 2020 and was considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.

**A blog post with a difference - Please do visit Hong Kong in 2024 | Travel, Tourism, Tours, Tips, Daily Life and my personal thoughts on Hong Kong - Pearl of the Orient**

Discover the Real Hong Kong with Jamie

Another 18 Strange | Weird Hong Kong Images

Hong Kong Culture 101

Being English and from Yorkshire and of a certain age I have what is called a very well developed sense of humour, honed on Monty Python humour for the most part…

Living in Hong Kong for 52 years has not affected my humour in any shape or form and I have over the years taken quite a few images that are strange, odd, perplexing and just plain weird and I hope they will make you smile and perhaps give you a little insight into Hong Kong Culture.

The images are as usual in a totally random order

Learn more | 18 Strange - weird Hong Kong Images Volume 1

**3 Cute Girls and 5 Cute Dogs**
Social Media and pets, a heady mix
Hong Kong ladies certainly like their cute dogs that’s for sure, 3 young ladies doing a pet shoot for social media, the dogs where very friendly!

**The Bicycle Bomb**
I have always wondered if these canisters are empty or full, I suspect empty as full ones are subject to strict regulations and are carried around in special trucks with all sorts of warning signs - can you image if these canisters are full and this chap was hit by a truck! Still in this day and age it seems a bit odd to have an old codger collect these heavy canisters on a bicycle!

**PLA (Chinese Army) Troops returning to Barracks in Hong Kong.**
Not exactly a common sight and somehow their battle hardness is diminished by them all wearing masks (Covid times)
I was doing car and truck photography at one of my key spots, the middle of the road at the junction of Jordan Road and Nathan Road in Kowloon and in one fluid motion I took the shot, I was given the beady eye by one of the soldiers and yes, they all had rifles!

**Pure Gold Mickey Mouse Statue**
Oh gosh it sure would look right at home in our living room
Pure 24k Gold Mickey Mouse | 23.2lbs (10.53kg) of gold **US$791,160+** (ish) | Chow Tai Fook, Jewellery Retailer
The price of gold has soared quite I bit since this statue was put on display and it was a major attention grabber. It was in a display cabinet on the ground floor of Chow Tai Fook in ISquare Mall at the junction of Peking Road and Nathan Road in TST, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
The company sells a lot of Disney Jewellery and as of 2024 I believe you can still view the statue on the 1st floor level of the shop, there is a large area exclusively for Disney Jewellery, it is hard to get in and I have also heard they do not like people taking photographs.. oh well, at least I got the shot and for a couple of years people who saw it just could not believe their eyes.

**Cars, Vans and Trucks are allowed on Lugard Road at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong**
This is for all those Hong Kong residents (and weekend hikers) and travel bloggers who state quite categorically that cars etc are not allowed on the famous Lugard Road in Hong Kong.
….and for those who call Lugard Road a path and doubt Lugard Road is a road - if you have a permit you can drive a car along Lugard Road all the way to no. 27 Lugard Road, you do not need a permit for a delivery van but most people know that driving on Lugard Road is not really an option - small trucks are allowed but they are quite dangerous as someone walking on Lugard Road does not have many options to let a truck by!
I should also point out that I get quite annoyed at mediocre tour guides who claim Lugard Road is not a road but a path and no vehicles are allowed, that is simply not true.

**The Hong Kong Police Force | Highly Trained Professionals**
Without fail, every Traffic Cop I photograph gives me the once over… people forget they are highly trained professionals and are very aware of their surroundings and people pointing camera’s at them, well they need to be checked out.

**The Caterpillar with a scary human face**
Darwinism at work, what a spooky caterpillar, if it was 6 feet long and 2 feet wide it would be the stuff of nightmares.

**That Truck cabin is a fire hazard**
I actually have a whole album of truck cabin images, this one wins a gold award for being a potential fire hazard, how can you possibly justify collecting all of this crap which serves no purpose (until it catches fire) I have no idea how the driver and his fellow workers can stand this. The truck is one that collects liquid waste (like cooking oil and such)
… and if you can’t tell, I am a very neat and organised person and I hate mess and disorder (not pathologically!) and yes, to emphasise the point, I like things just so.

**St. Johns Cathedral Hong Kong and that cross shaped design**
St. Johns Cathedral (Anglican), est. 1849, Central District, Hong Kong
I had never noticed until I took this image that the main part of the Cathedral was cross shaped! it is not apparent when you are inside the Church.
I took this image from the quite new Murray Hotel which overlooks St. Johns and it came as quite a surprise.

