Victoria park, Wan Chai market/ chill day

I have a bit of time to update the blog before I go out for tea so hence why I'm updating it so early.

Got up really early this morning at 07:00am and sneaked out of the dorm to have a stroll during the mental morning rush hourS.

I searched around central Wan Chai and the back streets surrounding Hennessy road for a fruit stall (for breakfast) and finally came across one in a street market 5 minutes from the hostel.

It was really interesting seeing how the stall owners and their workers prepared the street market, they were constantly running around and the butchers and fish mongers were in their element hacking and chopping away.

I found it quite disturbing though seeing turtles wrapped up in nets and fish gasping for breath in metal tubs on the sea food stores, but thats how they treat animals i guess. 

Cooked, flattened, rounded duck - yum haha

Around half 8ish I then made my way to Victoria park which was a 15 minute walk away down hennessy road, my travel guide book recommended that I go and have a walk about so I did and I wasn't disappointed.

The park as a whole (minus the tarmac and astroturf sport areas) was green and pleasant.  When I started walking around Victoria park I also noticed the huge number of people practicing tai chi, some in the open in groups but some went deep into the forested areas to get away from all of the speed walkers and runners.

  

After victoria park I decided I wanted to see the Wan Chai street market.  Famous for its wide range of stalls and accessibility, unfortunately I found something that really pee'd me off along the way.

Walking past a chinese medicine shop I noticed these in the window.

 Shark fins.  Traditionally shark fins have been used as a vital ingredietns in chinese medicines, even though shark fins have no medical properties whatsoever, resulting in the pointless killing of thousands of sharks in the oceans around africa and asia each year.

Walking Morrison Hill Road I came across the Golden Dragon statue.  According to the plaque on the front of the statue, the statues presence grants happiness and good fortune and all who visit it will have happiness and good health.

 

Arrived at Wan Chai market after a long walk it was completely worth it.

The atmosphere was great, despite the light rain.

And I found Chairman Mao Zedong living it up in the middle of Hong Kong, not sure what to think of that.