Mid-Levels
Mid-levels is a residential area in Hong Kong. Located halfway up the mountain, between the Peak and Central, it is one of the most popular and high-class residential areas for both local folks and expatriates. In the old days, mainly the expatriates lived there, but not much locals. Precisely, Mid-levels include the area between Queen's Road Central and the Peak, from Caine Road and Robinson Road in the west to Conduit Road in the east. It is mainly separated into East Mid-levels, Central Mid-levels and West Mid-levels.
One of the reasons for its attraction is that it provides a lot of choices of housing from the very luxurious to small and compact apartments and the cost of these apartments definitely varies considerably according to their sizes and locations. The cost ranges from a few million dollars to about twenty hundreds million dollars. Mid-levels is located at the superior region, apart from having a bird's eye view of the mesmerizing view of the Victoria Harbor from Mid-Levels, it is close to Central and Admiralty which is a significant intense business area, so it provides easy and convenient access for the businessmen living in Mid-levels.
Mid-levels is surrounded by nature and thus have the fresh air that has almost entirely dissipated in Hong Kong. These account for the extremely high price of all the residential buildings in Mid-levels. As everyone knows that health is equivalent to wealth, many famous people are convinced that it is worthwhile to pay such a high price for a house or apartment in this area. Therefore, it is easy to spot many well known people in this precious district.
Also, the Mid Levels West provides both traditional and historical features. For example, the old buildings in Sheung Wan fall into one of the many traditional and historical features. Moreover, many prestigious schools can be found in Mid-Levels, with the most historical and famous one being The University of Hong Kong.
One other characteristic we can find in Mid-Levels is the naming of roads after a myriad of former Governors of Hong Kong, such as Bonham Road (after George Bonham, 1848-1854) and Kennedy Road (after Arthur E. Kennedy, 1872-1877). Many of the roads in this area are within walking distance of the Central Business District, which is accessible by a long escalator from Central. The escalator links Central district with Conduit Road in the Mid-Levels, starting from Queen's Road Central, along Cochrane Street, Shelley Street and then to the Conduit Road. This escalator was opened to the public in 1994. Being 800 metres long, it is the longest escalator in the world.
1. Eating and Drinking
a) Lan Kwai Fong
Lan Kwai Fong is a good place for the brilliance nightlife, because you can find a lot of bars, discos and coffee shops around this area, in addition to many large functions held during public holidays and festive occasions. So it is a nice place for gatherings with friends, having a drink at leisure after work. It also attracts a lot of foreigners to have a drink there. During the daytime, bars in Lan Kwai Fong are nearly all closed as people inside are probably preparing for nighttime to dawn. In stark contrast, at night, Lan Kwai Fong is so full of life that you can see a multitude of cultures that exists in Hong Kong. In some special occasions such as Halloween and New Year's Eve, it becomes the ideal area for celebrations.
However, a tragedy happened there on New Year's Eve in 1992 when 21 people were tramped to death by a huge crowd of people celebrating. This disaster was contributed by some undesirable elements of the location namely the narrow streets, a steep gradient, poor police planning and bad weather. However, the situation in Lan Kwai Fong has been improved a lot nowadays. No matter how tragic and griefing that incident was, Lan Kwai Fong still remains a very famous spot of tourist attraction in Hong Kong up till today.
b) Soho
Soho(named after its location "South of Hollywood Road"), is another hot spot in Hong Kong. It is further west from Lan Kwai Fong, around Staunton Street and Elgin Street. Soho offers a compact, fashionable area of bars and restaurants with food from the Himalayas to the Louisiana Bayou, and from Malaysia to the Mediterranean. It becomes well-known due to the fact that this tiny area serves a very wide range of international cuisine, for example: Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.
2. Shopping malls
In the Mid-levels, there are many far-farmed shopping malls, such as Pacific Place and the Lanmark. Owing to their proximity to the Central MTR station, it is convenient for people from all parts of Hong Kong. It is a wonderful place for the tourists to go shopping during everytime of the day.
a) The Landmark
The Landmark is a collection of famous brand shops all over the world. Shopping centres of well known brands such as Chanel, LV, Gucci, Loewe, Polo and Prada can all be found in the Landmark. Moreover, the Landmark is regarded as the trend of Hong Kong. People from all walks of life walking around always wear the most updated and beautiful clothes and all the shops exhibit the most special and latest goods from time to time. If you do not want to buy anything, going to have a look is also wonderful and enjoyable action.
b) The Pacific Place
c) Western Market
The four-storey, red brick building is a lofty historic monument declared by the Hong Kong Government in 1990 after it was built in 1906. It is now a centre permeated with Chinese arts and crafts.
3. Recreation
Midlevels is a place with a lot of recreational facilities. Famous parks and well-known buildings can be found here. For example, recreational parks such as Hong Kong Park can be found in Midlevels. They provides you a comfortable environment and lets you be relaxed and refreshed after your hard work. On the other hand, the Peak is also a famous place for recreation and sightseeing. Many tourists and visitors must go to have a look at these places when they come to Hong Kong.
a) Hong Kong Park
Hong Kong Park is located next to Cotton Tree Drive in Central and can be easily reached by walking through the Pacific Place and its nearby escalator. Hong Kong Park was open to public in May 1991. It covers an area of 8 hectares and is an outstanding example of modern design and facilities blending with natural landscape.