**The Lady on the scooter and the Lamborghini**
I have a thing about Scooter Ladies primarily because they always remind me of my mum who was a MOD in Yorkshire with my old man in the early 1960’s and they had Vespa scooters. I love how the Lamborghini keeps a respectful distance.

**A gnarly old lady and shrimp paste preparation at Tai O Fishing Village, Lantau Island**
A cultural icon
Let me clear, I hate the taste of shrimp paste and I really, really hate the smell which will clear your sinuses in an instant but boy is it a cultural icon and I have always enjoyed seeing how it is made (from a respectful distance and down wind) you can see what it does to a person who has probably been making it for 60 + years!

**The Commander of the Chinese Armed Forces in Hong Kong in his Audi**
There are approximately 700,000 cars in Hong Kong, so the odds of seeing this Audi with it’s very low profile but significant licence plate are slim to none. All Chinese Military vehicles in Hong Kong start with ZG and 1 is for the Commander who naturally has to travel around in some style.

**ICC in Kowloon | 118 Floors and it looks like it is on fire!**
In the top 15 tallest buildings in the world (by height and number of floors) and one of my favourite spots in the building is the Ritz Carlton Lounge on the 116th floor.
A decade ago the building had a problem with sunset in Hong Kong during the golden hour every day, the setting sun to the west would reflect of the glass and it looked like the building was on fire and it was very, very bright and people who lived and worked on Hong Kong Island had an issue with it.
Sadly, the building owners fixed the issue with some sort of reflective coating on the glass exterior.. pity really, it was quite the sight.

**A gnarly old codger asleep at the wheel of a gasoline truck**
I admit, it could be the old guy was just blinking when I took the image but golly, he was travelling quite quickly and he is in a truck with aviation gasoline….. we have lots of taxi drivers and truck drivers in their 70’s and 80’s here which has to be a concern.

**The 1997 Official Chinese Government Handover Monument which no one visits**
Golden Bauhinia Square | Official Handover Monument | The HK Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai North, Hong Kong
A monolith so to speak, this is the "reunification monument" that marked the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997
Amazingly hardly anyone visits it or even knows it is there, it is about 150 yards to the left of the Golden Bauhinia Monument which everyone visits but because of the shape of the Convention Centre you cannot see it from the Golden Bauhinia Monument.
In my opinion, this is a an incredibly important monument and a real piece of history which all Hong Konger’s should visit

**The Scooter Guy and the Maybach**
HKG Car Licence Plate - No. 50 | Licence Plate sold for HK$2,000,000 or US$256,410
The chap on the scooter knows his cars, that is a very expensive old style Maybach with a very expensive licence plate so naturally he wants to know who is sat in the back!
Personally I would not be seen dead on a scooter but that’s just me

**The infamous Goose Statue in Sham Tseng, NT, Hong Kong**
The Iconic Goose Statue, HK$1,200,000 | US$153,845 - Sham Tseng, NT, Hong Kong
I go past this most days, it is next to the famous Garden Bakery manufacturing plant.
Looks more like a duck - I am amazed the local Government paid this amount of money, essentially to promote one famous Goose Restaurant., The Yue Kee Roasted Goose Restaurant

**Is that a drunk white guy in a Government Truck?**
Like a lot of images that I take, I spot really odd things after the fact and that elicits a “what the f#@$**&^%” response from me. With this one it took me a while to work out but it sure looks like there is a weird looking white guy in the truck cabin!
I then realised that my timing on taking the image was perfect, the white guy is on the bus advertisement behind the truck!

Learn more | Jamie's image site, 167,000 + images

So there you have it - as and when I collect more strange and weird images I will do another blog post.

Learn more | This is a list of the best Private Tour Guides in Hong Kong that I have prepared, please feel free to contact them directly - they are amazing

Learn more | My how to get to guide so you can visit Victoria Peak Garden at Victoria Peak

Learn more | my how to get to guide to visit the Lugard Road Lookout at Victoria Peak

Learn more | My How To get To Guide so you can visit Barker Road at Victoria Peak

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This unique experience offers an authentic insight into the real Hong Kong, providing a deeper understanding of the city's culture, history, and local way of life.

Led by Jamie, a dedicated Hong Kong specialist and resident for 52 years, the experience covers many aspects of Hong Kong's identity, spanning its time under both British and Chinese rule.