Samantha Brown's Places to Love

[ Gong crashing ] [ Sitar plays ] -I'm in a city that is truly dazzling.

Its soaring, modern skyline is surrounded by nature in spectacular ways and one of the joys of the city is seeing it from the epic perspective that nature creates.

But even the city's vertical and natural immenseness creates mysteries and subtleties tucked away in corners just waiting to be found.

And for those who truly love to wander, you will never be at a loss.

An ultramodern city still wonderfully stuck in its old ways, I'm in Hong Kong, China.

[ Gong crashes ] [ Upbeat tune plays ] I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world.

And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

-When you first arrive at a city that you've read about your entire life, maybe dreamt of going to your entire life, there's a bit of a reality check because the city no longer lives just in your imagination.

It's a real city with real people and buildings and traffic.

When you arrive in Hong Kong, though, it's the reality of the city and your imagination because there's an energy here that you've always dreamt that it would have and this energy picks you up and never lets you go and the best thing you can do is just let the city take you where it wants to go.

What used to be the location for the police married quarters, or PMQ, an old government building that once housed married junior police officers in no way represents the creativity happening inside.

It has become a hub of designers and makers from all across the artistic spectrum, but, mostly, with an emphasis on Hong Kong's own unique heritage.

Are you from Hong Kong?

-Yes.

-So the city itself inspires you?

-Yes.

I use the Hong Kong, the local culture and the traditional items to make our jewelry.

We used our Hong Kong Victoria Harbour view, the skyline?

To make this collection.

-I love how you've created the skyline within earrings -Yes, yes.

-and on rings here.

And this is from the dress.

-It's a keipo.

["Chee-pooh"] -A keipo.

Keipo.

-Keipo.

Yes.

-And so are you using actual fabric from a keipo?

-Yes, inside the jewel.

-That's beautiful!

-Yes.

-Because jewelry is passed down to us, right?

We get our grandmother's rings.

-Ah, yes.

-We get our aunt's necklaces.

-Yes.

-And so you put a little piece of Hong Kong in there -Yes.

-and, now, you can have that forever.

-Yes.

So it's not just the jewelry.

This is the last souvenir, yes.

-The souvenir that lasts.

-Yes.

-I was eyeing your pearl necklace.

-This one, we have the two length, like this one is the long one -Oh, let me see.

-right here.

-Mm-hmm.

-Yes, for the long one.

-And then what is this right here?

[ Gasp ] -This one is the Star Ferry.

-It's the Star Ferry.

-Yes.

-Oh, my goodness!

-And other side is the Hong Kong, the Victoria Harbour view.

-Agh!

So this is your latest piece?

-Yes.

-Oh, good job.

Reluctantly, I managed to drag myself away from the jewelry and, just a few steps away, I found a beautiful, little ceramic shop and there I met one of the founders, Heidi Choy.

So you're one of the owners of the shop -Oh, yes.

-and there's one artist who creates all this beautiful work?

-Yes, yes.

-And what is the aim of her work?

-Well, we try to have tableware not only that is beautiful to your eyes and is functional.

We have a lot of design of the lotus root and a lot of design, maybe, on the flower and on the lotus leaf.

But our artists think that the reason why we can see the beautiful flower is the lotus root humbly down in the pond and take the nutrients up to the flower.

-[Gasp] -So it's like a thank-you to our parents.

-Awww!

-It's so lovely, right?

-It's the root of love, right?

Our parents, so the lotus represents them.

-Yeah.

Yes, yes.

-I love pottery -Yeah.

-and one of the reasons why I love it is it's made by hand.

-Yes.

-And I feel like, when you touch the pottery, you touch someone's work.

-Yes, yes.

-And so I love how these plates, this has the lotus on it.

-Yes.

-This has a little broccoli.

-Oh, yes.

This, we call the food print.

So we actually print the food on our plate.

Like this is garlic.

-Garlic, okay.

-And this is our favorite dishes.

-What is that, chicken wings?

-Oh, yes, chicken wings.

-[Laughing] -We have millions of recipes, how to cook chicken wings.

-Okay.

-Like deep fry or stir-fry, lots, and we love chicken wings.

-And it's so different from a lot of what you see, in terms of shopping in Hong Kong, -Oh, yes, yes.

-which is high-end stores on an international scale -Yeah.

-that you can see in any city, really, these days.

-Yes, yes.

-This is something very unique.

[ Tranquil tune plays ] One of the more established and popular shops in the PMQ is Goods of Desire, a shop that totally celebrates Hong Kong heritage, but with fun and irreverence.

Douglas Young is the creator and head designer of the design good shop.

How long have you been designing goods?

-Actually, it seems like yesterday, but I started the company more than 20 years ago.

-Twenty years ago.

-And what was your mission to start the company?

-Well, I just got fed up because Hong Kong is such a special place and why doesn't more people outside of Hong Kong understand us and get our culture and appreciate what we do?

And I guess we just desperately need a brand that's from Hong Kong, that is inspired by Hong Kong, and that's showing the rest of the world how Hong Kong can be cool.