Hong Kong Park captures the natural landscape in the busy and crowded business centres and provides a relaxing environment, with its main feature being Hong Kong's largest aviary. In addition, Vantage Point is another great place to see a variety of birds. Inside Hong Kong Park, there is a greenhouse which holds various species of plants and the orchid exhibition running from February till March. There are also many modern gardens, including Garden Plaza and Tai Chi Garden. In order to suit sport-lovers, a sport centre and a squash centre have also been built in Hong Kong Park. For people who are interested in art or teaware, it is a good idea to visit the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre and the Flagstaff House Museum, since they are situated near Hong Kong Park.
Futhermore, apart from the Hong Kong Park, if you want to stroll in some more conservational areas in Mid-levels, country parks such as Tai Tam Country Park and Aberdeen Country Park are some perfect choices for both Hong Kong people and visitors to savor the unpolluted realms far away from the "concrete forest".
b) The Peak
The Peak is one of the attractive tourist destinations in Hong Kong. If you want to visit the Peak, it's very convenient for you to do so, as there are so many public transports that can take you there, though it is highly recommended that you take the Peak tramway. It only takes 7 minutes to bring you from the bottom of the hill (admiralty) to the terminal - the Peak. Travelling in the Peak tramway is a wonderful experience when you look back at its historical importance. In 1988, it carried its first flock of passengers and had served as one of the city's most vital transport links over the last century. Up until now, it still reamins one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, do not forget the working hours of this meaningful service. The Peak Tram runs every day, even on Sundays and public holidays, between 7:00 am and 12:00 midnight. The tram departs every 15 minutes.
Besides tourists, the Peak is also popular among the locals because from the Peak, the whole picture-perfect scenario of Hong Kong will come into the view , due to its being highest spot in Hong Kong. When firework is being carried out in the Victoria Habour during Lunar New Year as well as some other special days , the Peak is usually a marvellous place to view these fantastic firework. Besides a special building, Peak Tower, which shapes like a "wok", is situated in the Peak. There are seven levels in thePeak Tower, each providing different activities for the visitors, including restaurants, entertainments and some shops selling traditional stuff. The well-known Madame Tussauds has also opened in Hong Kong, showing you a bunch of wax figures, such as super stars like Jackie Chan. Also, the Peak Explorer Motion Simulator,Hong Kong's Historical Adventure and the Ripley's Believe it or not Odditorium are the other forms of entertainment that you can find. In addition, many spectaculars are placed in the Viewing Terrances for visitors to observe the undescribably mesmerizing view of Hong Kong .
c) Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens
The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is one of the oldest Zoological and Botanical centres in the world. It is located on the northern slope of Victoria Peak and has been opened to the public since 1862. In 1871, the name was offically changed to Botanical Gardens, and in 1975, the name was changed again to Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. This venerable park was previously named Ping Tao Garden, as it was linked to the garden to the Government House in those days, meaning the Cheif Commander's Garden. In 1958, a bronze statue of King Geoge VI was erected in the garden to mark the centenary year in which Hong Kong became a British Colony. In the olden days, many lovers liked to go there.
4. Art and Cultures
In Mid-levels, you are able to feel the culture trait, ranging from the traditional to the modern cultures. Here are some recommadtion:
a) Hollywood Road
There is a very special road lay on the center of the Mid-levels area - Hollywood Road. When you walk along the road, it seemed you have entered into an art museum, because it is amazingly that is an open-air curio market in which more than 70 antique and artifact shops and galleries along the road there. These quaint locales are ideal places for picking up eclectic souvenirs and gifts. They mainly sell artworks and antique likes: paintings, Chinese and European artworks, India carpet and some small object that is quite rare and unusual. Everything from Ming Dynasty furniture and lotus lamps to Mao badges and ancient snuff bottles is on sale here.
b) Lascar Row
Lascar Row is situated between the Queen's Road West and Hollywood Road and is also known as "Cat Street". In the past, thieves used to sell some stolen stuffs in this street and so the English call them "cat". Therefore, it gives Lascar Row another name, "Cat Street". At the entrance, there are Twin Stone Lions of the Tang Dynasty to act as the symbol of the street. It can be separated into 2 parts: upper part and lower part. Similar to Hollywood Road, many handicrafts and antiquities are also avaliable there. You can find many different variety of stuffs from Dynasty there, for example, some vases and coins. Therefore, it attracts many collectors to find the valuables and treasure. It is very interesting that the word "Lascar" comes from the word "Moorman" which means ugly Indian! If you have time, you can travel this historical street and feel its special "old" features. Perhaps, you will come back with a lot of precious old thing and many modern things but all are in second-handed!
