Vignettes of the World
The Old Tai Po Police Station is a Declared Monument in Tai Po. I joined a guided tour in order to learn its history. Green Hub is the NGO that runs the operation and maintenance at the Old Tai Po Police Station now and it …
On our first full day in Bukhara we first visited the Ulug Bek Madrassa and the Abdul Aziz Khan Madrassa. They stand tall and proud right across from each other. As we took our leisurely stroll through the city’s ancient sites, we noticed a certain …
The day blessed us with generous sunshine and we had a good half day of touring in the main tourist sites of Bukhara. I will discuss those sites in later entries but first, the Puppet Museum of Bukhara.
The Uzbeks consider the puppet show to be a national craft, and Bukhara is the center of production and show for the puppets. The Uzbeks also like to collect these puppets as decorations in the home, as they are still carefully handcrafted today. The puppets are dressed in the national costumes of Uzbekistan and usually represent literary figures.
The other Central Asian countries also have some form of puppet theater, but Uzbekistan’s is believed to be the oldest and it is also the most-studied theater form. According to the Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts:
Some historians trace its appearance in 500 BCE as a form independent of maskhara (mask performances) or mime theatre. In the Middle Ages, the literary sources are clear. Omar Khayyam (c.1048 – after 1122) mentions string puppet performances; later, Alisher Navoi (Ali-Shir Nava’i, 1441-1501), Uzbek poet and thinker, references glove puppets. These authors show that two techniques of manipulation, string and glove were used. However, the first solid descriptions of Uzbek traditional puppets are much later, dating from the late 1890s.
There is a work station at the Puppet Museum demonstrating how this traditional craft is made. The heads of the puppets are paper mâché. There is a mould to start with, then the puppet craftsman pastes layers and layers of paper scraps to form a head. A total of exactly 12 layers are wrapped around the mould. Any more paper would weigh down the head and make it droopy. Then comes coloring and glazing. Three layers of colors are applied and it is water color. Finally, a layer of lacquer is painted onto the face to seal the colors.
The craftsmanship of live-size puppets is a whole different area of art form. Unlike the hand puppets, they are crafted mostly from leather and there is a complicated process to craft live-size puppets.
There are two kinds of puppets: string and gloves. The puppets featured in the Bukhara Puppet Museum are the glove puppets, which are relatively easier to maneuver. The staff at the Puppet Museum demonstrated how to animate the puppets. We laughed as we saw the puppets came to live, it was a comical moment.
Of course, that is a demonstration only. In a real theater, there will be accompanying music and also narration. In a traditional performance, the music features Uzbek traditional music with the instruments syrnay, karnay and nagora.
The Bukhara Puppet Theater features four genres for puppetry performance: satire, local, portrait of local artists, and animals and mythologies.
Puppetry is a national craft and art form for the Uzbeks, and as such the puppetry workers are thought of as professionals. First of all, the art form is passed down by family traditions. Only descendants of puppetry families get to work in different aspects of the theater. The master puppeteers typically took their sons or cousins as disciples for a lifelong study of the art form.
The puppetry professionals do not own land or livestock, and they rely only on their profession for livelihood. They also only live in specialized quarters within Bukhara, known as “Darvozai Uglon,” which gave home to 40 artist families during the 20th century.
Furthermore, the craftsmen of the puppets and the animators and performance of the puppets are two specializations. Those who make the puppets only make the puppets, they do not perform and vice versa.
Finally, for centuries descendants in the puppetry profession inter-marry and that is how they keep the tradition and the workforce necessary to carry on with the heritage. The daughters of the family will not marry outsiders.
In the modern times, the first theater collective was the Folk Theater, established in 1920. The head of the Folk Theater was hereditary puppeteer Nasrullo Khamraev, with the first performance of Idler, Husband and Wife-Striker, apparently a comedy. Both traditional and contemporary performances were featured in the Folk Theater
The Bukhara State Public Theater was established in 1982, featuring the first performance A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed. The Theater participates in both national and international competitions.
The private theater Studio Humo was established in 1995. This initiative was set up with the intention of reviving the traditional art and craft of the Uzbek Puppet Theater. Ethnographical materials were gathered and studied, and resulted in the performance of Bukhara Wedding.
The Puppet Museum of Bukhara (Puppets’ Workshop) is across the street from the southern edge of the Lyabi Hauz Pool.
Descriptions and demonstrations on site at the Puppet Museum of Bukhara
The Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts on Uzbekistan.
There are myriad temples in Hong Kong and Wong Tai Sin is namely the most-visited temple in all of Hong Kong. I have been there once during January, a time when many of the faithful worshippers would visit the temple to seek fortune reading and …
For Hong Kong locals, the Kowloon Park is a good venue for a nice afternoon reading session, a place for sitting-down after shopping at the nearby Park Lane, or otherwise swimming at its swimming pool. We take its leisure purpose for granted and few people …
I took a nice walk in Lamma Island on a sunny winter day. The walk took about three hours and it offered wonderful ocean and island views on a high point in Sok Kwu Wan, the southern section of Lamma Island. I have previously done the standard walk from Sok Kwu Wan to Yung Shue Wan, and you can find that entry here.