-I was going through some of your T-shirts, Douglas, and I feel like you need to be in on a joke.

-Okay.

-So take me through the joke.

-Right.

-Hongkie?

-You know, Hongkie, that's me, you know?

Hongkie, that's what we call ourselves.

It's not an official title.

-[laughing] Really?

-But, when I go overseas, I say, "I'm a Hongkie."

-"I'm a Hongkie."

Okay.

-"Ayahh!"

You must've heard.

If you've been to the markets of Hong Kong, -Uh-huh.

-if people drop eggs on the floor, they go, "Ayahh!

I dropped," or you lose a game of mahjong, "Ayahh!"

you know, "I lost!"

So "Ayahh" is kinda like an exclamation.

-Obviously, there are huge cultural differences between Hong Kong and the rest of mainland China.

-Mm-hmm.

-What are some of the more subtle ones, -Right.

-that someone like me wouldn't pick up?

-I think the traditional, mainland Chinese culture is so much more highbrow and conventional.

-Uh-huh.

-Because theirs is a tradition that's like thousands of years old, whereas, Hong Kong was a fishing village about 100 years ago, -Is that right?

Okay.

-you know, so we're not as kind of grand.

-Yeah.

That Douglas runs one of Hong Kong's most successful design shops, celebrating all things Hong Kong, isn't the only reason why I'm here.

When do we gossip?

-When do we not gossip?

[ Laughter ] I'm sorry.

Actually, not a lot of people know this, but, I'm the author of a book called "You Too Can Mahjong!"

[ Speaking Chinese ] The word mahjong means literally a sparrow, would you believe?

You know the bird sparrow?

And they tend to pick up their food from the ground, just with their beaks, right?

So, when you play mahjong, you're always fishing for the tiles that are open in front of you, like as if your hands are like the sparrow's beak, picking the tiles up.

You see how quick they are?

Look.

-Yes, and they have all their fingers working.

-I think everybody in Hong Kong plays mahjong, actually.

At the age of four, we learn to play mahjong from our mothers.

[laughs] -Oh.

[laughing] -You see how they all like stick together?

You can start by, like, you know, just arranging your tiles, -I'm arranging my tiles.

-so that they are according to the suits.

-Okay.

-Yeah, the circles together and the numbers together.

-Circles together.

So I'm just arranging patterns.

-The moment you successfully collect a winning hand, you mahjong by going like that to show people.

Then, we will have to pay you.

-Nice!

So I'm getting mahjong!

-Yes!

-Yes!

-You actually have a very good hand.

-Well, what did you expect?

-First time lucky.

What do you expect?

-Ayahh, ayahh, ayahh, ayahh!

So, even though mahjong is -- you play it seriously, everyone still has fun within it?

-I think so, yeah.

Although, it could get really tense.

-Yeah?

Yeah.

Families have been separated because of a bad mahjong game?

-Not quite.

I think mahjong is very important for the society of Hong Kong, for our communities, because so much news and gossip takes place on the mahjong table.

[ Laughter ] When you're relaxed, when you're having fun, and when you're just facing each other for hours, then, you know, news and business inevitably takes place.

You live in Hong Kong.

You live in a high-rise apartment.

You're close to each other.

You just hear the mahjong sounds echoing off the buildings.

[ Tiles rattling ] [ Tiles rattling ] [ Tiles rattling ] -Hong Kong has a very unique history.

It is in the country of China, but was a British colony until 1997.

They traditionally speak Cantonese here, not Mandarin, like in mainland China.

It's a world financial hub, but has its own currency, the Hong Kong dollar; and, unlike visiting mainland China, does not require a visa from its visitors.

This morning, I'm in one of Hong Kong's oldest neighborhoods, Sham Shui Po.

One of the most densely populated parts of the city is where I found one of its best-kept secrets.

[ Tender tune plays ] -[Speaking Chinese] -How many different types of tofu products do you make?

-I think we have over 20 types of tofu products in our shop.

-So I recognize this one, like tofu squares.

-Yes.

Tofu puff, yeah.

-And then, what's that one?

That looks fantastic.

-This one is for Chinese hot pot.

-Okay.

-You just put it into the soup for 3 seconds and it's tasty.

-Oh, and then.

-I'm Renee So.

I'm the fifth-generation owner running this tofu shop in Sham Shuni Po neighborhood in Hong Kong.

Our shop has been running for more than 60 years.

-And all of these products come from one tofu recipe?

-Yes, all comes from soybean.

-So how old is the recipe here?

-Over 100 years.

-That's pretty amazing.

-Yeah.

-Do you make fresh tofu every single day?

-Every 2 hours.

Our kitchen operates 18 hours a day.

-Eight-- Oh, my gosh!

-360 days -Wow.

a year.

-Time to make the tofu.

-Yeah.

-[Laughing] This easily overlooked neighborhood is where you can still find traditional Hong Kong tucked into its nooks and crannies.

