[hkskyline]

Start off the year with a few aerial views of the city as I take my first vacation of the year on Jan 1.













Back on land, parts of Central empty out in the evening as the offices close for the day.







The old Bank of China building is being renovated while the exclusive China Club inside caters for the local business crowd.



The former Legislative Council building was repurposed back into a courthouse a few years ago.







Up along the slopes from the office towers, this former wet market has been transformed into a news museum late last year. The Bridges Street Market was built in the Bauhaus style in 1953.







The oldest artifact on display is a Chinese newspaper dating from 1878.















Just behind it is Wing Lee Street, whose historic rowhouses were originally slated for demolition, but a famous movie saved them. The original residents and printing shop tenants are mostly gone and the buildings have been renovated. Some seem inhabited but most await repurposing.











Heading across the harbour, Signal Hill Tower was built by the Observatory in 1908 to provide time for incoming ships. From 1908-1920, every day at 1pm, a copper ball was dropped from the top of the 12.8m tower to tell the time. It is open to the public today but the entrance is quite secluded, off on a dead-end side street and beside a garbage station.





The tower is surrounded by much taller buildings today.









West Kowloon has a huge swathe of land dedicated to cultural facilities. The opera house opened recently, although local arts groups have complained of the high rents.













Nan Fung Cotton Mills was established in the 1950s at a time when Hong Kong was a major textile manufacturing centre. The factory closed in 2008 and the site became a warehouse until 2014 when its owners decided to revitalize the site. The Mills is now a mix of shopping mall and museum.















































Out in the suburbs, there are still many historic villages whose history dates back a few hundred years. A couple are grouped together into historic trails for an off-the-beaten track experience. The Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail in Fanling is one of them.



































































Of course, no Hong Kong thread is complete without skyscrapers.































Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail | More Tsuen Wan | Tsim Sha Tsui | West Kowloon Cultural District | News-Expo