Hong Kong trip November 2012

[OzPaul]

Hi All,

I am off to Hong Kong for 2 weeks in November for a holiday. I have contacted a couple of martial arts schools and have been invited to train Wing Chun at Wan Kam Leung's Pratical Wing Chun school http://www.wankamleung.com and Northern Shaolin and Choy Lay Fut at Wan Kei-ho's school http://www.kungfuwan.com/eng_home.html . I am also going to Macau for 2 days to watch the UFC and partake in some gambling Have any of you been to Hong Kong before and can you recommend some places to check out other than the ones on most tourist websites. I will be going to Ip Man's grave during my time there. Thanks in advance for any information or tips for a better stay.

Cheers, Paul

 

[RobertK]

Hi,
I have been to Hong Kong many times. I usually spend about a month every year in Hong Kong to learn form my SiFu.
I doubt you will be able to go swimming in November, but if you get the chance you should check out the larger Islands. There are a lot of great beaches on the islands.
You can get to them easy by boat from the Central pier.
Lamma Island is definitely my favorite and Lantau Island is also nice. There is a famous monastery on Lantau, but I think it’s gotten too commercial after they built the cable cart (Ngong Ping 360). You should still check it out though.
Also check out Kung Fu corner in Kowloon Park. If you go there in the morning you will see hundreds of Kung Fu practitioners. And every Sunday (I think) different schools put up demonstrations there in the afternoons.
Finding fun things to do in Hong Kong is not a problem

Have a great trip!

 

[OzPaul]

Thanks Robert. I have been reading about Kung Fu corner in Kowloon and it is definitely something i will be checking out. Thanks for your other recommendations also. Paul

 

[WingChunIan]

Hi All,

I am off to Hong Kong for 2 weeks in November for a holiday. I have contacted a couple of martial arts schools and have been invited to train Wing Chun at Wan Kam Leung's Pratical Wing Chun school http://www.wankamleung.com and Northern Shaolin and Choy Lay Fut at Wan Kei-ho's school http://www.kungfuwan.com/eng_home.html . I am also going to Macau for 2 days to watch the UFC and partake in some gambling Have any of you been to Hong Kong before and can you recommend some places to check out other than the ones on most tourist websites. I will be going to Ip Man's grave during my time there. Thanks in advance for any information or tips for a better stay.

Cheers, Paul

My top recomendation would be Chi lin nunnery, its easy to find and an absolute joy (and free) if you also check out the gardens opposite. If you have time, the walled city ruins are worth wandering around and the giant Buddha at Po Lin on Lantau is worth a look. If you're into nature, jump on a bus round to Ocean park and check out the Pandas, the themepark itself is a bit lame but the Panda rescue centre is cool (although obviously not in the same league as Chengdu).
Kowloon park is nice to wander around and there is almost always a quiet corner to train in but prepare to be disappointed by kung fu corner. Unless you go on sunday at the right time when the local schools put on displays it is just an open piece of pavement (Robert may be a seriously early bird - I can't speak for stupid o'clock), to see people training on other days you'll need to explore the periphery of the park. If you like tai chi get down to the waterfront, at about 8 'o'clock each morning and head down to teh clock tower where you'll find an open tai chi session that you can either simply watch or join in for free.

I hope you get chance to visit chi lin, oh and if you're going to visit the grave of Ip Man take some insect repellent it shouldn't be too bad in November but they can be hell.

 

[OzPaul]

Thanks for the pointers mate, i leave tomorrow. I have taken note of the places and will hopefully cross them off my list of things to do. Cheers