Tea, Suits, Egg Tarts, and Calligraphy: A Saturday Shopping & Dining Tour around Hong Kong

These past few weeks have been rather busy for me at HKUST, as I have to finish up my research work. That's why I am posting this blog post about 1-2 weeks after I actually went on the trip (the actual trip took place on Saturday August 9th). Enjoy my account of my final wanderings around Hong Kong as my internship finally draws near its close! This time, my travels brought me to:

1. Shop for some art at Hong Kong Museum of Art
2. Eat lunch at Luk Yu Tea House
3. Try the egg tarts at Tai Cheong Bakery
4. Shop for Chinese stationery at Man Luen Choon Chinese Stationeries
5. Order a bespoke suit at Empire International Tailors
6. Shop at Yue Hwa Department Store

最近的幾星期就是我在於香港科技大學的最後幾個星期，因此有很多東西要辦好，才能夠完成我的研究作業，也是我一兩個星期後才發出這個網誌文章。以下的文章描述我八月九日（週六）在香港旅遊，請讀者享受了！

1. 香港藝術館查看藝術產品
2. 陸羽茶樓吃午飯
3. 泰昌餅家試試蛋撻
4. 文聯莊購物一下中式文具
5. 帝國國際裁縫訂購一套洋服
6. 裕華百貨購物一下

 Originally, I wanted to buy some Chinese art at the Museum of Art, but it turned out that they were far too expensive for my budget (I think a typical piece of embroidered art was around $3000 HKD). So, I decided to take a few pictures around Tsim Sha Tsui instead.

我原本打算在香港藝術館裡採取一些中式藝術品，但是太貴（如果沒有記錯一副普通的絲綢藝術要花3000港元左右），所以只好在尖沙咀附近攝影一下：

This is Shanghai Tang, a high-class store that specializes in mixing Western and traditional Chinese fashion into sometimes eclectic results but always for exorbitantly high prices.

以上的就是上海灘的這間豪華商店，集中了混合西方和傳統中方的服飾風格在一起。有時候他們的商品弄得很怪異，不過一貫價錢很貴！

Afterwards, I passed through Li Yuen Street, a street market famed for its collection of cheap clothing and various touristy souvenirs. I enjoyed the lively atmosphere but didn't find anything that interested me, so I moved on to my next destination: Luk Yu Tea House.

然後我經過了利源街，著名的是它很多賣不同便宜服飾、旅客紀念品的街市。我雖然很喜愛這條街的熱鬧氣氛，不過對於他們賣的東西沒有什麼興趣，所以繼續走往陸羽茶樓。

Luk Yu Tea House is named after the Chinese thinker who wrote the famous treatise "The Classic of Tea" on the preparation and appreciation of tea. The Tea House itself serves tea and Cantonese dim sum in a three-storey building and is widely known among Hong Kong locals and tourists alike.

陸羽茶樓，本店的名稱就是跟隨著名思想家陸羽而命名，這位陸羽關於怎麼準備茶，怎麼欣賞茶的道理下在他所寫的【茶經】裡。本店有三樓，並賣美味的粵式點心配中式茶，在香港的本地人、旅客來說很著名。

As Luk Yu is quite famous in Hong Kong, the pricing of each item on the menu was quite expensive; as it says on the menu, there is a service charge and a tea charge on top of the dim sum prices.

陸羽在香港茶樓中比較著名，因此菜單項目挺貴，根據菜單的說明，不僅為點心花錢，而且要花了服務費、茶費！

The pot of Tieguanyin tea that I ordered...the tea was refreshing and fragrant, although it became rather bitter by the end of my meal.

我所選的一壺鐵觀音茶……茶的味道很涼爽、很香，但是我差不多吃完這頓飯時時在太苦了。

I liked how the atmosphere inside the Tea House is still very traditional. Indeed, even though the menu changes every week, the servers still wear traditional early 20th century Chinese clothing and the decor is still kept decidedly traditionally Chinese in style.

我特別很喜歡茶樓的那種傳統氣氛，雖然每個星期菜單會更新，但是服務員也穿上傳統二十年紀的中式服裝，室內設計也保持了一種傳統中式風格。

In the end, I ordered two food items from the menu: (1) Homemade Steamed Dumplings and a (2) Baked Spare Rib Rice. In the end, I think my bill totalled almost $200 HKD!

