Vignettes of the World
Kaiping is a county in Guangdong Province in China that is known for its people’s long history of migration abroad. Waves of migrants made it in foreign countries and returned to Kaiping rich and glorious. These successful returnees built big houses in their villages as …
Our Final Lunch in Uzbekistan at the Afsona Restaurant Afsona Restaurant is very popular in Tashkent and it is highly recommended on quite a few online platforms. We sat down for our final lunch in Uzbekistan and we were excited. But we made the wrong …
From the Minor Mosque I took the metro to arrive at the State Museum of History in Tashkent. The museum itself offers some insight into Uzbekistan’s past. If I had a choice, I might have visited this museum in Tashkent before heading off to the ancient silk road, for the history here would have given me the much-needed context to fully appreciate all the other sites.
It is never too late to learn, however, and so I visited the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan on my last day in this trip.
Formerly the National Museum of Turkestan, The State Museum of History of Uzbekistan in Tashkent was first founded in 1876. It was also known as the Lenin Museum during the Soviet times, as it was built to commemorate the centennial of Lenin’s birthday in 1970. The building showcases concrete grilles on the exterior walls with traditional Uzbek patterns called Panzhara. This architectural feature is considered a rare example of Soviet architecture incorporating explicit non-Soviet, multicultural elements.
“An important indicator of the significance of the museum was the fact that even ideological opponents of the use of historical architecture forms in modern buildings recognised the quality, the grace and the elegance of the building.” (Dezeen.com)
There are four floors in the museum and I only had time to walk through the main gallery that exhibits an enormous number of artefacts illustrating all of Uzbekistan’s history. The following are some highlights.
I would say this section of the museum would present the most comprehensive overview of Uzbekistan’s long history, from early neolithic settlement all the way to the formal establishment of its modern statehood (independence) in 1991.
Here is what the museum had to say as a welcome introduction to visitors:
Lying on the crossroad of great routes of the east, the Uzbekistan civilization was interacting with the advanced cultures of the east and the west. The first world religion – Zoroastrianism – was formed here, and other world religions – Buddhism and Christianity – have found a fertile field here. The highest level of Uzbekistan civilization has been manifested by the great contribution made by its representatives… in the strengthen of Islam as the world religion.
It is believed that the earliest human settlement in this part of the world dated back to 1.5 million years B.C., when the human beings developed the resemblance of the modern human. Artefacts of stone, ceramic and metal instruments were on display for this section of the exhibition.
In and around 1 millennium B.C., the ideas of kingdoms appeared in what would be modern-day Uzbekistan, the notable ones being the Khorezm and Bactria. It is believed that the emergence of these types of arrangements were based on the needs to secure resources in the oases, build facilities such as irrigation, and to develop trade. This period of the kingdoms spanned a few centuries, and the development of trade and urban centers gave rise to the trans-continental ancient trade route known as the Great Silk Road.
The era of the centralized and powerful kingdoms came to an end in the early medieval times. Before the Arab invasion, the area that made up what is now Uzbekistan was occupied by smaller state possessions. The prominent ones are recognizable in today’s terms: Samarkand, Bukhara, Chach (what is now Tashkent), Fergana, Khorezm and Chaganian. Around the 6th to the 8th centuries A.D., this area was known as the Turkic Khanate, a period of marked developments in large-scale construction of grand castles and mansions. Luxury and prestige found expressions in the artwork and architecture of the period.
The 9th to 12th centuries were marked by significant progress made in matters of culture and scientific learning. The cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, Merv, Khiva and Urgench rose to the world stage as cultural centers. The Samanids, the burial of which was excavated in Bukhara, was one of the dynasties of glory in this period.
Tamerlane the great (1336-1405) (also Amir Timur) then rose next as the most revered warrior and statesman in all of Uzbekistan’s history. Beginning in the mid-14th century, he led campaign after campaign against the Mongol conquerors, and eventually built the Temurid Empire, which would last about a few generations after him. His conquests would take him as far as India.
Photo: a Timurid armor.
In the next few centuries, three major khanates dominated Uzbekistan’s territory. Both Khiva and Bukhara became powerful, centralized khanates in the 16th century, followed by Kokand (early 18th century). Now we are finally closer to the modern times. With stability came the significant development of arts and culture, and it was during this time that the development of the Uzbek language flourished. The use of the Uzbek language broadened both in arts and literature, as well as state administration.
