The Bird Market is both a traditional Chinese garden and a place to buy birds (of nearly ANY sort) on Kowloon side.
It's also a place where old-school Hong Kong bird owners take their caged birds for walks (like a pet dog). They hang their birds from a high pole and relax, chat, or play cards. And of course, show off their birds.
We tried talking with a few of the exotic types. It sounded like a few spoke Chinese! Oh, the look of wonder on my daughters' faces when a bird spoke and sounded very-near-human.
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| Getting a blow-dry. |
This guy was startled by us at first, then marched over and painstakingly climbed up higher to get a better look at us:
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| climbing up - using his beak too |
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| showing us where he'd like a scratch... |
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| That hits the spot! |
I just love seeing the beautifully crafted bird cages. Could photo these things all day.
And the bird food!! Bag of live crickets, anyone? (Watch out - a few of these guys get loose and walk around.)
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| ABear particularly enjoyed seeing these squirmers |
The birdsong, twitters, and tweets are reason enough to visit this fun little corner of HK.
GETTING THERE is also part of the fun! We took the STAR FERRY, of course!
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| Hong Kong Side - Skyline (That's IFC2) |
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| Kowloon Side Skyline (ICC on the left, on reclaimed land, and the performing arts center [nutcracker!] in the middle) |
Lastly, the day wouldn't be complete without the local playground - a demand from our toddler, when she spotted it. Provides a bit of entertainment for Mom and Dad too as it shares space with an elderly exercise area (common around here) and a typical 'Chinese Hong Kong' park scene:
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| The Elderly Fitness Corner - often overrun by curious children |
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| playing Mahjong |
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| Wad of money on the table for this card game! |
Easy afternoon of 2 hours. Probably 3 hours with travel.
