It's said Hong Kong is boring as it's dominated by money. These exquisite miniature models illustrate the heritage and cultural side of Hong Kong, a small yet unique city. The attentive observation of the model makers help to record the real local life sheared by most Hong Kong people. Well, Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) is not.
Dim sum trolleys （點心車) showcase what dim sums are available in an old style Chinese restaurant. Customers can order if they found any dim sum is good looking in their eyes. Only several Chinese restaurants still keep this tradition nowadays (one in Sheung Wan). Because most trolleys have been replaced by dim sum paper (點心紙） for freshness and better logistic control.
The selling mode of local snacks has been transformed from street hawker stalls (車仔檔) into diners because of hygiene and safety. Common street snacks include:
1) shengjianbao (生煎包) - Shanghai style pan-fried bun with minced pork filling
2) eggette / egg puff (雞蛋仔) - the most popular plain flavour is made from eggs, sugar, flour and light evaporated milk. New flavours consist of chocolate, mint, etc. regardless of flavour, better finish the eggette when it is hot
3) lettuce and fish meat (生菜魚肉) and shark fish fin soup (碗仔翅) - the former is a soup of lettuce and minced fish meat while the latter is a soup of cellophane noodles (fake shark fin), mushroom and sliced chicken. People usually add much vinegar, sesame sauce, pepper powder as well as chili sauce when eating. Some people like to mix the 2 into 1 bowl. It's not my choice however.
4) Shanghai snacks - tofu pudding (豆腐花), Shanghai sticky rice roll (餈飯), congyoubing (蔥油餅). mantou (饅頭).
5) grilled squid - hawkers usually cut a squid into pieces when serving. This snack is not so common now.
6) pan-fried stuffed green pepper, eggplant, tofu, red sausage, and fish ball (collectively, 煎釀三寶) - filling is usually minced mud carp paste
7) local food - put chai ko (砵仔糕), jin duei (煎堆), youtiao (油條 / 油炸鬼), ox-tongue pastry (牛脷酥)
(no ox-tongue inside)
Sai Kung is one of the famous places for seafood lovers.
If you are interested into these old toys, you can try your luck in Wanchai.
The old generation of Hong Kong Chinese loves gold. Gold was the trusted currency during war time. And it's perceived as valuable presents for big occasions, say wedding, child birth, etc. Old style jewellery shops can still be found in old districts.
Besides of herbs, Chinese medicine shops (藥材舖) usually sell poplar dried seafood (海味). Consultation from Chinese doctors (中醫) is available in some shops. In the past, patients are asked to boil the herbs into medicine themselves. However, people are too busy at work nowadays. Thus, some shops can prepare the medicine in different forms for patients upon request with a small fee.
Fish stall and florist. Fishes are popular pets in Hong Kong for they just occupy limited space.
Old style shoes with embroideries can be found in Wanchai.
Thee green side is a herbal tea stall (涼茶舖) while the pink side is a dried food shop. There's no more rickshaw (the one in far left) in use now. The public phone and rubbish bin are in new looks as well.
Owners and families usually work on the ground floor and sleep at the upstairs.The rooftop is idea for drying clothes under the sun, resting or gardening.
Old Pok Fu Lam Village (薄扶林村), a high density area where poor people lived in iron-houses. Rainstorm, fire, typhoon were the enemies of these temporary houses.
Hong Kong housing is famous for its tiny size. So some people built a bird-cage like balcony for extra storage or other purposes. Most of these illegal balconies are banned by the government.
2 kids on the left are probably looking at the pigeons on the rooftop of the next unit or the man resting in the lower floor. Besides, those mirror like stuff are fung shui (風水) decorations.
A construction site in Hong Kong.Some South East Asian immigrants worked as construction workers because of lower barrier of entry.
