What I liked about the whole Hong Kong experience was that you could go just about anywhere, within reason, and feel perfectly safe. All of my time wasn't spent on typical sailor letting off steam stuff after weeks or months at sea. I used to take a daypack and a compass and walk for miles through the city, alone, mostly in the back streets with no concerns. Did that in Tokyo and smaller cities in Japan too. Not in Manila! Can't say that about big cities in the U.S. then or now! I got a lot of surprised looks, but nothing aggressive or even un-friendly.

Thanks Chief for relating your good memories of this interesting place. Yes, I felt totally safe there as well (and that also holds true for the number of Japanese cities I visited and worked in, also in Korea). In Hong Kong actually, my fondest experiences are going on hikes in the hills of Kowloon (say the Tai Mo Shan, Lion Rock or Kowloon Peak mountain areas), HK Island (particularly down in Shek-O) or some of the other islands. You can actually be in near solitude on these hill paths. We lived on Tai Hang Road, just above the Happy Valley race course, and in about 10 minutes from our flat, we could be on one of these long paths in the hills where you would expect to see maybe 3-4 other people during an hour, an absolute delight. I will be showing some of these outlying locations starting in about a weeks time.

TSIM SHA TSUI, often abbreviated as TST, is an urban area in southern Kowloon. Tsim Sha Tsui EAST is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui.

GEOGRAPHY - TST is a cape on the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula pointing towards Victoria Harbour, opposite Central. Several villages had been established in this location before Kowloon was ceded to the British Empire in 1860. The name Tsim Sha Tsui in Cantonese means sharp sandspit. It was also known as Heung Po Tau, i.e. a port for exporting incense tree. Before any land reclamation, TST consisted of two parallel capes with a bay in between in the south. The west cape, Kowloon Point, the proper Tsim Sha Tsui, coincided with the small hill where the former Marine Police Headquarters was sited, while the east cape was the hill that is today known as Blackhead Point. The bay between the capes extended as far north as the present-day Mody Road. The area is hilly, although many hills were leveled for reclamation. Today, TST is a major tourist hub in Hong Kong, with many high-end shops, bars, pubs and restaurants that cater to tourists. Many of Hong Kong's museums are located in the area.

HISTORY - Before Kowloon was ceded to Britain in 1860, many villages were present in the area. Incense trees (Aquilaria sinensis) from New Territories were gathered at some quays in TST and transferred to Shek Pai Wan in southern Hong Kong Island to be exported to rest of the world. It was thus known as Heung Po Tau, the fragrant quay. Shortly after the land was ceded to Britain, construction began on the first section of TST's major thoroughfare, Nathan Road.

In 1888, the Star Ferry started to offer regular transport between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, and the area has flourished ever since. Until the 20th century, TST was a leafy suburb dominated by the people and facilities of the British military. Whitfield Barracks, converted into Kowloon Park in 1970, ran to the west of Nathan Road, and Kowloon Naval Yard occupied the waterfront to the west of the army encampment. In the early 20th century, Chinese people were allowed to live in the area to attract more people to trade in the colony. Garden houses were replaced with crowded residential blocks. Wharves and godowns were built along the west shore.

The Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section) commenced service on 1 October 1910. The "Kowloon Station" in TST was approved to be constructed on reclaimed land in 1912. It was built on the new southern reclamation from 1913 to 1915. The rails extended along the western reclamation parallel to Chatham Road. Another major road, Salisbury Road, was completed in approximately the same period. The landmark Peninsula Hotel was built on the reclamation in 1928, opposite to the station.

TOURISM - Tourist hospitality is a major industry in TST. The area has the highest concentration of hotels in Hong Kong, including the iconic luxury hotel "The Peninsula" which opened in 1928. Other hotels in virtually every price range and level of luxury can be found throughout the area; Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road at the other end of the luxury scale is known for providing cheap lodging for backpackers. Besides the hotels with their upscale, star-studded restaurants, TST is also one of many places to find exotic restaurants in Hong Kong: Hillwood Road at the north of Observatory Hill concentrates on restaurants of different national dishes; Knutsford Terrace on the other side of the hill is a terrace of pubs while Kimberley Street is famous for its Korean cuisine restaurants and grocery stores. TST is one of the main shopping areas in Hong Kong, including high end stores and plenty of gigantic shopping malls, and it is still possible do do bargain shopping in the many small stores abundant in the area, particularly on the eastern side of Nathan Road. Finally, half of the major museums in Hong Kong are situated in TST, including the HK Space Museum, HK Museum of Art and the HK Cultural Centre which are all relatively recent structures located at the southern waterfront.

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With such an abundance of activities and destinations available in this exciting part of Hong Kong, I post today a potpourri mosaic of individual images portraying a sampling of these finds.


Notes
TRIP INFO: Set # 1 provides a brief introduction to THIS SERIES on SOUTH & EAST ASIA. See it at
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-724330-1.html

HONG KONG COUNTRY INFO in set # 196: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-762698-1.html

EARLIER POSTS of this series: Access my topic list at UHH, the new posts are listed in reverse chronological order:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user-topic-list?usernum=45105

Thanks for visiting, for improved clarity please view the downloads. I look forward to your comments and questions.

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