The days of stability and prosperity of these khanates would meet an eventual decline in the 19th century, due to the internal strife, external invasions, the rise of alternative marine trade routes diminishing the Great Silk Road, and weak central rule. In face of the ambitions of the Russian Empire, the Kokand Khanate disappeared altogether. Bukhara and Khiva were preyed upon next.
The first attempts of invasion by the Russians took place in 1717 and failed miserably. I have discussed this history in the Khiva entry. It was only until the mid 19th century that the Russians succeeded first in taking down the Kokand Khanate, then capturing Tashkent. Between 1866 and 1868, Bukhara and Khiva would fall into Russian hands. According to the descriptions at the museum, “(the khanates) appeared to be in the grip of colonial yoke.”
In face of colonial oppression, the people of Uzbekistan revolted. There was a unified attempt in all strata of the Uzbek society to rise up against the Russian Empire. Large rebellions took place in 1892 “Cholera” Revolt, 1898 Andijan Revolt, and the 1916 Revolt. These rebellions engulfed all of Turkestan.
Photo: A trial of the ressistance against the USSR.
With the success of the Bolshevik Revolution came continued subjugation by the Russians, then in the name of the Soviet Union. Uzbekistan was an agricultural-based nation. As part of the Soviet Union, the country’s natural resources were brutally exploited. The near-disappearance of the Aral Sea was but only one example of such exploitation. From 1919 to 1989, Uzbekistan underwent 70 years of communist rule in what was characterized as “a continued condition of colonialism.” The progress that was made in this time, in the sense that the country did progress in its agriculture by becoming agro-industrialist, was perceived as “progress made by the Uzbek people despite communist rule.”
Photo: This clock stopped at the moment the earthquake hit.
A defining modern event in the history of Uzbekistan is the Earthquake of 1966 in Tashkent. The museum featured a clock that was broken by the earthquake at the very moment that the earthquake struck. The 5.2 magnitude earthquake devastated Tashkent, destroying much of the city’s existing infrastructures. 300,000 of its residents were rendered homeless. The beautiful metro stations in Tashkent were part of the effort to restore the city from the earthquake. In the next three years, reconstruction of the whole city managed to restore life back to normalcy for the people.
Photo: The key of the Tashkent Metro, rebuilt after the earthquake.
Fast forward to September 1, 1991, Uzbekistan finally declared independence as a republic after the final demise of the Soviet Union. It has since maintained a close relationship with its Central Asian neighbors, and was very much within Russia’s zone of influence as well. The former President Islam Karimov was the Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan at the time of independence. He declared Uzbekistan an independent state following the attempted coup in Moscow in 1991. Uzbekistan was the second in the Central Asian nations to declare independence, after Kyrgyzstan.
President Islam Karimov remained in power until his death on September 2, 2016. He was the authoritarian ruler of Uzbekistan for a full 25 years, despite explicit constitutional provisions that limited presidential terms to two only. His third term of presidency was extended by the means of a referendum.
Islam Karimov’s Uzbekistan was a repressive regime, where dissidents were assassinated. He also promoted laws and policies that were anti-civil society and anti-Islam. In terms of foreign policy, he maintained isolationist tendencies.
The Uzbek artist featured in this exhibition, O’ktam Saidov, was born in 1980. His artwork opened my eyes to the aspirations and hopes of this generation of Uzbeks, who have just come of age. I really enjoyed this part of the exhibition.
Descriptions on site at the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
Architectuul.com, Uzbekistan State Museum of History.
Dezeen.com, Ten key examples of Tashkent’s Soviet modernist architecture,
Uzbek-travel.com, The State Museum of History of Uzbekistan.
The Wikipedia on Islam Karimov at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Karimov
Bright and early at 6am we were back in Tashkent by train. This would be our very final day in Uzbekistan. We would be seeing some museums for this day, before we head out for our flight in the evening. The Bon! Café It was …
The Tash Khauli Palace of Khiva would be the last sightseeing that we did in Khiva before we hopped on the afternoon train for Tashkent. Khiva blessed us with another gorgeous day with a bright blue sky, echoing the turquoise mosaics that would become the …
The day was blessed with generous sunshine and it was extremely hot. There was quite a bit of walk to the Tai O Heritage Hotel from the bus stop, via parts of the Tai O town. I took my time, my tour would take place at 3pm, and I had time for lunch at the restaurant there. After a 20 minute walk, I made it to the Tai O Heritage Hotel.
