Blue Skies for Chinese New Year

It was so clear today from the Peak you could see for miles, and miles...

My cousin and I walked up to the Peak this morning and it was a fantastic day to be out and about, blue skies with temperatures as high as 19 degrees!

We thought most people would be busy visiting relatives for the first day of Chinese New Year, but by the time we made it up to the main path, there were lots of tourists and locals taking advantage of the good weather too.

Down by the water near Dr Sun Yat-sen Park in Sai Ying Pun

It's not often the skies are clear, and probably thanks to strong winds and factories closed across the border, we had deep blue skies and hardly any clouds in sight.

Afterwards we came back to Central via minibus and I decided to walk home and try to be as close to the water as possible.

This was relatively easy from the Central ferry piers all the way to Dr Sun Yat-sen Park in Sai Ying Pun, and then I had no choice but to double back and get onto the pedestrian overpass that was a block from the harbour because of the highway overpasses for cars.

It wasn't until after I passed the Western Wholesale Fruit Market that I could again walk close to the water. By the time I hit Kennedy Town's bus terminus, an elderly man had just pulled up his trap from the water to have a bountiful harvest of small fish about the size of the palm of my hand.

An elderly man's catch of lots of small fish

He poured them into his bucket and some onlookers were impressed that he'd caught enough for a decent meal.

The trap that lured them in had a large piece of bread in it, which had become a soggy piece of mush.

Nevertheless, it was a fun finish to a wonderful day -- 19-degree weather (though not warm enough just to wear T-shirts!).

Last Day of the Sheep

Beautiful Japanese orchids for sale at Victoria Park

On Chinese New Year Eve, we did the customary cleaning out the flat, stocked up on food, and headed to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.

Lots of orchids for sale, by the boatloads...

It wasn't particularly packed, but what was most annoying was that the sun was shining overhead with no shade and we were overdressed, leading to patience wearing thin.

We didn't go through the entire fair, but had a decent taste of it. Ever heard of a rice cooker where you can also make cakes and souffle in it? HKTV even had a stall selling various goods including DVDs of its popular series Election for HK$100.

Afterwards as we headed to the MTR station behind Sogo, which is also where Causeway Bay Book Store is. In front of it was a man doing his own artistic protest. He dipped his hand into soapy water and shampooed his hair, then took a handful of suds and placed them carefully on the ground, creating a kind of bubbly white trail.

An artistic protest about missing booksellers with shampoo

It was meant to make fun of pro-government lawmaker Ng Leung-sing, who in early January said in the Legislative Council that the five missing booksellers had gone to the mainland to have fun with prostitutes.

This was the young man's way of keeping the story alive, and getting an audience of curious onlookers.

Meanwhile off to the side, an artist was painting the entrance to the bookstore (it's actually a stairwell), and the shops next to it, while also recording the performance artist on his smartphone.

An artist painting the scene at the bookshop

It's a strange way to mark the end of the Year of the Sheep, but who knows how mischievous the Year of the Monkey will be. Things don't look too promising for the five. We can only continue to shed a spotlight on them to remind people of their plight...

Picture of the Day: Water Buffalo

One water buffalo seems to have fun hanging out on the beach at Pui O

Today I went to Mui Wo to visit a friend. She actually lives in Pui O, a rural area by the beach.

In the late afternoon we took a stroll around the neighbourhood and as we got to the beach, we encountered some feral water buffalo.

They are gentle creatures and I wasn't quite sure how to react around them; everyone else seems to just let them to about their business so I tried not to be intrusive.

We encountered two more on a path we were walking along

Unfortunately these pictures were taken against the light, but it was nice to be relatively up close to them!

The other thing to be concerned about when you walk where these water buffalo roam, you have to watch out for the giant cow patties!

The Missing Booksellers Saga Continues

The five missing booksellers are in custody by Guangdong police

The plight of the missing booksellers continues with three of them who have not been heard from since last October are now being held by Guangdong police, and that the trio are under investigation.

In addition, even though the Hong Kong police put in a request last night to speak to Lee Po in order to get more information about the trio, he apparently rebuffed them.

This is now confirmation that the Chinese authorities have Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee in custody and they along with Gui Minhai and Lee Po have been suspected to be "involved in illegal activities on the mainland".

"Criminal compulsory measures were imposed on them and they were under investigation," Guangdong police wrote in a letter to their Hong Kong counterparts.

Gossipy books about Chinese leaders on sale in Hong Kong

They included a letter apparently from Lee stating that he "did not need to meet with them at the moment" and would contact them if he wished to do so. Lee's wife confirmed it was her husband's handwriting when she was shown the letter.

The story of the missing booksellers seems to be getting murkier and murkier... why wouldn't Lee want to meet with the Hong Kong authorities? How much longer will they be held for?

Some believe the five are being punished as a warning to others not to publish salacious books about senior Chinese leaders, despite the voracious market for them, and Mighty Current had a big corner on the market.

It published about five books a month, about 50 in a year, making up one-third of the market. Most of the readers were from the mainland, who would come to Hong Kong to buy these books to find out more information (truth or not) about their leaders.

Veteran journalist and writer Ching Cheong believes one of the main reasons why the Chinese authorities want to shut publishers like Mighty Current down is that political factions regularly leak information to publishers like Gui Minhai to embarrass their rivals.

Ironically while Causeway Bay Books is still shut, its books are selling at a political party's stall at the New Year fair in Victoria Park. Word is still getting out...