I began the trail at the Tin Hau Temple in Sok Kwu Wan and looped back to the pier area via a rather wild and unkempt path.
I took this loop because the standard paved trail will route via the Mo Tat Wan before arriving at the Sok Kwu Wan Pier. That will result in a significantly longer duration, and I was pushed for time that day.
The hike up the mountains was done on a nice-paved trail throughout. At the Tin Hau Temple, there is a large open space. One shows a set of stairs up, and the other goes toward the Kamikaze grottos. While the level road will lead you to Yung Shue Wan, I wanted to see the mountains in Sok Kwu Wan so you would be taking the stairs on the left.
Photo: The staircase on the left at the open square outside of the Tin Hau Temple is the entrance to the hiking trail. In this photo, follow the way of the one hiker shown on the left.
The ascent is gentle and soon I made it to the first rest stop.
Photo: The first rest stop is the little structure on the bottom of this photograph, you can see also the sign post next to the pavilion. The way up to Ling Kok Shan is on the right side of the pavilion, as you can see the stairs up. This photo shows Ling Kok Shan itself.
There is a signpost there pointing to the different directions.
Keep in mind that the way to Ling Kok Shan is behind the rest pavilion, which means on your right when you are facing the pavilion.
I went up a little toward the Shan Tei Tong direction to enjoy the aerial views before heading over to the path toward Ling Kok Shan. It offers wonderful views of the island and the coastline.
After reaching the peak of Ling Kok Shan, you will arrive at the transmitting station, where there is also a helicopter pad.
The way back to the Sok Kwu Wan Pier is somewhat obscure on the northern end of the open area, where you will be seeing views of Lamma Island’s Yung Shue Wan.
Photo: At the helicopter pad after you have passed the Ling Kok Shan Transmission Station. The shortcut trail back to the pier is on the left side of this photo. See below photographs.
At a 250 meter altitude, Ling Kok Shan is known for its many oddly-shaped, large boulders. About half hour or 45 minutes into the ascent, you will start seeing these boulders all over the Ling Kok Shan Area.
The rocky terrain is quite interesting. My hiking app says that there are Japanese tunnels as well, but I did not manage to find any opening of those tunnels there.
Finally, the hiking app says that this route would take about a little over an hour, but I spent three hours walking this trail. The main reason is that the descent was rigorous on a pretty unkempt pathway. I had to take my time carefully navigating the unpaved road when I descended the mountain.
After a pretty rigorous hike down to the pier area, I sat down at the small restaurant closest to the Tin Hau Temple. I enjoyed the sea views as I ate a simple lunch.
That was not a standard seafood restaurant. I was going solo on the day, therefore I could not have ordered a seafood lunch anyway.
A final reminder that at Pier 4 , there are two sections for the ferries that take you to Lamma Island. The section on the left (when you are facing the entrance) will take you to Sok Kwu Wan. Ferries to Sok Kwu Wan are more expensive and less frequent. The right section takes you to Yung Shue Wan. Do bear in mind of that.
In my opinion, the 1881 Heritage is one of the most successfully restored heritage sites in Hong Kong. Formerly the Marine Police Headquarters, the 1881 Heritage stands tall and grand in what used to be the waterfront of Tsim Sha Tsui. There are two reasons …
On this winter day of apricity I did a walk in Tsim Bei Tsui in Lau Fau Shan and then took a leisurely stroll to see the fish ponds of Yuen Long. The walk took a little more than two hours and the only climb …
The first hike of 2024 was on January 1st and I went to the Grass Island. I wanted a reasonable walk with views of the ocean. In Chinese we like to say “ride the wind and break the waves” to mean that one will stare down all challenges in life and climb to its peak. That was my intention for 2024.
There are two ways for one to reach the Grass Island. First is from the Ma Liu Shui Pier, the second way is from the Wong Shek Pier in Sai Kung. I went to the Ma Liu Shui Pier because it is a lot easier to go there from the University MTR Station.
The first sail to Grass Island leaves the Ma Liu Shui Pier at 8:30am. You will arrive at Grass Island at a little before 10am. On public holidays, there is an additional ferry that leaves the Ma Liu Shui Pier at 12:30pm. For return, on public holidays there are three departure times, one at 11:10am, 1:45pm and 5:30pm. See below for the schedule.
Note that on non public holidays, there are two return ferries to Ma Liu Shui, leaving Grass Island at 11:10am or 5:30pm. You are likely only able to get on the 5:30 return because leaving at 11:10am would not give you sufficient time to tour the island.
There are always some ferries run by locals that will take you to Wong Shek Pier throughout the day, but schedules are not set.
In Chinese, the Grass Island is known as Tap Mun. Its name refers first to the idea of a “Buddhist Tower,” for the word “tap” in Cantonese means a tower. This reference came from the Balanced Rock. Because the Balanced Rock looks like a Buddhist pagoda tower from afar, and the Tap Mun Cave at its north looks like a door, the people called the Island “Tower” and “Door,” and thus Tap Mun became the Chinese name of the Grass Island.
