Wanderings: 榕樹頭 (Yung Shue Tau)

Temple street (廟街) in Yau Ma Tei is well-known to tourists, but thankfully hasn't been overwhelmed by their visits, managing to retain a strong local presence and character. It resembles Tung Choi Street/Ladies' Street in Mong Kok; except Temple Street is also known as Men's Street. Which isn't to say that the merchandise of these street markets are limited by its gendered name. Ladies' Street does have a mountain of handbags (no guarantees on the authenticity of such goods. I must say that they aren't as blatant with their knockoffs now as they were then), but also offers fruit, electronic items, cell phone accessories, beach towels, stuffed animals, etc. And while Temple Street focuses more on male clothing, you'll still find stalls that sells pretty much everything in between. The enterprising mind won't be limited by geography...

Another notable difference between Ladies' Street and Temple Street is that the latter area provides a gathering ground for many of the city's elderly. Particularly Yung Shue Tau (榕樹頭), a public square at the heart of Temple Street, named for the banian (banyan) fig trees situated within. During the day it is frequented by ah baks sitting together for a conversation or a game of chess. In the evenings, the fortune tellers and other vendors emerge to cater to a bigger, and more diverse, crowd. Unlike the rest of Temple Street, it provides a stage for Cantonese Opera street shows, and live singers...(funnily enough, live singers are also taking to the streets on Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok, just next to Ladies' Street/Tung Choi Street. Another parallel between the Ladies' and Men Streets?)

Judging from the Tin Hau temple there (the namesake of Temple Street), you can discern that the Yung Shue Tau area has a fishing-based heritage. The area has a long history, probably back when the Qing dynasty was still in control of China. I'll guess that the boundaries of this public square wasn't as well defined back then as it is today; the major roads (Shanghai Street, Public Square Street, etc.) currently surrounding the square didn't emerge until the mid-to-late 20th century, and now limits the possibility for spatial expansion. Photos below, with some lengthily captions: 

Old people socializing; who needs facebook when you can talk face-to-face? (And no, facetime does not count)

Tin Hau temple, actually a huge complex of other temples including a now-defunct Hsu Yuen (translates as 'study hall'. These are the predecessor to the current schools in Hong Kong. Once there was an established education system in the late 1800s, they were rendered obsolete. This one is currently a place for fortune tellers to set up their stalls.) They were constructed by local fishermen in 1865, and was finally relocated to their current site at 1876. Asides from the Tin Hau temple in this photo, there is also Shea Tan, Fook Tak Tze, and Shing Wong. More details of the latter in the next photo.

Surprisingly enough, few people realize that this temple is different from the Tin Hau temple next to it. The 城隍廟 (Chenghuang Temple/ Shing Wong Temple; differences in romanization depends on the area where these temples are found.The former was used in Shanghai, the latter in Hong Kong) roughly translates to 'City God Temple' and is fairly prevalent in most major cities that have a strong following of Chinese folk spiritual beliefs. The 城隍, or City God, is a class of deities in Chinese mythology that offer protection over the city (protection ranging from personal to communal concerns...and all kinds of disasters such as drought.) It is not to be confused with the more localized and familiar 土地公, which in itself is a huge topic, better explored in a later post...

The establishment date of the first Shing Wong temple is a bit confused; wikipedia says 1877 and locates it at Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island, the Tung Wah Group (a charitable group in charge of managing some temples in Hong Kong) credits the 榕樹頭 temple of Yau Ma Tei for 1865. Either way, it is interesting to note that both dates are after the city has been colonized. Before the British arrived in 1841, most major Chinese cities had their own City God. Except for Hong Kong, since the place could hardly be considered a city at the time... 

Buildings spotted around the area; this corner house is an old fashioned restaurant, famous for its retro fittings

More old buildings, love how they are so colourful. Hong Kong is home to a multitude of buildings in shades of pink, purple, green...all colours of the rainbow (and Choi Hung Estate in Kowloon really does have a rainbow palette...since 'Choi Hung' translates to rainbow.) 

One entrance to Temple Street, just before the stalls open for the day. I'm pretty sure this is a new fixture, though the reasons for installing it here (or now) remains unknown. Is it akin to those efforts one sees in the Chinatowns of Sydney and London that try to make these areas more 'Asian', to appeal to the tourist mindset? (And is it ironic that with this 'gate' in place, that it reminds me more of Chinatowns in overseas locales, than it does of any other place in Hong Kong?)

Trivia! You won't find the area by typing its name into googlemaps (the closest it'll take you is to Ngau Tau, off Lamma Island.) Yung Shue Tau is a name used amongst locals, so if you ask around they will know how to give directions there. You can also find it where Shanghai Street intersects with Public Square Street. 


