Hong Kong Covered Walkways (another film haiku about Hong Kong)

Maybe it's the air pollution. Maybe it's the unforgiving summer heat. Maybe it's the lack of land. Maybe it's just a ploy to ferry people from one mall to the next. Maybe it's all these things or none of these thing...

For whatever reason, Hong Kong has many covered walkways and other footpaths that connect one building to the next.

I'm ambivalent about such walkways. On the one hand, it's nice to be able to walk about. On the other, these walkways are a bit artificial and far removed from actual city life. Walking on them is just not the same as walking through a real neighborhood.

Whatever the case, as an experiment, I set out to see just how far I could get using Hong Kong covered walkways without touching real ground. The walk, which I did on a Monday afternoon just before peak lunch hour, took just under 20 minutes at a rather brisk pace and took me from Western Market in Sheung Wan to the Battery Path in Central.

I think the total distance was about 1.5 miles, but I'm sure that had I gone into the main part of IFC mall, I could have walked around for hours, or maybe even days...

Who needs the Lantau Trail?


A word of caution. The camera shakes a lot, so those of you with sensitive constitutions, please remember your Dramamine.

The accompanying music is The Cure. The idea for the video came from So Jene.

Enjoy!



Here is my itinerary:

START: Western Market...
through Shun Tak Center
then on covered Walkway to...
IFC Mall...
Central Walkway past Exchange Square
then into Chater House
and Alexandra House
and Prince Building
and Standard and Chartered Building
Finally, come out on to Battery Path. FINISH