7 October Quiet spaces in Hong Kong

Quiet Spaces in Hong Kong
Amongst the astonishing torrents of people and traffic, the migraine level of neon lights and the war-zone barrage of noise, it is possible to find spaces of peace and stillness, and all for free.
Our first morning saw us wandering down the streets near the hotel, watching Kowloon wake up. An unassuming wire fence opened up a tiny park, brick paved, with greenery and trees. Even so early there were people doing tai chi, exercises, meditation, and just sitting. We found other quiet spots, by accident, as we did my very favourite thing in a new city- just moseying along seeing what there is to see. Steps from the footpath led us up to a temple, complete with mandatory old woman selling incense, and old men sitting outside in the open space. There was a marble chess board waiting for players, and beautifully raked open areas. Outside the fence there was a constant flow of people, old young, male, female, school children. Hardly any other fair skinned people like us- even most of the tourists we encountered were from Malaysia, Singapore, India and China.
A short walk from the hotel down the Kowloon peninsula towards the ferries is the Kowloon park, a foliage dense botanical delight, with paved walkways, lakes with flamingos, tortoises, swans and joyful singing birds, as well as swimming pools, sports grounds and sculpture courts. An unexpected visit to the museum showed us the French contribution to Hong Kong life- orphanages, social services and most surprising a flowering of Art Deco architecture.
Our final act before flying out was a walk back down towards the now familiar Ladies Market, in search of batteries and a mouse for my computer. We passed the park again, and simply went and sat, like all the others there, beyond the relentless flow of pedestrians and the deafening, grinding traffic.
I loved the oases we found, for the physical relief, and for the mental detachment, even if it was only for a short time. Ironic to be in Hong Kong, looking for peace, but it is there.