The classic white front of the hotel scintillated brilliance under the sun. Having past noon the day ushered in its hottest hours. As I ascended the gentle incline toward the main office of the former police station, the classic structure slowly came into view, revealing a small part itself — beautifully restored, radiating an air of elegance that belongs to a bygone age in Hong Kong. Formerly the Tai O Old Police Station, the heritage became a revitalised monument and it now remade itself into a boutique heritage hotel.
The hotel was a whole lot smaller than I thought. After joining the tour, I learned that the very original structure, standing as it was in 1902, was even smaller, consisting only of what is now the hotel reception and the story above, which were the dorm rooms for the British officers. The section below the now-glass roof restaurant was an addition in the 1960s. Those rooms served various functions, including police dormitory and canteen.
A short tour taking just about 15 minutes is offered free to visitors and signup can be done at the hotel’s website. The tour guide highlighted some of the features at the heritage site that required more explanation than the display boards, or otherwise could have been easily missed.
Photo: The Tai O Old Police Station Features a Classic Veranda, a Typical Feature for Colonial Era Buildings.
Situated at the southwestern tip of Tai O and overlooking the boundary between the waters of Hong Kong and China, the former police station was the frontier station that was set up with the intention of addressing two main problems that troubled the seas of Hong Kong between the 1900s and 1950s — the presence of pirates and the influx of refugees arriving by sea. The Old Tai O Police Station began its duty in 1902. It became a part of the marine police in 1948. By 1996 the police station became merely an outpost for the Land Police. Due to the exceptionally low crime rate in Tai O, in 2002 the Old Tai Po Police Station finally stepped down from its former historic duty after nearly 100 years of service to the community.
Close to the hotel’s reception one will see a beautiful searchlight, restored and preserved. This search light was a key facility for the patrolling function of the police station, providing visibility for approaching vessels, be they pirates or refugees. It is no longer in use today.
In the now-reception area one will see the charge room and the preserved former detention cell. It is actually very small but at the time it was expected to keep up to ten detainees there. The old mesh wiring was handwoven and that was preserved.
The section where the now-reception area stands is the very original in 1902. The area that mostly serves as guest rooms now was an addition in 1962, serving the purposes of briefing room, canteen and dormitory for local officers.
There were two turrets in the original Old Tai O Police Station. One was preserved and it stands next to the Tai O Lookout. It served the function of guarding and patrolling. The original watch tower was reached by climbing a ladder. There was also no large opening in its original design. One could only imagine that this was the least favorite post for the officers, due to the heat and the humid and woody environment that bred swarms of mosquitoes. The officers used to call it the “mosquito-feeding tower.”
Rumors suggest that the Tai O Heritage Hotel is haunted, and a story seems to confirm the possibility that it is indeed so. A disgruntled Indian officer that was fired came to the constable’s office to confront his supervisor. He fired shots (and some of the bullet holes are still see in the metal window shutters), killing his supervisor. He then killed himself as well.
But that might have been the only tragedy that took place here, and only once.
Photo: The Removable Wooden Puck Indicates the Officer Who is On Duty.
In 2008, the Old Tai O Police Station underwent revitalization, thus heralding a new historic role as a part of the Tai O community that has embraced the latest trend of eco / sustainable / heritage tourism. It became the Tai O Heritage Hotel, which is run by the nonprofit enterprise of Hong Kong Heritage Conservation Foundation Limited. All profits from the hotel business go into the maintenance of the Grade 2 Historic Building. Needless to say, the revitalization had the aim of preserving some of the salient features of the Old Police Station, as discussed above.
The Tai O Lookout is the hotel restaurant of the Tai O Heritage Hotel. Before I went, I learned that its afternoon tea menu was particularly interesting. Dishes of the tea set menu feature a few of Tai O’s locally made specialties. I have heard good reviews of the pork chop bun with Tai O shrimp paste. However, when I went, I was too early for tea set. I ordered fish and chips with tartar sauce in Tai O shrimp paste instead. It was indeed delightful. I also ordered a cold drink, lemon with Tai O grown honey.
