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Mike Currie

The aroma lingered. I had inhaled deeply and the bouquet was smoky but sweet, with a hint of fresh blossom. Yes, it had to be a dark Oolong.

 A good year, no doubt, but this was no Hunter Valley cabernet. It was Chinese tea, and I was the only Westerner in a group of around 30 who were being groomed in the fine art of drinking it.

 Ironically, the building where we were sniffing and sipping from tiny porcelain cups had been designed for people with far less delicate pursuits.

 Flagstaff House's first occupant, way back in 1846, was Major-General D'Aguilar, officer commanding the British land forces in China.

 And apart from World War II, when Japan invaded Hong Kong and it became home to one of their admirals, it continued to be used by commanders of British forces right up to 1978.

 Chinese tea and military strategy had, however, been far from my mind when I set out on this day's walk. My main interest had been some of the historic buildings which have survived the development onslaught in Wan Chai and Central.

 Few would think of going to Central for a weekend stroll, but hidden beneath the cluttered, towering office blocks are some fine examples of Hong Kong's past.

 And Flagstaff House is the oldest Western-style building in the SAR, completed only five years after the Union Jack was raised at Possession Point. It has been turned into a museum of teaware and ceramics, and is now protected in a delightful setting, Hong Kong Park, a nirvana for ornithologists and horticulturists, with its well-stocked gardens and giant walk-through aviary which houses 700 birds in a natural setting.

 An upstairs room in Flagstaff House has glass cases filled with around 600 carved stone chops dating back as far as 1368 and fine Chinese ceramics, guarded by bored-looking security guards. But the Tea Museum is far from stuffy, especially this month and next, for free tuition in tea-drinking is being offered every Saturday between two and four in the afternoon until the end of March.

 An attendant smiled apologetically and told me that the tea-tasting session was only given in Cantonese, but I pushed my way through anyway. Even if you don't speak Cantonese you can get the gist of things by watching, and no one minds if you join in.

 Three tables had been set up, each for a maximum of four guests and, of course, the tea-maker. Unlike the ceramics museum, it was a clubby atmosphere here of strangers with a mutual interest.

 It's an elaborate art, making Chinese tea, and this is not surprising as it goes back at least 3,000 years.

 There are hundreds of types of tea in Asia, and like a good wine it differs, depending on soil, altitude and climate. And like wine-tasting, sniffing and sipping is all part of the procedure. You can spend the whole two hours rotating tables, tasting various teas.

 I ended my visit upstairs watching a video on the history of Flagstaff House in the former commanding officer's bedroom.

 My walk had started in Wan Chai, only a stone's throw from Hong Kong Park, at the old post office on Queen's Road East.

 The little single-storey building opened in 1915 and is the oldest post office in the SAR, though it has now been taken over by the Environmental Protection Department, and a new one has been opened in a tower block only a few metres away.

 It is hard to imagine that when the old post office first opened its doors it was virtually on the seafront.

 And of course that is why one block further along, up the quaintly named Stone Nullah Lane, the Pak Tai temple was built in 1863. For Pak Tai is a fishermen's god, and the red-light area of today, just down the road, would have then been water, dancing with the reflections of lanterns from junks.

 I love exploring the backstreets of Wan Chai. Many have disappeared in the past decade, but Stone Nullah Lane still has some four-storey buildings with dark, narrow, steep wooden staircases, and old balconies festooned with washing on bamboo poles and bird cages.

 Temples have never turned me on, but I would have some fun at the Pak Tai temple at the top of the lane. It is guarded by two giant rubber trees, and stepping inside I would find myself at the centre of a peculiar ceremony I had not seen in other temples.

 It may be the Year of the Tiger, but beware! The Tiger doesn't get along with all of the other signs. He's not too keen on Monkeys, for example. So we must seek protection during this year, and chase away evil spirits.

 To this end, three rows of gods are lined up on one wall, representing devotees' ages from 39 to 98.

 Pay the temple priest $50 and you get a bunch of coloured papers covered in calligraphy.

 Tell him your age and he'll kneel you down in front of the corresponding god and spend five minutes beating a gong and making incantations asking for your protection during the Year of the Tiger.

 After that, you go off to the incinerator, burn your papers, and he gives you a lucky red card which you must keep under your pillow for one year. You also get a packet of fresh tea leaves. There was no escaping the ancient brew this day.

 Mind you, I never did find out which god they pray to if you are 38 or under, or, for that matter, 99-plus.

 There's a very unusual temple, though much smaller, on Queen's Road East, the Hung Shing. I passed it as I walked back towards Central.

 It has been built around a huge boulder, which takes up half the main room, and at the rear steep steps stop abruptly at the trunk of an old banyan tree, whose branches almost embrace the roof. It was also built in the 1860s.

 You don't have to spend much time among traffic to get to Hong Kong Park. I cut through Pacific Place, up the escalators.

 I left the park near the Peak Tram terminal, crossed over Cotton Tree Drive and went down to the rear of the Hongkong Bank headquarters for the best view up to the former French Mission building, which is an architectural gem. It now houses the Court of First Appeal.

 Battery Path leads up to the French Mission building and St John's Cathedral, an oasis of peace in Central with more than its fair share of banyan trees.

 The cathedral, which was built in 1849, had its stained-glass windows damaged during World War II, when it was taken over as a social club by the Japanese army.

 I was surprised to see a gunboat design in some of the present stained glass of the cathedral. A pattern nearby is of a Chinese junk and a fisherwoman. But when you consider that the main doors were made from wood salvaged from a supply ship, perhaps it's not so surprising after all.

 I was drawn back up the hill to the Botanical and Zoological Gardens, and later exited at the side of the Reptile House to Upper Albert Road, taking Albert Path by the side of Government House to Lower Albert Road.

 Turn left here and keep going, past the colonial-style Foreign Correspondents' Club, formerly a dairy building, and on to Hollywood Road and the stern facade of the Magistracy, built in 1914, and Central Police Station, also a relic of this time but still very much in use.

 Victoria Prison, at the rear, was Hong Kong's first jail and is still used for remand prisoners, I understand.

 It's interesting around here, with lots of small antique shops and steep streets leading down to the heart of Central.

 One of these is Pottinger Street, with its steep Victorian granite steps and little wooden lock-up shops. Hong Kong's main streets used to be lit by gas, and the gas lamps still stand here - now, of course, converted to electricity.

 I made my way down to Connaught Road, taking an overpass which leads through the old Central Market and then on to Connaught Road, where I turned left for a 15-minute stroll to Western Market. Take a tram if you like.

 The market was built in 1906 and was one of two market blocks which were then right on the waterfront. The other has been demolished, but Western Market has been gazetted and is protected.

 It sold its last meat and vegetables in 1989, and was tastefully converted two years later into a centre for traditional arts and crafts. Most of its original features have been kept intact.

 I had planned to go on towards Pokfulam to see more historic buildings but, as they say, time waits for no man.

 So I made my way to the second, and top, floor of the former market, where the Treasure Inn seafood restaurant, in a delightful setting under the old roof, was serving late dim sum accompanied, of course, with Chinese tea.

The Hong Kong Street Guide is a good companion for exploring the SAR's historic buildings, and maps of Hong Kong Island can be purchased at the Government Publications Centre in Queensway, Admiralty 



Tea, history and city-side temples