A Wander Around Tai O

Tai O is a quiet, quaint place, but housing is dilapidated

 

Yesterday I took advantage of a day off to wander around Tai O, a small fishing village on Lantau Island. I have visited two or three times previously for work assignments, one on making the famous shrimp paste that has a very strong smell, and one on solar panels used as a pilot project by WWF. But after spending a good part of the day conducting interviews and shoots, we were tired and wanted to go home so I never really got a chance to see the place.

The night before I did some research on places to visit and especially where to eat and noted the names and addresses.

On the way to Fu Shan Viewing Pt

Then I took the MTR to Tung Chung, and then the No. 11 bus to Tai O. I was surprised to see a long line of people at the bus stop, but luckily I got one of the last few seats. I remembered it takes about 45 minutes to get to Tai O, and on the bus it made scheduled stops in places including Tong Fuk Correctional Institute (former lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung served two months there), and another, Shek Pik Prison where pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung is, and independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei spent some time there previously.

Finally we arrived around lunchtime and I tried to find the shops that sell some snacks, but was disappointed to find they were all closed because it was a weekday! There's Tai O Bakery that apparently sells freshly made doughnuts sprinkled with sugar, and another stall that makes savoury pancakes called jianbing.

The only places open were cha chaan teng or a few western-style cafes selling cheesecake and coffee.

I decided to find the hill called Fu Shan Viewing Point, but not before I saw a woman selling pandan egg waffles. It turns out she had literally just opened her shop and so her waffle iron was not even heated up yet when I asked for an egg waffle.

The woman in her 70s was on the surly side, chastising a trio of middle-aged women who were lured by some palm-sized puddings to snack on. Luckily the three women were in a good mood and didn't let her criticisms get in the way of them having a good time.

The bridge in the distance and a plane overhead

Finally I got my egg waffles that had a tiny hint of pandan, but it was sustenance to keep me going for the mini hike.

The stairs are clean and wide, but I was already huffing and puffing and sweating -- I didn't realize until later it was because it was so humid. Walking along the ridge of the hill, down on one side are hundreds of large Chinese-style graves, and then further down is Tai O village itself.

On the other side is the South China Sea and in the distance is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge that had no traffic on it. Above it every few minutes a plane took off from the nearby airport, making it an ideal spot for plane spotters.

I continued along the stone path until it abruptly ended, but saw others ahead still continuing along a rugged path and followed them.

The place is a scenic spot for pictures too

It wasn't too hard to climb and soon I was at the top, admiring the view, but then what? Turn back or continue down a dirt path? I decided to be a bit adventurous and thankfully with the help of ropes strung along the way, I managed to get down easier than my experience on Mount Johnston! 

When I got to the bottom, I checked out another scenic pavilion before encountering a temple and then walked back towards the Tai O village.

By now more visitors arrived and I'd pretty much gone through all the main thoroughfares in the village

While it's quaint and some like to call it "The Venice of Hong Kong", it really isn't, surrounded by dirty water, homes on stilts, others on the ground have very basic furnishings. One has to wonder if the government knows about people's living conditions here and will they be upgraded? 

Nevertheless, life here is slow, people ride bikes or walk along the paths, while cats and dogs laze around wherever they feel comfortable. 

Large fish that have been salted are left to dry out

This morning I woke up to heavy rain and was glad that I made the effort to go to Tai O yesterday, though I missed trying those doughnuts!

The Effects of Pushing out "Low-End Population"

Migrant workers gathering their things and getting ready to leave Beijing

Last night I met up with a friend from Beijing who's visiting Hong Kong and we caught up since we last met up.

I asked him about the evictions of the migrant workers and he shook his head, sad at the turn of events.

Following a fire in Beijing's Daxing district that killed 19 people, the local government has used the tragedy as an excuse to get rid of the "low-end population", though this campaign has been happening for the past year.

Parts of Sanlitun have been completely demolished

When I was in Beijing in April, the back streets of Sanlitun, where many expats hung out and used to buy cheap DVDs, or have manicures and pedicures, massages and buy cheap clothing and food, were being torn down.

"Beijingers are happy the streets are cleaned up and feel that the city is now becoming more international like London and New York," my friend said, adding he didn't like Beijing anymore because these colourful aspects of the city were now fast disappearing.

