A WALK ON THE FAR SIDE
As the Avenue of Stars reopens, FIONNUALA MCHUGH offers a step- by-step tour of Kowloon’s dramatically changed waterfront
Kowloon’s harbourfront seems to change with the tide. FIONNUALA MCHUGH explores Victoria Harbour’s other side
For a maritime city, Hong Kong has always had a rather nonchalant attitude to its waterfronts. In the past, they sprouted wharves and jetties; these disappeared as land reclamation marched further into the sea and roads intervened. As a result, promenades have tended to be piecemeal afterthoughts, shifting with the tides. Now they’re finally working together.
Compared with Hong Kong Island’s steep inclines, the Kowloon peninsula is relatively flat. Back in the mid-19th century, Hong Kong Island’s colonial residents used to nip across the harbour to play cricket, while the surrounding hills were just high enough to be useful – the marine police headquartered themselves on top of one and the observatory used another to hoist (literally) typhoon signals – without requiring a funicular railway. Land reclamation has since made it flatter, and the harbour’s now half as wide.
As walks go, therefore, a stroll from west to east is a combination of the easy and the spectacular. It begins at the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower, next to the Star Ferry pier. That red-brick edifice marks the former terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR). Although the railway was officially opened in 1910, the tower wasn’t erected until 1915 and the station opened, unpunctually, in 1916. Apart from years of Japanese occupation between 1941 and 1945, the clock dictated passengers’ travels until a new cross-border terminus was opened in Hung Hom in 1975.
When the KCR station was demolished in 1978, the colonial administration decided the site should be devoted to journeys of the mind. As a result, this stretch of waterfront includes the windowless, pink-tiled Cultural Centre, the Space Museum and the Museum of Art, due to reopen later this year after a HK$930 million renovation. In the 1980s, a government press release described the complex as ‘a high-technology nail in the coffin of the long-dead cliche that Hong Kong is a cultural desert’.
(Actually, this accusation still tends to rise, zombie-fashion, from its grave but perhaps the gradual unveiling of the West Kowloon Cultural District, beginning with the Xiqu Centre for Chinese opera last month, will put an emphatic stake through its heart.)
The joy of the flâneur, however, is to roam out in the open alongside the joggers, the fishermen, the sailors, the domestic helpers FaceTiming far- off families, the fortune-tellers, the photographers (professional and selfie), the brides, the sweepers, the world’s visitors. Hong Kong, on both sides of its harbour, has never been the sort of bashful city that hides behind walls, and the Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront has always led a vivid existence in front of its world- class backdrop.
But in 2004, it wanted to entice tourists with a more formalised attraction, which is why the Avenue of Stars began
香港四環，面 海 大家對於海景早已見慣亦平。常 過去海旁興建了不少碼頭和防波，堤但隨著填海工程有增無減，土地不斷向海面延伸，這些碼頭和防波堤亦大多改建成馬路，濱海 大道的位置亦隨著發展巨輪而變遷，變得東拼西湊，現時一切塵埃落定，長廊終於可連成一體。
香港島地勢陡峭，九龍半島則相對平。坦 19世紀中葉，香港成為英國殖民地，當時港島區居民愛溜過海打，木球 而靠的岸 兩座高山，正好設立水警總部和天文台山頂基地，更後者 可以人手名副其實地「懸掛」颱風信號，無須依靠登山纜車。填隨著 海工程陸續展開，勢地 漸漸變得平，坦 但維多利亞港兩岸的距離亦因而減半。
從西向東蹓躂，會發現一路上休閒氣氛與華麗景致共冶一爐。首先映入眼簾的是尖沙咀鐘樓，接著是天星碼頭。以紅磚建成的鐘樓，前身是九廣鐵路的火車總站。雖然鐵路早於1910年正式通車，但這幢大樓於1915年才落成，站車則延至1916年才啟用。鐘樓除了於1941年至1945年日佔時期暫停運作外，一直忠心耿耿地為乘客日時，直至全新的跨境總站於1975年在紅投磡 入服務為止。
火車總站於1978年拆卸，運輸用途雖作結，但殖民地政府認為應將原址闢作陶冶性情之旅的起點，遂在這一帶的濱海 範圍興建多幢弘揚藝術文化的建築， 括粉紅瓷磚外牆上一扇窗也沒有的文化中心、空太 館和藝術館。後者耗資9.3億港元翻新後，將於今年稍後重新開幕。1980年代，一份政府發表的新聞稿指出，這個綜合發展區「以先進科技為本，宣告『香港乃文化沙漠』的陳腔濫正調 式告終」。
twinkling on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront – Hong Kong’s version of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. This month, after three years’ renovation, the Avenue of Stars reopens. At night, lights will illuminate the attraction to mimic the movement of the adjacent harbour, and will be powered by the city’s first wave-powered generator.
