Are You Ready for Quite a Different Travelling? Kung Fu Tourism in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, kung fu seems to be present almost everywhere — a Wing Chun school there, a kung fu TV advertisement here, a statue over there, old masters chatting in the park while showing each other how to break arms the most effectively while their elderly friend holds their cigarette…
After 8 years of living in Hong Kong, I still felt shivering when I discovered another underground treasure of the city. I would show it then to friends who came for a short visit, also martial arts lovers. I call this “kung fu tourism”, where tourists are also practitioners, or at least kung fu movie fans, and want to see places and artifacts connected with martial arts. Even better, have some training. Shaolin temple, Wudang mountains, or Foshan are also typical goals of kung fu tourists.
For martial arts lovers, Hong Kong is fatal: we all want to get there, and as soon as we arrive, our soul is lost. Hong Kong, or at the least the one before Covid, is Chinese, but not that much Chinese, so culture shock is acceptable for most Westerners.
In Hong Kong, kung fu can be seen wherever you go. Even though youngsters nowadays prefer taekwondo, still you can often catch sight of some kung fu legacy in TV advertisements (for example telling you to check the condition of the pipes in your building — I swear I am not making this up!) or on the posters (if you are at a construction site, wear a helmet! — said the kung fu construction worker). If you turn on a TV, there will be someone fighting in almost every single TV series. In a poetic way, of course. “We are no brutes!”
The first steps of many would lead to the legendary, but still not enough well-known performances at the Kung fu Corner. In Kowloon Park, every Sunday afternoon, one local kung fu schools would organize two hours program, and ask their friends-masters to also join. They all would create a performance containing kung fu and lion or dragon dance. You could just follow the sound of the drum or rushing people with weapons over their shoulders. It is unknown beforehand who would perform, so the quality may vary, but if you come for the beginning (2.30 pm), you will see the lion dance and also taste today’s kung fu practice for the next two hours. This was however before Covid. During the pandemic, Kung Fu corner was closed. The rules in Hong Kong were very strict, such as a facemask even if you go out for a run, no more than 2 people together (my friends were fined on a crossing!), etc. Gathering such as this one was out of the question. Luckily, from the end of March 2023, this program shall be on again. That is great news because it really is one of the cultural legacies in Hong Kong. If you get to go there, check out the visitors, too. The biggest masters usually sat in the audience. Yes, those old gentlemen, who record the show, use their fans and brag, that is the generation that still used to fight on the streets.
Even though closed on Sundays, but after a whole day spent eating dim sum dumplings, drinking Pu Erh tea, and cursing the icy air-conditioning, you can head to this kung fu shop on Monday. It is called Ka Fok Sports Supplies Limited on the Kwun Tong MTR station. It is the biggest kung fu shop in Hong Kong and you will regret your visit bitterly. Clothing, shoes, weapons, drums, lions, back scratchers, punching bags… you can find anything here. Even if you don’t practice yourself, you will be puzzled how did you end up spending so much money here.
The shop owners are of course practitioners themselves and will probably like to take a picture with you. Later, you can find yourself on Facebook. And because they will understand your misery well, they are also able to send you a package directly to your home.
Next, you can go and hug Bruce Lee. Just in front of the Heritage Museum there is his kicking statue. However, the most famous one is somewhere else. At the seaside, where in between the mainland and the island seals the Star Ferry, one part of the public transportation but also for many an incredibly cheap tourist attraction, there winds a promenade called Avenue of Stars. Here are all the handprints of famous kung fu actors, including Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and you can also see the other statue of Bruce Lee. However, because of reconstruction, the statue was moved to Tsim Sha Tsui East Waterfront. But take the ride with the Star ferry for 3 HKD anyway!
When you feel like tired of the tucked streets of old Hong Kong, you can continue your tour de adventure, and get some local snacks in canteens.
Do not mind the dirty walls and, do not go and have a look inside the kitchens. Get a milk tea instead (which is different from the British-style tea with milk) and snack on stinky tofu at a street stand. Stop somewhere to have noodles, or just point your finger on a one-language menu without English translation. That is always proven fun. Once I pointed at pork on a menu, what could go wrong? Ended up with pork skin.
