Vignettes of the World
A First Visit at Mak Kee Yummy Food I was looking for simple food in North Point and saw a few favorable online reviews of Mak Kee. The fact that it has earned Michelin recommendation for a consecutive seven years was assuring. I love dumplings, …
There are many private studies in the villages of the New Territories. In the past, I have visited quite a few and introduced them in this blog. In the Kam Tin villages, there is the Yi Tai Study of the Shui Tau Village. Photo: An …
The plan for the day was to have a picnic at Hong Kong Park and then visit the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware for the first time.
A very popular public space, the Hong Kong Park was built in 1991 with support from the Jockey Club. The park cost HK $398 million to build and covers a total area of 80,000 square meters.
On this day the decorations for the Lunar New Year of 2024 were present and the atmosphere is very festive. The Hong Kong Park is well-maintained and themed decorations appear during the main festivals, including the Lunar New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. They make wonderful photographs both during the day and at night.
In the early spring the flowers are already blooming in the well-manicured garden space. I always stop and enjoy the ambience at the pond. It was therapeutic just to take a moment at the benches by the pond. On this day I had a picnic there.
The only drawback, however, were the mosquitoes.
The Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware is a Declared Monument inside the Hong Kong Park. Construction for the Flagstaff House completed in 1846, and it is the oldest surviving western styled building in Hong Kong.
When it began its first chapter, the Flagstaff House was named the Headquarters House. Its first occupant was Major-General Goerge Charles D’Aguilar, whose name is now borne by Cape D’Aguilar and the D’Aguilar Lighthouse. As the Commander of British Troops in China, D’Aguilar was a military officer when he arrived in Hong Kong in 1843. In 1844, he was appointed the Leutenant Governor of Hong Kong, and the Headquarter House was built specifically as his residence.
In 1932, the building was renamed the Flagstaff House, but it served as the residence of the Commander of British Forces until 1978. During the Japanese Occupation years, the Japanese imperial forces also used it as the residence for its military commander in Hong Kong.
The beautiful building became the Museum of Tea Ware in 1984. In 1991, when the Hong Kong Park opened, the Museum of Tea Ware became the classy resident in the well-landscaped public garden.
Since 1984, the Flagstaff House has become the Museum of Tea Ware with donated exhibits from the collection of Dr. Kwee Seong Lo, the founder of Vitasoy. A tour of this museum will enable visitors a view of the interiors of the Flagstaff House, and it is very worthwhile.
In terms of exhibition, the collection there features tea ware, such as teapots and teacups, from the ancient times of China. The earliest such teapots came as far back as the Tang Dynasty, and for each of the following dynasties, there were exhibits showing the artistic and historic aspects of tea drinking.
The exhibit halls are accessible on both stories of the building. I tended to like the interior of the Flagstaff House more so than its exterior. The large rooms all come with colonial-era fireplaces, and lined with thick carpets in red. With very high ceilings, the building is representative of the best of colonial-style architecture.
I can imagine how this museum will be an incredibly soothing spot for a short rest during the hot summer months of Hong Kong. Stop by here for the air conditioning in a calm, learned environment that comes with the appreciation of a thousand-year meditative practice.
There is no entry fee required to enter the Museum of Tea Ware. A quick tour will take some 30 to 45 minutes there.
The building is built in the Greek Revival style.
This colonial era building was built in the Greek style. As with other typical colonial-era buildings in Hong Kong, the classy deep verandas served the purpose of ventilation. The tall white pillars line the veranda, in uniformity with the pillars on the top floor lining the balcony. The windows have wooden frames and the main entrance door has an arched top.
I found the two staircases to be incredibly beautiful. As said above, there are colonial-era fireplaces in all of the rooms.
The structure has been carefully restored to preserve its original appearance in the 19th century. The ambience is serene, elegant and nostalgic.
Next door to the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, there lies a building featuring the K.S. Lo Tea Gallery. This structure was built to the style of the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. On site is also the Lokcha Teahouse, which serves vegetarian dim sum and tea. An addition built in 1995, the K.S. Lo Tea Gallery was designed with colonial-style architecture on the exterior but intentional Chinese décor in its interior.
The Wikipedia on the Hong Kong Park.
Descriptions on site at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware.
The Wikipedia on George Charles d’Aguilar.