The glass roofed Tai O Lookout is an additional structure that was built specifically to serve the catering needs of the hotel patrons. The design came with sustainability features. The clear reason was that the interiors being lit by natural daylight would serve energy conservation purposes and create a hospitable ambience for the diners.
The not-so-obvious reason was that this type of structure can be taken down relatively expeditiously, should one day the hotel business fail (let’s hope not) and the property has to be restored to original conditions and be returned to the Hong Kong Government.
The Tai O Old Police Station is a wonderful window into the life of Tai O in the 20th century. In those times transportation was not as developed and a duty post out here meant that officers had to sacrifice their family time in the urban areas. The “mosquito tower” was just one aspect of the harsh conditions of being stationed in the wild.
Descriptions on site at the Tai O Heritage Hotel
Guided Tour of the Tai O Heritage Hotel
The website of the Tai O Heritage Hotel
I needed a getaway and decided to go local this time. I booked a hostel in Lantau Island for a two-day one-night stay. With anticipation I embarked upon my journey. The first stop was Bathers at Lower Cheung Sha Beach for a beachside lunch. I …
On my way to the Museum of Coastal Defence, I passed by some heritage sites in Shau Kei Wan. Here are the gems that I found in this neighborhood. A Brief Word on Shau Kei Wan Even as early as the 18th century, Shau Kei …
On our last day in Dameisha, I took a walk in the Biling Hiking Trail, which is part of the Malian Mountain Country Park. I have done solo hiking in Xianggong Shan of Xingping, Guilin before. But this hiking experience is significant because I did have to find my way to and from the entrance and the exit points, and so it took some extra skills to experience my very first hike in Shenzhen.
From the Interlaken OCT Hotel I walked about half an hour to reach the entrance of the Biling Hiking Trail, which is located across from the San Zhou Tian Reservoir on Bisanlu Road.
On my way to the trail entrance, I saw some pretty nice views of a reservoir.
The entrance of the trail lies up in a high altitude amidst the mountains. The trail will lead you through a very shaded walk downhill for a good full 2km. This long descent did strain my muscles.
It was hot and sometimes rainy, but this part of the mountain had a cluster of waterfalls. Therefore I heard the sound of flowing water throughout the hike. There were recurring appearance and evanescence of mists coming from the waterfalls. I felt amazing throughout the trail.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience being so closely in touch with the nature of Shenzhen. It being such an urbanized city, Shenzhen is certainly not well known for its hiking trails — hiking is put on the backburner as a tourist interest by the government or key opinion leaders. That might explain why I mostly saw local Chinese people on my way, and there were a whole lot of them.
On may way I might have seen some five to six waterfalls and the views were fantastic. Toward the end of my hike, the sun came out with a bright, illuminating blue sky.
Unless you are a very active hiker and are very serious about the exercise, I do not recommend going up the mountain from the Malian Shan Country Park. The ascent up the trail is rigorous with many stairs.
At the end of the trail, you will find yourself at the North Gate of the Malian Mountain Country Park. Walk about ten minutes to Parking Lot 1 and you will find public transportation that will take you back to the urban areas.
Right next to the Interlaken OCT is the Knight Valley (Daxiagu). There is a touristy “little train” that takes you to this area of the resort. The theme is ecological tourism, and surely Knight Valley is one big theme park.
There are five sections in the theme park and one of them is a water park. A few sections offer joy rides. Just by the sound of it, the Knight Valley is perhaps more suitable for families with children. The views should be quite good at that altitude, and I assume some nice photos can be taken of the nature there too.
The train runs every half hour beginning at 10am and the last train is at 5:30pm.
Known locally as the “lighthouse library,” the Library of Yantian is a perfect instagrammable spot for the social media influencers. It is perhaps worth looking up, although I have been told by the staff at Interlaken OCT Hotel that prebooking is recommended. On this trip we did not have time to see it.
In this short getaway in Shenzhen I really only did two sightseeing activities, which were the Dameisha Beach and the Biling Hiking Trail. For what this area offers, I would say these two things were likely the most authentic experience. All other sightseeing spots are manmade, although clearly there is the effort to strike a balance between the natural endowment of the area and the human footprint, for better or for worse. I did have a pleasant time there.
As of April 2025, the Interlaken Resort in Shenzhen is permanently closed. There were those days. A few decades ago, my family took a vacation in Xiaomeisha in Shenzhen. That was when even the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant had not been built yet. In …