Local bookstores provide needed relaxation. It is not easy to find them, but some will always peek out behind a corner after a while. Do not try to search for the commercial chains with English books, instead go there, where you can smell the old paper. You probably won’t be able to use your English, but performing some kung fu pantomimic will help you to find the right shelf. You have quite a big chance to find a book with pictures, even though you won’t understand the text in the characters. But you will buy it anyway, right?
Normal tourists will for sure want to go to Lantau Island. Join them, Lantau offers something for you as well. Take the cable car to the Big Buddha statue, to which you need to climb the long stairs. Near the cable car station, you can find Stage 360 showing a commercial kung fu show. Besides that, buy some kung fu t-shirts in the overprized souvenir shops. In any case, at least a half-day trip is worth it. From here you can take a bus to the fishing village Tai O, where they offer a boat trip to observe white dolphins. No one ever saw them around though, but don’t let this small detail to distract you. It is a very nice ride around and under the floating village, climbing on its stakes from the water. For teatime, you can buy a dried squid. Yummy!
If you are competitive, plan your arrival during some of the several wushu festivals. They are organized by China, and they are rather performances than competitions. Meaning, 60% of people get medals. It is a pleasant event, even though the registration is expensive. Unfortunately, the only competition in Hong Kong, which is not a festival, is not accessible without a residence permit and a Hong Kong ID (Hong Kong Nationals).
Never mind competitions, you may train anyway; try whichever park. If you seem friendly enough (or bad enough) during your practice, sure some of the local practitioners will try to talk to you. That is the best way how to learn about the local kung fu community unless you already come with someone who has a network here. You may ask for example: “Do you know anyone who teaches tai ji here and could give us a private lesson?”. In contrast to mainland China, where the internet works without problem, so it pays off to find some likable local school beforehand. It is good to know though, that many schools and masters, including the very good ones, don’t bother with websites.
Most kung fu schools are not officially open to the public, but sometimes you may have a look inside. But do not rely on that. A reference is still the traditional way how to get inside: someone will tell you about the school, a local teacher or their students from abroad will send you there in their name, and so on. If you are staying and practicing in Hong Kong for a longer period, it is usually possible to just come to the school a commit to it. Besides the kung fu schools, you will find a sea of modern gyms and centers in the city, which teach MMA, kickboxing, and other styles, and which have these conveniences such as showers. These two worlds do not intersect too often.
Getting known Hong Kong with a gang of kung fu elderlies behind your back is always the best fun. Endure the long coffee pauses, where no one will speak English to you, and they may invite you to a kung fu party! In my opinion, these kung fu parties may be the secret motivation of the locals why they practice kung fu in the first place… A kung fu party is a huge and loud dinner banquet with hundreds of people, taking up an entire floor of a restaurant. The menu is long, usually including a fake shark fin soup, some sort of vegetable, fried rice, steamed fish, etc. Before or as you eat, there will be kung fu and lion dance performances. This usually takes several hours and when you leave, it will take another few before your hearing comes back.
Do not be afraid to walk back home alone at midnight; Hong Kong has very low level of criminality.
If you are really tired by now, go get a massage or visit a chiro practitioner, and let him have a look at that back of yours that has been hurting for a year already. In the clinics of traditional medicine dit da jow, you may also meet another master, who in their shop’s window exhibit black and white photos of themselves practicing kung fu, just next to a plastic skeleton.
Starving again, go get for dinner salty rice porridge (you may choose what kind of meat or seafood you want to have inside), so-called congee. Students of kung fu used to be nicknamed “those who eat congee at midnight”, because after the whole evening of kung fu practice, they needed to eat something easy to digest, and cheap as well. I guarantee you never had a meal of such consistency before.
The best way to enjoy Hong Kong is nicely slow. Do not rush, take a break for milk tea, walk through the second-hand bookshops, and if you are lucky, listen to the sounds of somebody hitting the wooden dummy when the dark comes. Talking to people, the smile of a foreigner can often bridge the language barrier. Showing your kung fu, no matter what its quality, will bring you the love of locals. If that is good or bad depends on you. But for the kung fu tourists, it may be the great first-ever contact with the Hong Kong kung fu community.
I originally wrote this article in the Czech language for the Martial Arts magazine published in the Czech Republic (Bojová umění, 9, 74–75), this is an edited and translated version.
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