-----------------------


The street is the favourite seedy place of our imaginations in Hong Kong. Some of us were told not to venture to Temple Street alone during our childhoods, which fuelled the perception of dodgy happenings in that area. (It isn't as though Ladies' Street is crime-free, but it just feels as though the crimes committed there lack the gravity of those at Temple Street. Maybe Ladies' Streets seems more 'open' and 'approachable' because it is better connected to the main transport links...) The rumours about gang extortion of money from Temple Street vendors didn't help (hey, even Hong Kong films made Temple Street look like the romping grounds for gangs), nor did the evenings news a couple of years back featuring the street as the site of an acid attack 'from the sky' (someone threw a jar of acid from one of the many high rise flats in the area.) Sex toy stalls made the area look almost like the red-light district of Amsterdam, albeit the Hong Kong version looking more disorderly (and without the overt displays by prostitutes.) And then several months ago, during a dinner conversation, I overheard a story about these sex toys being sold-then-resold to unwary customers...without being cleaned in between transactions. Probably a fabrication, but this is the stuff urban myths are made of. 

Trivia: Plug-in Baby

BS1363 plugs are rampant in Hong Kong, so for travelers visiting from the U.K. (or from an extensive list ranging from...hm, it might be actually easier to just say that the list comprises of a lot of post-colonial societies), there is no need to worry about adapters and whatnot. So it was confusing for a power-plug-illiterate person, like myself, to find something like this being sold in an electronics supply store in Yau Ma Tei: 

Looks familiar...almost. 

Circular three-prong plugs! Check out these BS546 (15A 3 pin) beauties. The shop lady explained that most of the electrical appliances at home (laptops, microwaves, televisions, lamps, etc.) use the BS1363 for up to 13A. But for the ambitious (read; business-minded) crowd who wish to use electricity not solely for themselves but for a bigger group, such as restaurants and laundromats, the plug must be bigger to allow greater power consumption for the device.


Strangely enough, the electricity bill for using these 15A devices may end up being even cheaper than using 13A ones. It isn't because of any 'bulk-buy' principle (e.g. you buy more electricity, and you get special discounts), but rather, because the technology required to 'step down' the generated power to the required 15A level is not as complex as that for the 13A process. 

If you want to use these rice cookers that serve forty people, you better make sure your venue has sockets for the attached BS546 (15A 3pin.) With the bigger plug, you'll be able to cook this vast vat of rice in the same time it takes for a smaller rice cooker meant for a family of four.

Learning small tidbits just from listening to chatty shop owners. Great way to spend a Saturday! Anyways, this got me thinking about the more about electrical plugs and sockets. 

Plugs might not be the most pressing concern for modern-day flat-hunters in the city, seeing how most people set their sights on the shiny new estates and whatever novelty is offered by land developers. But for hipsters like I who yearn to someday live in an old-fashioned Cantonese-style 'Tong Lau' (唐樓) or a Corner House (街角樓)*, this should be something to look out for. The chances of being able to live in a Tong Lau or Corner House is rather slim (especially given how many owners would sell off their structure to land developers, resulting with the flats being demolished and a new shiny 40-floor apartment building springing up in its place), but I'm strange and like to think about 'what ifs' and the small pragmatic issues that follow. 

An example of a Corner House in Sham Shui Po. A lot of them were vacated years ago, and are sitting around in varying states of disrepair. It would be great if they were refurbished as housing (hipsters will flock to them) or as art studios.   

Hong Kong was not always the BS1363 13A paradise we know today, and the installment of BS1363-friendly sockets was not mandatory until the recent decades. Old flats are likely to have the BS546 13A sockets, but in even older flats, the archaic BS546 5A socket may make an appearance. Most Tong Laus and Corner Houses would have updated their wiring to fit the current standards, though those left vacant for years may have escaped notice. If a BS546 5A socket** is encountered, it would be wise to hire electricians to rewire everything to the BS1363, lest there be a fire if the wrong type of device is plugged in. It means more effort and money for living in a Tong Lau or Corner House, but it is better to have a flat bringing a slice of Hong Kong history, and not a flat that brings about an enactment of Dante's inferno. 

*the difference between the Tang Lau and the Corner Houses will be elaborated on in another post! 
**or, for hip people who crave the complete hipster experience, living in an old-fashioned flat will not sate their needs. They will also go for retro, original, authentic electrical devices with BS546 5A plugs. 

----------------------------------

Side note: 

I wanted to know a little more about the sort of household electrical appliances that were common back when the BS546 was used. Being born in a post-BS546 5A era, I thought it would be nice to ask someone from the older generations, such as my mum and my grandpa. They once lived in a Tong Lau of Sham Shui Po (深水埗)  during the 1950s until the 1970s, in a tiny flat fitted with BS546 sockets. (The flat has since been demolished and is currently being used as a shop.)

But my questions didn't go far; both of them said that the family didn't own electrical appliances back in the day. Although their flat had a lightbulb (so the building was fitted with electricity), they were too poor to afford such luxury items. Only one neighbour on their floor had a television set. Everything was done using older methods; rice was cooked over an open fire, and ironing was done by placing hot coals into metallic boxes with handles. 

So although electricity was available for decades, not everyone had/ wanted access to it back in the past. Given how electrical goods are everywhere (in the public and private spheres of life) in the current Hong Kong, it is difficult to remember what life was like before the plugs and sockets made its way into our daily routines, and to appreciate the conveniences engulfing us today.