c) The Flagstaff House Museum
Moreover, inside the Hong Kong Park, there is the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware (茶具文物館), which is a branch museum of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. It is built in the 1840s and originally served as the office and residence of the Commander of the British Forces in Hong Kong. However, it was converted to the Museum of Tea Ware in 1984, with a new wing (the K.S. Lo Gallery) added in 1995. Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware specializes in the collection, study and display of tea ware. In order to promote Chinese tea drinking culture, a lot of exhibitions are held in the museum. For example, special Exhibition of Pottery and Porcelain: A Journey of Discovery will be displayed from 10 Mar 2004 to 13 Dec 2004. Moreover, there are also permanent exhibitions such as Chinese Tea Drinking and Chinese Ceramics and Seals Donated by the K.S. Lo Foundation. Apart from this, video programmes in Cantonese and Japanese version, regular presentations and lecture programmes and services like free guided tours, giftshops can also be found. The most special and interesting service provided in the museum is the Chinese Teahouse. It is located on the ground floor of the K.S. Lo Gallery, its main purpose is not only serves Chinese tea, but also holds tea demonstrations regularly. After you tour the galleries, you may feel tired and thiristy, then you can go there to enjoy a nice cup of tea, which makes you feel relaxed and refreshed.
d) Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre
The Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre is located at the Kennedy Road in Central, the main aim of the centre is supporting the local art creation. The centre was restructured from an early 20th century building (Cassels Block, former barracks for married British officers), in order to provide an area and facilities for local artists in order to enhance their creativity. You can enjoy a lot of modern artifacts and sculptures in this centre.
e)The Main Building of the University of Hong Kong
The Main Building of the University of Hong Kong is the oldest of all the university's structures. Its construction began in 1910 and was completed in 1912. It is usually not open to the public. However, sometimes public talks will be held by the university, and so you can visit the Main Building.
f)Man Mo Temple
Man Mo Temple, as one of the traditional temples in Hong Kong, is another popular tourist spot. Inside Man Mo Temple the Taoist Gods of Literature (Man)with his calligraphy brush and War (Mo) with his sword are enshrined. Tourists can shake fortune sticks out of a bamboo cylinder, which is avaliable in the temple and get the predictions inscribed on the sticks in the book "Man Mo Temple". If you run into ill luck or if you intend to look for your better half, it is a good idea to go there to have a prediction from the Gods. They may give you guidelines and help you by different means. Moreover, the income of the temple will all be contributed to charitable organizations to help others in need.
g)Central Police Station
The Police station is located at Hollywood Road. It was built in 1864, and the other blocks were added between 1910 and 1925. Many police stations were built during this period because a huge amount of people moved to Hong Kong from mainland China and thus peace and order had to be maintained. This four-story grey building has a classical style, as it is built with Doric-style columns. It stands as a mute testimony to Hong Kong's colonial heritage for its long history and antiquated architectural style. In the past, the police station was used as the headquarters of the police, however, its importance declined when the new police headquarters was built in Wan Chai after World War II. Today it is still a police station, dormitory and prison. Nowadays, this police station is used as both the Hong Kong Island Regional Police Headquarters and the Central District Police Headquarters.
However, the Central Police Station has to face a reconstruction in the future. It is because the Government has a plan to convert the Police Station and the magistracy into modern food plazas, a museum and an art gallery. Besides, the Victoria prison is also designed to be converted to a theatre or a museum. They will then become tourist spots and use their historical backgrounds to attract visitors.
h)Union Church
Union Church is located at Kennedy Road in Mid-Levels, up the hill from Central and Admiralty, and next to where the Peak Tram bridge intersects with Kennedy Road. It is an international, interdenominational church which was established in Hong Kong in 1844. Union Church has a long history and during World War II, it was forced to be closed owing to the invasion of the Japanese.
i) The Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences
The Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences was established in 1996. It is an unique institution showing the development of medical sciences in Hong Kong. The museum is located at 2 Caine Lane at Mid-levels. It is a three-tier building occupying 10,000 square feet and it consists of 11 exhibition galleries including 1 gallery for Tai Ping Shan View, 1 library and 1 lecture room. A herbal garden can also be found. There, a collection of different types of herbs are shown and the studies of their medical properties are carried out. The aim of the museum is to exhibit and educate the public about Hong Kong's medical history as well as to preserve historical medical materials relating to the local development of medicine. Occasionally, special activities are held by the museum to inform the public about medical information and news. Publications and leaflets are also distributed to the public occasionally so as to help arouse the interest of the public in the medical history of Hong Kong and increase their knowledge and understanding of health and diseases. This museum is special and meaningful since it is the first of its kind among all the medical museums in the world! The museum is closed on Monday but it is open to the public from 10:00a.m to 5:00p.m from Tuesday to Saturday. On Sundays and public holidays, it starts at 1:00p.m. and closes at 5:00p.m. The admission fee is only HK$10.00 for adults and $5 for the disabled people, full-time students and the elderly aged 60 or above. Don't miss the chance and go right now!