Situated at the mouth of Tolo Channel and within the Mirs Bay, the Island has a size of 1.69 square kilometers and it is an inhabited island. Even as early as the Ming Dynasty, the Grass Island was a mid-way stop for vessels sailing between Guangzhou and Huizhou and Chaozhou.
Unlike other islands, where significant efforts have been made to highlight the island’s heritage, the Grass Island does not come with any official introduction of its culture and history. Although there is no heritage museum that provides a coherent narrative of the Island’s history, unlike in Yim Tin Tsai, Ap Chau or Kat O (Crooked Island), the villagers in Grass Island do have cultural practices that are well known. I had the opportunity to talk to a villager there to learn about the people of Grass Island.
At the peak of its population, the Island had about 3,000 villagers living there. Now the number of residents there are about 100, and they tend to be retirees. There are two distinct lineages in Grass Island, one group of villagers being Hakka, and another group being shui ga, meaning the boat people. The villages are of mixed surnames.
In terms of cultural activities, the Grass Island certainly celebrates the birthday of Tin Hau, the Sea Goddess. The villager told me that the Tin Hau celebration costs a few million dollars each time. There are usually free ferry rides, a stage has to be set up for a traditional performance, and two vegetarian meals per day for two days for the villagers. All these involve significant expenses, and the villagers abroad, mostly in the United Kingdom, will be seeking donations to cover these expenses.
Like so many villagers in the New Territories, many people have migrated abroad. Many of them ended up in the United Kingdom. They never forget their roots, however. In next year, the Grass Island will celebrate the anniversary of the villages’ establishment. This event will bring together many former villagers again for a merry good time in the Island.
There are three geological sites of significance in Grass Island and I managed to see one, which is the Balanced Rock. The three are namely Balanced Rock, Lung Keng Gun (Dragon’s Neck) and the Tap Mun Cave.
The Balanced Rock was made of hexagonal volcanic rock columns, which were formed from the volcanic activities that took place 143 million years ago. Volcanic eruptions spewed large amounts of volcanic ash. After a period of cooling and contraction, vertical hexagonal columns were formed. With sea and wind erosions that took place in the following tens and thousands of years, some rocks broke away from the mass and stood independently, just like the Balanced Rock does now.
Allow for two hours if you want a good, leisurely walk on the loop trail of Grass Island. More time is necessary if you want to reach the Balanced Rock and the Tap Mun Cave.
At the Pier, turn left to begin the walk. You will soon find yourself at Tin Hau Temple. The Tin Hau Temple of Grass Island was built during the early Qing Dynasty. A plaque inside the temple indicates that as early as the 8th year of the Qianlong Reign (1743), the Tin Hau Temple has been in existence, established by the fishing merchants of the region.
On the left side of the Tin Hau Temple, the trail continues. Follow signs for Balanced Rock throughout this section of the trail. Soon you will be climbing a gentle incline to reach what the locals call the Grassland. This is where most campers find their spots (more below).
The Kung Pui Pebble Beach lies on the eastern side of the Grass Island. It offers wonderful views of the ocean, and I spent about 20 minutes there hearing the waves. It is a pebble beach so walk carefully amongst the large and small rocks.
The Balanced Rock of Grass Island is a natural wonder, where two large rock boulders sit on top of each other and do not fall down.
In this segment of the walk, you will enjoy the sights and sounds of the raging waves of the ocean against the coastline. In Chinese, Ta Long Pai means a “row of beating waves,” and true to its name, this coastal walk offers exceptional views of such.
There are two main restaurants on the coastal strip and I chose Xin Huihe because it offers the very special ginger milk tea. Usually, tourists would pick the sea urchin fried rice but I thought it was too expensive. I ordered a squid fried rice with shrimp paste. It was a wonderful lunch.
The shops in this part of the island also offer some really interesting dried seafood for sale. They should be wonderful soup ingredients.
Of all the outlying islands that I have been in Hong Kong, I have seen the most number of campers at Grass Island. On the day that I visited, the grassland was taken over by campers and cows, respectively. There is one camping shop on the island, from which you may call in advance to arrange for camping supplies rental. The TMDB provides camping supplies as well as water sports gear for campers and adventurists. Look up their Facebook page for details. The shop is located in the restaurant area on your way to the Tin Hau Temple.
Finally, the Mau Ping Shan shows on the TrailWatch App with seemingly clear paths. It lies in the northern section of the Grass Island. However, it is certainly not advisable to hike up this hill. The villager told me that there were quite a few instances where firemen were called in to rescue hikers that were lost in that area. The pathways are not clear once you ascend the hill.
The Wikipedia on Tap Mun (Chin).
Hong Kong National Geopark (2nd Ed.,) (2011) at 242-243.
Seize the last days of this exhibition and make an appointment to see Gazing at Sanxingdui: Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan. The last day of the exhibition is January 8, 2024. The Sanxingdui was a civilization that existed during China’s Bronze Age in what is now …