The promenade of plaques honouring stalwarts of Hong Kong’s film industry was funded by the New World Group, which has also been responsible for renovating what was once Holt’s Wharf into the Victoria Dockside, a HK$20 billion art and design district. This spring, the newly built Rosewood Hong Kong hotel will open as part of this new offering.
Also back in 2004, a sound and light show called Symphony of Lights began on Hong Kong Island. It’s no coincidence that both the light show and the Avenue of Stars were unveiled the year after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome had effectively halted Hong Kong tourism. The show linked up with Tsim Sha Tsui in 2005; as you walk along the harbourfront, you’ll see the searchlights waiting to illuminate the night sky. In some of their protective globes, bougainvillea from nearby planters have crept in and flourished. Blooming in an unlikely space, against the odds, is the Hong Kong way.
Six years later, in 2011, the government officially announced the opening of the Hung Hom promenade, linked to the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade via the footbridge next to Salisbury Road – a Hong Kong solution to the tangle of roads beneath, which includes the Cross-Harbour Tunnel.
It’s curious how different the Hung Hom promenade feels. As there are fewer tourists, it’s calmer, more spacious and the view has shifted so that what you see of Hong Kong Island is less glitzy-spangled and more glowing-domestic. Across the harbour, the tail-lights heading home on the Island Eastern Corridor look like an endless trail of red lanterns.
And on a winter’s night, a traveller can feel the strength of the east wind, direct from the sea. Several months after Typhoon Mangkhut’s rampage, the ground’s puckered where trees have been ripped out; and those that remain sit at a slant. Nearby is the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, built on the site of the old airport that closed in 1998. Before then, there was a strict height limit on buildings. Now they reach up into the surrounding sky and the estate agents, loitering outside the closed- up old Hung Hom Ferry Pier, ask equally stratospheric prices.
If you’re hungry, you can eat at a local restaurant on the Hung Hom jetty or try the Dockyard international food court below the Kerry Hotel. You can also walk back, via the footbridge, to the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade and buy a snack from one of the food trucks, a concept the government introduced to the city in 2017.
If you’re thirsty, you can have a cocktail in the InterContinental Hong Kong. Kowloon literally means ‘nine dragons’ in Cantonese and the hotel lobby was designed on feng shui principles so that those fantastic beasts could glide through its glass, unimpeded, for their dawn dip in the harbour. You won’t see them at night, but at 8pm, when the Symphony of Lights starts and the sky turns frantic with jabbing green fingers, you might believe that aliens with ADHD have taken over Hong Kong Island.
Once the show ends, the crowds, mostly, disperse. The island across the water still shimmers like a tremendous jewel, part of a giant’s hoard. The sea slaps against the wall as if it would rather like to have its turn at reclamation. The barges, the junks, the ferries and sampans pass to and fro on their mysterious, ceaseless maritime business. But the wanderer stands still for a few minutes, looking.
