Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hong Kong gets around five or more typhoons every year, it is usually spared a
direct hit and fatalities are now rare.
Typhoons generally occur between July and September. A series of signals from
one to 10 alerts residents in the event of a storm. Signal No. 1 goes up when a
tropical storm that could escalate into a typhoon has moved within a 740km
(460-mile) radius of Hong Kong. People generally pay little attention at this point.
Signal 3 means that the winds have escalated, accompanied, perhaps, by heavy
rains. Tours and harbour cruises are suspended, and some businesses close.
No. 8 is more serious: it means that the gale has reached Hong Kong. Banks, of-
fices, museums and most shops and restaurants close, and local transport and
flights are disrupted. In case of a No. 8 warning, you should remain in your hotel
and check the storm's progress on TV or radio.
On the nautical side is the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter , where expensive yachts are
moored, and the Hong Kong Yacht Club has its headquarters. Across Gloucester Road, op-
posite the World Trade Centre, is the Noon Day Gun % [map] , which under British rule
was sounded on the stroke of noon. It's not clear how the custom started. One story has it
that traders Jardine, Matheson & Co fired a private salute for a visiting tycoon, an act that
incensed the colonial authorities, who felt that they had the sole right to issue such a 21-gun
welcome. As a result, the merchants were forced to limit their salvoes to one a day - and
from then on, they signalled the noon hour daily for all to hear. The gun was made famous
by Noel Coward's satirical song Mad Dogs and Englishmen . The typhoon shelter will be re-
claimed temporarily during the construction of the Central-Wan Chai bypass, but is sched-
uled to be restored by 2020.
Farther east is Hong Kong's largest park, Victoria Park ^ [map] , with sports grounds,
swimming pool and gardens. On the eastern side of the park on Causeway Road is a Tin
Hau Temple , dedicated to Tin Hau, the Taoist Queen of Heaven and patron of seafarers.
Originally the temple was on the shore, but reclamation projects have left it high and dry.
On the 23rd day of the Third Moon, the birthday of the goddess is celebrated here and in all
Hong Kong fishing communities. In the early morning the park is taken over by people do-
ing t'ai-chi exercises, performing balletic movements in slow motion to discipline the mind
and body. On Sunday, Hong Kong's sizeable community of Indonesian domestic helpers
gather here to socialise on their one day off.
At the eastern end of Hong Kong Island, past North Point and Quarry Bay, and best
reached on foot (15 minutes) from Shau Kei Wan MTR station, is the Hong Kong Museum
of Coastal Defence & [map] ( http://hk.coastaldefence.museum ; Fri-Wed 10am-5pm;
charge). Housed in the restored Lei Yue Mun Fort, built by the British, it showcases 600
 
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