The Wikipedia on the Flagstaff House, Hong Kong.
The Fire Dragon dance of Tai Hang resumed for the first time after the pandemic during the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2023. We arrived at Tai Hang too late that evening and as a result did not manage to secure a photo-taking spot for the Fire …
Throughout this wonderful first trip in Uzbekistan, I have had many memorable encounters with the locals. For most of the times, they approached us for photographs and we would begin a conversation. It was through them that I gathered the perspectives that Uzbeks hold close …
We relaxed and shopped a bit at the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa. Dusk would befall upon us soon so we hurried and got a taxi to get to the Samani Park. We would be seeing the Ismail Samani Mausoleum as the final sightseeing in Bukhara on this trip.
The Ismail Samani Mausoleum is the site of burial for the founder of the Samanid dynasty, a period of time considered to be one of the most glorious throughout Uzbekistan’s antiquity. The Samanids were Persian aristocracy with origin from Iran. They were one of the “first purely indigenous dynasties to rule in Persia following the Muslim Arab conquest.” (Encyclopedia.com) The reign lasted between 819-1005 A.D.
Ismail Samanid, the great-grandson of Saman-Khuda, was the one that strengthened the ruling of the Samanids by uniting all the Samanid states into one empire. Under the Samanids, the capital of Bukhara and the city of Samarkand became the centers of Persian culture, as the Samanids were patrons of science, literature, the arts and religion. It is said that Bukhara under the Samanid rule had a glory that rivaled that of Baghdad.
Unlike so many of the monuments in Uzbekistan, the Ismail Samani Mausoleum did not have to go through a complete reconstruction in the modern times. For many of Uzbekistan’s monuments, the near-wholesale destruction of the original structure by wars or earthquakes necessitated a complete rebuilding.
The reason being that, when the Mongols invaded Bukhara in the 13th century, the Ismail Samani Mausoleum was buried both far in the ebbs of time and also in the depths of the Bukharan desert. The powerful forces of nature saved the Ismail Samani Mausoleum from the traumas of human-originated disasters. As such it is the oldest Islamic monument in Bukhara, constructed in the early 10th century.
Although it may have looked a bit plain at first glance, the Ismail Samani Mausoleum presents an aesthetics that is miles apart from all the other historic structures that we saw in Uzbekistan. There was no adornment in this firebrick structure. The Ismail Samani Mausoleum was truly different from the elaborate colors that grace the traditional Uzbek monuments with turquoise domes and mosaic-laden iwans — much less anything that resembled the somewhat contrived efforts to implant Russian-styled architecture like that of the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa. It was a very nice change of scenery for us.
The lack of colors and mosaics does not stop one from appreciating the beauty of Ismail Samani Mausoleum. The intricacy lies in the fascinating layout of the brickwork, in perfectly uniform geometrics. Sohpie Ibbotson explains as follows, “striking in its simplicity, the design incorporates aspects of Sogdian architecture, newer mathematical developments and even Sassanid fire temples. The cubic shape harks back to the Kaaba in the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, and the dome above it represents the heavens.” (at 237) I have no idea what these cultural and historical references mean, but suffice to say that the workmanship showed incredible meticulousness. It is no less a work of art than any other heritage sites we have seen.
The Ismail Samani Mausoleum was rediscovered again only in the 20th century. Soviet archaeologists discovered and excavated the ruins in 1930. Reconstruction was only necessary for the dome.
An entrance fee is required for entering the Ismail Samani Mausoleum.
The site on which the Chashma Ayub Mausoleum was built is sacred. It is believed that the Prophet Job “struck the arid ground and a spring of pure drinking water miraculously burst forth.” (Ibbotson at 236) (reminiscent of Moses doing the same during the 40-year wandering in the wilderness by the Israelites) It is said that the city of Bukhara grew up around this very holy site.
The Chashma Ayub Mausoleum, like the Ismail Samnai Mausoleum, is also a plain brick structure. Perhaps the notable architectural features of this mausoleum are the three domes, each having unique appearance. They belonged to different periods of time. The dome with the pointed conical top is considered atypical for this part of the Islamic world. It may have been derived “from the roof of a Khorezmian nomads’ tent.” (Ibbotson at 237)
The very first mausoleum was built in the 11th century, but the current structure was the work of Amir Timur in 1380. There seems to be no confirmation of the identity of the person that lies in the tomb inside.
