Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TST, BREEZE FOR THE FEET
The crowds and the traffic might have you thinking otherwise, but Tsim Sha Tsui is one
of Hong Kong's most walkable urban areas. Its pavements are between 250m and
300m long. Metro stations have a catchment radius of 500m - the rough equivalent
of an eight-minute stroll. At half the length, streets in TST take only four minutes to
cover.
T-junctions link most of TST's meandering avenues. The very layout of the T-junc-
tion, where one road meets another at right angles but does not cross it, creates
neighbourly enclosures while dangling the promise of fresh horizons at every corner.
So reaching Canton Rd from Peking Rd, would it be right to the Macau Ferry Terminal
or left to the Space Museum? Compare this to the sprawling, crisscrossing grid that is
Yau Ma Tei - a fascinating area buzzing with life that could also alienate or disorient
newcomers.
No matter where you're at in TST, good old Nathan Rd is never more than four
blocks away. Born just shy of the harbour, Kowloon's earliest strip of asphalt runs past
Yau Ma Tei to end in Mong Kok, offering the reassurance of a linear narrative in a
labyrinthine plot, and a choice of many, many endings.
Yau Ma Tei
STREET
SHANGHAI STREET
Strolling down Shanghai St will take you back to a time long past. Once Kowloon's main
drag, it's flanked by stores selling Chinese wedding gowns, sandalwood incense, hardcore
kitchenware, and Buddha statues. There are also mah-jong parlours and an old pawn shop at
the junction with Saigon St. It's rich in local flavour and filled with unusual souvenirs.
