Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A colonial tradition dating back to the mid-1800s, the daily firing of this Hotchkiss
3-pounder naval gun was made famous by the Noël Coward song 'Mad Dogs and English-
men' ('In Hong Kong, they strike a gong, and fire off a noonday gun/To reprimand each in-
mate who's in late'). The gun stands in a small garden opposite the Excelsior Hotel on the
waterfront, where its noon-on-the-dot firing always draws a small crowd.
The Noonday Gun is tricky to find - it's accessible via a tunnel through the basement car
park in the World Trade Centre, just west of the Excelsior Hotel. From the taxi rank in front
of the hotel, look west for the door marked 'Car Park Shroff, Marina Club & Noon Gun'.
TYPHOON SHELTER
CAUSEWAY BAY TYPHOON SHELTER
Not so long ago the waterfront in Causeway Bay was a mass of junks and sampans huddling
in the typhoon shelter for protection, but these days it's nearly all yachts. The land jutting
out to the west is Kellett Island. It is home to the
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
.
PARK
VICTORIA PARK
7am-11pm; Tin Hau, exit B)
Victoria Park is the biggest patch of public greenery on Hong Kong Island. The best time to
go is on a weekday morning, when it becomes a forest of people practising the slow-motion
choreography of taichi. The park becomes a flower market a few days before the Chinese
New Year. It's also worth a visit during the
Mid-Autumn Festival
, when people turn out en
masse carrying lanterns.
TEMPLE
TIN HAU TEMPLE
Southeast of Victoria Park, Hong Kong Island's most famous Tin Hau temple is dwarfed by
surrounding high-rises. This temple dedicated to the patroness of seafarers has been a place
of worship for three centuries, though the current structure is only about 200 years old. The
central shrine contains an effigy of Tin Hau with a blackened face.
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
LIN FA TEMPLE
'Lotus' is a pretty Buddhist temple with an octagonal front, a boulder jutting into its rear,
and elaborate frescos.
