Week 6 The Invisible Staircase & The Lotus Palace

When I was around 15 years old, that was the first time my parents took me to the Tai Hang area, shown in the map on top, Tai Hang is the peculiar looking grid layout in the center. Said to be home to one of the oldest original settlers of Hong Kong island (Hong Kong is basically split in to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Shatin district, 2 combined pieces of land attached to Mainland China). Another fun fact is that Tai Hang is actually where the coast line used to be…see that big chunk of land (Lee Garden and all) before hitting water? Yep, all landfill.

The first time I went there was the new golden age of Tai Hang, when rent was cheap and having attracted many young businesses such as restaurants, art and craft shops. An area with a rare sense of community compared to anywhere else in Hong Kong, and a haven of peacefulness and openness cramped with 3-5 story antic buildings around 30 years old, providing a rare view of relatively open sky. I thought to myself I want to live there when I grow up.

I eventually moved out on my own with my now fiancee, and Tai Hang was the 2nd place we settled in to, but it not being the Tai Hang I remembered some 15 years ago. The inevitable cycle has hit Tai Hang like anywhere :

CULTURAL ACTIVITIES > POPULAR WITH TEENS > REAL F*ING ESTATE > F*ING RENT BUMPS UP > EVERYONE LEAVES > AREA DESERTED

I still liked it. But with all the cool kids gone, dark, broken empty shops remained. Whole buildings emptied waiting to be converted in to some fancy residential building that doesn’t give a butt about blending in to the overall look and feel. It’ll probably be completely gone in 1 decade or less….but hey, that’s the way it is.

Anyway, the Palace of Lotus is on the very edge of Tai Hang, and that the street Lin Fa Kung East Street was named after this sacred place, having been built on top of a rock which legend has it The Goddess of Mercy (the closest disciple of Buddha) has made her appearance in the 1800s. The rare architecture has made it in to an officially protected building. The awesome thing is that the rare round structure of it has not made it in to a major tourist attraction (yet), it still quietly stands and is opened to the public for worship and fortune telling everyday.

Right next to the Palace is a cheesy government park, you know pebble paths, benches and a public washroom with no swings:(. In the back of the park, a flight of stairs hidden away from view, no signs to tell of where it leads to (they just assume people would figure it out themselves, how thoughtful), looks a lil’ sketchy and if you are not familiar with that area, most likely you might just turn around and go back to Tai Hang for a beer.

BUT to the poor tourist or citizens not having grown up on Hong Kong Island, they have missed out on another rare monument in the same area.

Lai Tak Estate is it’s own one of a kind building. Finished in the 70s, one of the first government public housing projects and the only 3 estate built in a pillar form, it is one of the most photographed buildings in Hong Kong.

Don’t get me wrong. As a local resident, I would not want this chain of spots to be over crowded by tourists. But in a sense I can’t help but feel a little sad for the sad flight of stairs, and is emotionally attached to it, it’s the view of it, its the unpolished rigidness of the concrete, it blending with the plants all around it. To a stressed out city boy like me, the walks I take up and down these stairs for leisure or for convenience is an escape for me.

So for this week i’m paying this awesome little flight of stairs some respect. Since it’s so faded and unnoticed with me wanting it to remain this way, my idea was to “un-highlight” it.

In contrast to the colors and details of the photos i have edited, the stair case (or the illustration of it) is uncolored, lacks detail but is alive in it’s own way when the frame climbs upwards. At first I was going to build a flyer with words on it but then hated the idea of doing something so “in your face”, so then I landed on the idea of doing a little animated gif. and learnt that sometimes the “piece” could be left unexplained itself, be abstract and I can leave my explaining somewhere else.

AND that is what you’ve just read.

ANDY was here