This Memorial is a modern construction that commemorates the imam Al-Bukhari that was born in the 1st century. His notable achievement in Islam included his collection of 97 volumes of Hadiths.
A quick tour of the group of mausoleums at the Samani Park took less than an hour.
Sophie Ibbotson, Uzbekistan, Bradt Travel Guide (2020).
The Wikipedia on the Samanid Empire.
Encyclopedia.com on the Samanid.
The Sitorai Mokhi Khosa is the summer palace for the last Bukhara Emir, Alim Khan. At the time of the summer palace’s construction, Russian domination, be it as the expression of Russian imperialism or as the Bolshevik ambition that followed, has reached this part of …
A night of thunderstorm and rain has restored Bukhara’s muffled air of the previous day into crisp, clean breezes. The morning sunlight greeted us and we enjoyed the blessing of generous good weather for this last full day in Bukhara. The day would be packed …
From the Zindan Jail we headed over to The Plov, a restaurant that has high ratings for its plov dishes. There was quite a bit of a walk to this restaurant. In that walk we went through a large area of Bukhara outside the Old Town area, and came face to face with some of the realities of Uzbekistan that common tourists would not see.
My friend and I carried on about the issue of poverty, as it was inspired by the observations that we were making as we walked through this part of Bukhara. I noted that a village poor might be somewhat better off than an urban poor because access to land and farming may be a relatively assured means to food. She raised the point about how the village poor are stuck in (generational) poverty if they were not able to find opportunities in the city. And as I was nodding to this point, we came across this man who might be a little older than mid aged. He was scrounging around the trash for food.
We found it an awkward moment. We certainly had sympathy for him, but we were tourists and did not know how, if we were to give him something, it would be received. At the moment when we had already walked past him, my friend said, “didn’t you grab a few snacks from the hotel this morning?” And there you go, a perfect way to give. He was thankful to me when I handed him the snacks.
On a happier note, we saw some local life as well, whereby two men were playing some kind of chess on the street.
Outside of Bukhara’s thriving Old Town, the sights and sounds turned markedly drab. There were indications of urban woes there. Without having any reference to other Central Asian countries, I thought the scenes in Bukhara proper reminded me of the provincial cities of China.
There were many large storefronts that displayed what seemed to be outdated products, like clothes that have gone out of fashion. There were no customers in these stores. The only active element in this area was the vehicles that roared by the well-built, wide, multi-lane motorways.
If this observation is to be viewed in the perspective of the recent three decades of Uzbekistan’s market economy (a process of continuous liberalization), it seems to suggest that there were high hopes for these businesses when they began. Why build, own, rent or keep large storefronts when there was no serious demand for the business? Another suggestion is that land is certainly cheap in Bukhara.
Needless to say, there was the distant memory of the communist planned economy as well. Perhaps the fact that large, deserted stores with outdated products lined the streets of Bukhara proper was simply a remnant expression of the overplanning tendencies of Soviet economies. There certainly is some parallel with what I see in the provincial townships of China.
When placed in contrast with the scenes of the booming Old Town Bukhara, the deserted stores and low foot traffic in this area suggest that, beyond tourism, the urban economy is lackluster.
According to the Wikipedia, however, the lifelines of Uzbekistan’s economy are agriculture, mining and natural resources, and tourism. This may have been a good explanation for why Bukhara’s urban areas looked somewhat in desolation.
Lunch was at The Plov, as the Uzbek’s national food is prominently featured here. We could tell that it is popular both with the locals and with the tourists. We saw throngs of foreigners flooding the venue during lunch hour.
In this restaurant, the Uzbek-woven drapes were hanging from the ceiling instead of the walls (as opposed to the décor of the Silkroad Teahouse). The ambience was festive, modern and warm.
There is a spot where you can peep into how this famous rice pilaf is prepared.
My friend did not like the plov very much. I liked it, but only with beef as the meat.
The Wikipedia on the Economy of Uzbekistan.
The Zindan Jail is very close to the Ark of Bukhara and it stands for haunting memories of torture, horror and incarceration. This may have been the second saddest sightseeing I have done in this trip in Uzbekistan. The saddest being the Muynak Ship Cemetery. …