Hong Kong Remembers the Tiananmen Square Massacre

June 4th, 1989 - the government of the People's Republic of China begins a crackdown on protestors (mostly students) in Tiananmen Square. The protestors, who had lived through a decade of economic reform was demanding political reform and democracy. Instead of change, the PRC set the army to attack their own people. The death toll is still unknown and there are still families out there wondering what happened to their relatives who participated in the protest.

In the PRC, the government takes great lengths to wipe the event from the collective memory of the people. The June 4th massacre is also officially described as a "counter-revolutionary revolt." Nonetheless, there are many who still remember the horrors of June 4th and although public remembrances are not tolerated on the mainland, the biggest candlelight vigil for the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre is held every year at Victoria Park in Hong Kong. According to the organizers on the stage, there was a record-breaking number of people who came to the candlelight vigil this year and I was proud to be among the crowd.

I'd like to take up some space and a moment on this blog to remember those who decided to voice their opinions and stand up to authority in an attempt to make life better for themselves and their fellow citizens. The widespread support in your cause proved that you dared to voice the hopes and dreams of others. May your courage and spirit never be forgotten.

Here are pictures of the candlelight vigil. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture shots that would really represent the sea of candles you see in the news reports.

When you walked out of the MTR, there were tons of political parties doing fundraisers and advertising.

The sign reads: "The people will not forget."

My camera would not give me a decent shot of people with their candles. This blurry picture was the best I could get.

I won't forget.

An army of Barbies...

I was at Causeway Bay a few weeks ago and these were on display at Times Square. I don't know if I'm fascinated by the fashion aspect or slightly terrified at the sheer number of blonde plastic dolls staring at me.

Still in love with Causeway Bay (Part II)

So many things happened today that I don't think it's going to fit neatly into one blog post. As a result, I'll be dividing up the epicness that is today into several posts. (Not all of them are about Causeway Bay, by the way.)


So in Part I of "Still in love with Causeway Bay," I mentioned that I went to Times Square. Since there's a Page One in there, I just had to spend some time there. Then again, one of my friends also spent just about forever to find a notebook... In any case, during our visit to the lovely bookstore, I glanced at some guidebooks to Hong Kong and just looked up Causeway Bay to see what else we could do in the area. It turns out that everyday at noon, they fire a gun at Causeway Bay. You can learn about its history and whatnot here. (It's an interesting tale involving opium smugglers - aka Jardine and Matheson.)


Anyways, after being completely underwhelmed by the laser show at Tsim Sha Tsui, my friends and I were expecting something that was not that exciting. There was a crowd of tourists gathered around the gun and we waited a few minutes before the gun was fired. And then... BAM! We did not expect it to be that loud. Most people were prepared and had covered their ears, but because we're just that special, my friends and I got a full blast of sound. My left ear popped a bit and it took about half a minute before I had completely regained my hearing. That was super fun. Afterwards, the guard let us in to take picture with the cannon. It was actually quite a lot of fun!

My adventures on Hong Kong Island continue in my next blog post which I will write after I get some sleep...

Still in love with Causeway Bay

So today, a few friends and I went to Causeway Bay to explore. The area was a lot less overwhelming the second time around (here's the post about my first time there) and a lot more fun with other people.

First thing's first, I will be very proud to tell everyone that we found Victoria Park!


I was trying to find it last time I was there but failed miserably. It was a beautiful park with a statue of Queen Victoria. For some reason though, our entire group missed the statue as we were walking into the park.

(I apologize for the bad photo, the sun was super bright and I wasn't sure how I should've adjusted my camera.)

Afterwards, we went to Times Square. There was new art there: there were all these statues of fattened known personalities and characters with tons of corporate logos strewn about their costumes. (Even the characters from Journey to the West - a Buddhist story - were desecrated with logos of MacDonalds and Microsoft.) These statues were made with handbills or pamphlets with ads handed out on the streets. If my Marxist prof were here, I'd say that this was clearly art protesting the consumerist capitalist culture in Hong Kong. (And here, a Russian is headdesking herself.)

Although a lot of us are jetlagged, we managed to make one more stop before heading home. Since it was the evening, we ended up in TST (Tsim Sha Tsui) to watch the daily laser show. The show itself was pretty underwhelming but at least we can say that we saw it. We also got the postcard view of Hong Kong's skyline:


The real thing was obviously a lot prettier but my camera cannot handle the skyline's epicness. Or anything for that matter. I am in total need of a new camera. I should save up and get myself an LSR at one point... Oh well, I can dream. Speaking of dreams, going to bed sounds lovely right now.

Nighty night from HK!

Being pushed into the water and learning to swim...

I actually explained that expression to Suki yesterday while waiting for the train. (Yes, this post comes a bit late 'cause there was too much fun to be had yesterday...)

Suki and I went to Causeway Bay (yes, again) yesterday because it she apparently, she didn't even go to Causeway Bay the day before and she had no time to get her hair cut. (By the way, we didn't end up meeting up yesterday after my trip to Times Square.) Anyways, the expression was pertinent to the situation because Suki said that I was apparently very savvy as to what to do on the train and what not. Well, let's just say that going to a location that requires 3 line changes during rush hour is like throwing a kid into the water to teach them how to swim. Dithering in Hong Kong is just not done and if you're not alert, you might find yourself lost, trampled or 5 train stops away from your destination.

In any case, I ended up in another do or die situation on my second trip to Causeway Bay... Suki went and got her hair cut and I decided to go and look at a few spots around the area. Victoria was one option but when I went out the train station exit towards Victoria Park, I just saw a huge expanse of shops and thought that it may be best not to go as it may be too far and goodness knows what would happen. In any case, I saw on our little tourist map provided by the school that there was something called "Jardine's Bazaar" nearby. I found this very amusing.

For those of you who don't know, William Jardine and his business partner, James Matheson were merchants who sold Chinese products to England during the Victorian era. They were one of the biggest opium merchants as well. It's just a bit humourous that they would still allow these street names to exist after the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong:


Anyways, on Jardine's Crescent, I found Jardine's bazaar. Now, let's just say that when I went in, I just remembered something Julia said to me. "You have a tendency of going to sketchy places." Well... let's see: dark - check, sketchy - check, in some random alleyway - check, eerily quiet - check. Yup, that was Jardine's bazaar. A claustrophobic market full of "women's crack" (or opium): clothes, jewelry, knick knacks. Like Taiwanese street markets, a lot of the clothes were a bit tacky but some of the jewelry was pretty.


Damn it.I continued wandering around Causeway Bay and window shopped a bit and then... I got lost. It was pretty scary since I was alone and it was getting dark and I was walking around in circles like lost people in movies. Finally, I just had to stop. And think. And use landmarks and gut instincts to get back to the MTR (metro station) safe and sound. I'm proud to say that I did exactly that was successfully got to my destination. It's a miracle!

After that crazy trek, I met up with Suki and we had an AWESOME dinner at the Causeway Bay location of Mak's Noodle. Some of the best wontons and the best "za jeung lo mein" (noodles with sliced pork in a slightly spicy red sauce) I've ever had in my life. Anthony Bourdain ate at the Mak's Noodle in Central, which was why I choose this restaurant for dinner.

Anyways, I need to go soon. More fun stuff to come! (When will I ever have time to do homework!?)