In other words, Beijing is gentrifying.

He told me about a small restaurant across the street from where he lived. It wasn't really a restaurant -- a kind of shack -- where they sold all kinds of food, from jianbing or a savoury pancake, to fried chicken wings, noodles and char-grilled lamb skewers called chuar.

It was run by a bunch of young guys from Henan. While my friend described them as a bit on the tough side, perhaps dealing in things other than food, they were nice people, who he got to know as acquaintances. He'd stop by after work for a beer, or pick up a snack for his wife to bring back home, and have a quick friendly chat. They were also open until 5am.

But now they were gone and he didn't know where they went. More importantly he didn't know where to get his snacks and drinks now.

Some people are hardly given much notice to leave

The small cigarette and liquor shops that supposedly sold items that were collected by senior government officials as "gifts" and sold for cheap are also gone. The last time I was there, the closet-sized sex shops had also disappeared.

Not all expats have the same view as my friend who is from the UK and has lived in Beijing for many years. These foreigners like seeing migrant workers gone and the streets are now cleaner, or getting rid of businesses that didn't fit in the neighbourhood, like the aforementioned shack selling food and perhaps were noisy late into the night.

Nevertheless these were businesses that were convenient, cheap and useful for many residents, and what are left behind are empty stalls, or areas that have been completely demolished, leaving no trace of their previous existence.

However my friend has the last laugh -- expats are complaining it's hard to find an ayi (a maid) these days. Gee, I wonder why?

He says his ayi may leave next year if she too is pressured, but doesn't know where to go. She doesn't want to go back to Anhui province, and do what? She has lived in Beijing for over a decade and makes good money cleaning people's flats.

The Beijing government may think it's doing a good thing getting rid of the "low-end population", but really it's shooting itself in the foot. These migrant workers keep the city going. They were the ones who built all the new buildings and infrastructure, but you deny their children education because they don't have hukou or a residence permit, and now you force them to leave because you consider them an eyesore?

How is that equality in the so-called socialist People's Republic of China?

Picture of the Day: Jianbing Breakfast

Delicious local breakfast option in Beijing -- Jianbing!

In Beijing I stayed in a hotel in Dongsishitiao, a very convenient location to get to Sanlitun, and to Dongzhimen one subway stop away (or a 20 minute walk).

The woman who helped me checking into the hotel asked if I wanted breakfast in the hotel -- which would cost over 100 kuai. I said no, because I knew there were other cheaper options nearby.

Last time I stayed at this hotel I bought food next door at Starbucks, but this time I decided to go local.

Behind Poly Theater there is a small street with lots of small shops. One of them sells jianbing.

There are carbs for sure, but protein and vegetables too!

For the uninitiated, jianbing is a large savoury pancake that is folded like a square sandwich.

Every morning I would watch the woman make it. She put some batter on a large black round hotplate and then use a wooden tool to smooth it out. Then she cracked an egg on it, and then used the tool again to break the yolk and spread it over the crepe. After that was done she would sprinkle black sesame on top.

By this time the crepe is done on one side, and she deftly uses a scraper around the bottom to loosen it and then flips it over by holding onto it with her thumbs and the scrapers.

Then she adds a dark brown sauce I believe is similar to the ones used for Peking duck and spreads it all over the cooked side of the crepe. She asks if I want chilli sauce and I decline, and she continues by adding pickled and slightly spicy vegetables, raw chopped onions and coriander.

To finish she adds a rectangular piece of puffed cracker in the middle and then folds the crepe on two sides, then makes a crease with the scraper on each of the long ends of the cracker so that it can now fold into a square, and folds the rest of the crepe.

It's put into a waxy paper envelope and then into a plastic bag.

The flavour is definitely umami, with a touch of spiciness and crunch from the vegetables and the cracker. So good.

And only for 6 kuai!

I told my expat friend how much I paid for it and she said that it was about average, though she added some places charge as much as 15 kuai, which she thought was a rip-off.

I remember them being about 3 kuai a few years ago, but that's inflation for you.

Nevertheless it's still a bargain and I was able to eat a late lunch without feeling hungry in between!