（實事 上，這些過時的指控依不然 停出現，也許必須待西九文化區的各項設施陸落續 成後，這些指控才會煙消雲散專。門為中國戲曲表演而設的戲曲中心，剛於上月在區內率先開幕啟。用 ）
不過，在戶外隨處逛閒 ，穿梭於跑步客垂、 釣者、、水手 以FaceTime與家人遙相問候的外籍家傭、占卜師、專攝業 影師和自達拍 人、新娘子、清道夫和來自世界各地的旅客之間，才能享受散的趣步 樂 。維港兩岸從吝不 於展露自身的魅力，沙尖咀海旁更是光色五十 ，毫不遜於對岸璀璨的景都會 致。
2004年，此地特意發展為正式景點，以吸引旅客，催因此 生了香港版「荷李活星光大道」，為尖沙咀海濱添上閃爍星光。經三重過 年 建後，香港星光大於道 本月。重開 入夜後，全港首個海浪發電裝置將身負重任為， 這個景點帶來耀目的燈光，與維港的粼粼波互光 相。輝映
星光大道由新世界集團斥資興建，展示一塊塊香港電影界傑出人士的印牌手 和匾，表揚他們的成就。新世界集團亦投放了200億港元，把昔日的藍煙囪貨倉碼頭改建為藝術設計園地Victoria Dockside。今年春季，新落成的香港瑰麗酒店將隆重開幕，為此地再添姿采。
同在樣 20 0 4年，燈光與樂韻交織的「幻彩詠香江」開始在港島海旁上空登場。無獨有偶，匯激光 演和星光大道，均於士沙 疫症重挫香港遊的年旅 業 翌 面世。2005年，表演舞台及個遍 整 尖沙咀，晚上沿著海濱漫你步， 會到射看 探 燈蓄勢待發，準備照亮天際。部分燈罩被栽種於旁邊的簕杜鵑蔓生纏繞，而且欣欣向榮地生長股。這 異軍突、起絕處逢生的生命力，向來香是 港的特色。
六年後的2011年，政府正式宣佈紅磡海濱花園啟用它， 連接梳士巴利道旁的行人天橋，貫通尖沙咀海濱長廊，此舉香是港因應錯綜複雜的地面交通 （ 括紅磡海底隧道）而構思出來的良策。
紅磡海濱長廊予人的感覺與尖沙咀海旁截然不同。由於遊客較少，這裡氣氛較寧 ，更地方 感寬敞，景觀亦與尖沙咀有所不同你，看會到島港 區褪去絢爛、萬家燈的常火 尋 一面。在對岸東走上的 區 廊 ，車輛閃著車尾燈，串成一列看不到盡頭的紅燈籠。
在冬夜，海濱過路人會感受到由海上正面襲來的凜冽東風。颱風「山竹」襲港後數月，樹木被吹倒的位置，地面一片狼藉仍， 然倖存的大樹亦多有傾。側 1998年關的機閉 舊 場原， 址作改啟德郵輪碼頭。 以往，政府對該區的建築物高度限制嚴格，條現時 例放寬，新建的大廈盡情向上發地展。 產代理亦紛紛在已完成歷方任務的舊紅磡碼頭外徘徊，兜售價錢同樣比天高的樓盤。
餓的了 話，可到位於紅磡碼頭的本地餐品廳 嚐香港風味，或到嘉酒里 店下層的Dockyard百味村美食廣場，細味各地佳餚。你亦可經行人天橋回到尖沙咀海濱長廊，在政府於2017年引入本港的美食車選購滋味小食。
若想小酌一杯，不妨到香港洲際酒店品嚐雞尾酒。顧名思義九，龍意存「九條龍」，所以酒店大堂的設計應用風水原理，讓瑞獸擺設在日影游移間越過玻璃幕牆乘， 破曉飛龍，出海 入夜則潛龍在淵。但每晚到 上時8 ，「幻彩詠香江」在夜上空演，各式射燈肆意為天際染上迷離綠光，或許會令你頓生錯覺，以為活力窮無 的外星客異 已征服港島。
曲終之時，人亦散去。但港島的璀璨夜景，儼如巨型百寶箱內的一顆大寶石，閃爍依然。浪潮拍岸，似乎亦希望為填海工程盡一己之力。、、躉船 遊艇 渡輪與舢舨在這海港上絡繹不絕，進行外人不知情並永無休止的海上事業，但在岸上閒的逛人於則 此駐足片刻，凝視著這片海港。
ONCE THE SHOW ENDS, THE CROWDS, MOSTLY, DISPERSE. THE ISLAND ACROSS THE WATER SHIMMERS LIKE A TREMENDOUS JEWEL曲終之時，人亦散去。但港島的璀璨夜景，儼如一顆巨型寶石般閃爍依然