我最終只要了兩項菜單食品：（一）家鄉蒸粉菓、（二）焗排骨飯，導致了要花200港元左右！

Although the food was very expensive by Hong Kong standards, I enjoyed the dumplings very much and the rice was a pleasant surprise. I had never eaten a spare ribs rice with gravy, garlic cloves, and bamboo shoots before!

s雖然食物比較貴，但是我也很喜歡他們的粉菓，排骨飯也是很驚喜，從來未吃過一種配合肉汁、蒜頭、竹筍的排骨飯！

I passed by Linva, a very famous atelier for Chinese women's qipao dresses, on my way to Tai Cheong Bakery.

我走往泰昌餅家時經過了很著名的旗袍商店——年華。

Then, I bought a piping hot, sweet, and creamy egg tart from the famous Tai Cheong Bakery. Apparently, the last Governor of Hong Kong loved Tai Cheong's egg tarts so much that he would eat them everyday!

然後我達到很著名的泰昌餅家買了一件又熱又甜又香滑的蛋撻，據說香港最後的一位英屬總督特別喜歡這間餅家的蛋撻，甚至每天也會吃一件蛋撻！

I then made my way through Sheung Wan to arrive at Man Luen Choon Chinese Stationeries, which is famed for its extensive supply of Chinese literary supplies.

我達到上環走往了很著名的專賣中式文具的文聯莊。

The interior of the shop was astounding - almost every inch of store space was filled with Chinese brushes, ink, paperweights, books on calligraphy, books on Chinese calligraphy... It was an absolute treasure trove for anyone remotely interested in Chinese brush arts. In the end, I bought some Chinese brushes, calligraphy paper, Chinese-style notebooks, a brush-pen, and some Chinese-style letter paper.

商店的入面很迷人，處處有毛筆、墨水、鎮紙、書法書籍、中式畫書籍……可說是一個文具的保藏。我最終選擇了購買毛筆、宣紙、中式筆記本、毛尖鋼筆、還有一些中式書信紙。

Afterwards, I went to get a tailor-made suit at Empire International Tailors, which is well-known among the diplomatic community in Hong Kong for its tailoring services. Although I should have expected high prices, eventually I was able to secure a suit for $2,000 HKD (apparently much lower than their typical starting price of $3,500 HKD)

The banyan trees that line in the southern portion of Nathan Road are very beautiful, almost like artwork of Studio Ghibli. Here is the Hong Kong Observatory:

彌頓道南段旁邊的榕樹真美，好像宮崎駿的動畫，逛了彌頓道的我不久就遇到香港天文台：

And here is a dramatic shot just off Nathan Road by the Mong Kok MTR Station as the setting sun illuminates the dust in the air:

我靠近彌頓道，旺角地鐵站附近攝影了這一照片，夕陽特別美麗地照亮空中的沙塵：

I made my way to Yue Hwa (again) and bought some tea and tea utensils - they have a respectable collection for decent prices:

這次我又達到了裕華百貨，獲取了一些茶葉、茶具，他們居然又多選擇又好價錢：

The next day, I woke up early to find that the early sun casting a more beautiful cast on the HKUST campus and the nearby area - the campus seems even more beautiful at sunrise and sunset.

我下一天比正常起床得更早，看到早太陽很美麗地照亮科大校園及附近的地區，領導校園更美。其實我覺得科大校園最美麗的時候就是日出時、夕陽時。

The following few days in Hong Kong were rather humid, resulting in the little-seen phenomenon back in Canada: that of layers of low-hanging fog creeping over hillsides and ridges. It was so beautiful that it almost looked like something out of a Chinese painting!

香港再幾天後挺潮濕，導致在加拿大少見的一個現象：低空的一層霧在山邊爬上爬下，真像一副山水畫一樣的！好美麗啊！

I still have some more information about my recent trip on Saturday, August 16th so stay posted in the coming few days as I slowly finish that post.

我還有關於最近的八月十六日星期六的旅遊，所以請你等候，應該幾日後寫完，和大家分享一下。