And Renee's little family nook is known for its century-old tofu recipe, that begins with soaked soybeans getting liquefied by a stone grinder that's been in operation for 50 years.

Once the fiber has been filtered away, it gets boiled in giant copper woks, and then?

Gets filtered again, in a cotton bag, by hand.

Then, it's firmed up by adding gypsum powder.

Once it goes into these wooden boxes and the excess liquid is pressed out, the tofu is ready, and it's used to make a huge variety of specialties, including what is considered to be the city's best version of this.

-Fresh tofu pudding.

-This is what you're known for?

-Yes.

-How do you order it?

Like can you order it with different condiments?

-Usually, we put the cane sugar on top.

-Ooh!

Yes.

Just dig in?

-Yes, can try.

-Mmm.

Mmm.

This is just comfort food.

So lovely.

-It's very simple, but healthy for you.

-So this is a sort of a Hong Kong-style tofu pudding?

-Yes.

In Hong Kong, people preferred eating the tofu pudding with sugar, but people from Shanghai, they like to put soy sauce.

-As a dessert?!

-Yes.

[ Laughter ] -Do you get all types coming in here?

-Yes.

We have all types of people come into our shop.

I think they come here, not just for the pudding itself.

They come here for their childhood history and they also want to have a look of the old Hong Kong as well and teach the next generation about the history.

And also, they want to try the tofu pudding.

So I try my best to keep the business running because I really want more people to know about the history of Hong Kong and also can have a taste of it, not just seeing the pictures in the museums.

But in the tofu, you can taste the old Hong Kong.

-This is what people wanna come and see, how people really live, -Yeah.

-how people go about their daily lives.

-Yeah.

I always hope more people in Hong Kong can keep the old, traditional food business keep running because it also represent Hong Kong.

So, if more people can keep running the old business, I think it will make our society more diverse.

-In the nearby Prince Edward district, I met up with a local who introduced me to a very different Hong Kong tradition by taking me to Yuen Po Gardens, [ Tweeting ] which, you could say, is for the birds.

So, are the men selling the birds, or are they pets?

-They're pets.

Okay.

They're hanging their birds in the iron bar and they enjoy watching, they sing the golden voice.

-Yes?

-Yes.

-So they bring their own birds here, their own pets, so they can hang out together?

The guys can hang out together, and the birds can hang out together.

And I love how this park is actually built to hang birdcages on.

-Yes.

This is the only bird garden in Hong Kong.

-This is the only one of its kind in Hong Kong?

-Yes.

-Wow!

How old is this hobby?

-Like 500, 800 years.

[ Tweeting ] -At the Yuen Po Bird Garden, you can get all your birding accessories: cages, feeders, essential nutrients.

For many of these men, caring for birds is a lifelong passion.

-[Speaking Chinese] -[Speaking Chinese] What is more important to Mr. Lau, the look of the bird, the beauty of the bird, or the sound of the bird?

-[Speaking Chinese] -Okay.

You know, Mr. Lau can tell if the bird, whether he's happy or not happy.

He can tell from his face and also from his singing.

-So the look of the bird is most important -Yeah, you know, okay.

-because it's the health.

-Yeah.

-It's not long before Mr. Lau is showing us pictures of, not birds, or grandchildren, but his cage collection, over 30 strong, with artistic detailing.

All are considered exquisite antiques.

Even the porcelain bowls used as feeders are a point of collectors' pride.

I love the porcelain cups.

They're beautiful.

-[Speaking Chinese] -Even though he got the collection from the Ming Dynasty, these are Qing Dynasty, 300, 400, 500 years.

-I don't know my dynasties here in China, sorry.

-That means it's like 400, 500 years, starting from like 100 to 300, 400 years.

-Wow!

But does his wife share the same passion for birds -[Speaking Chinese] -that Mr. Lau does?

-[Speaking Chinese] [ Laughter ] -Oh, no.

-When I'm in a destination for more than three or four days, one thing I really love to do, in order to slow my travels down, is to create a ritual.

I like to find what's gonna be my place and I'm gonna return to it, often.

And people think I'm crazy for doing this because like, "Oh, my gosh.

We've gotta go to different places every single meal and every meal's gotta change our life," right?

And I just don't believe in that.

So I always find the place that I'm gonna begin my day at, have breakfast.

This is Tsui Wah.

It's what's called a tea restaurant here in Hong Kong and, with many locations around the city, it is the opposite of one-of-a-kind and, yet, it's a reliable local spot, with little wait, where one can enjoy a good meal.

What you see here is Hong Kong on a plate, literally the history of Hong Kong.

So we've got some beef noodles for breakfast, but with the beef noodles come scrambled eggs and a nice buttered roll and, of course, a cup of tea, and I love that.

Travel requires like incessant thinking, right?

What am I gonna do today?

How am I gonna get there?

Is it gonna rain?

Do I need to bring sunscreen?

I leave in three days.

Did my upgrades come through?

I'm like, "I just want my brain to stop," and the way that I do that is I return to a place that's familiar and it gives me comfort and then I just relax.

And I get to eat noodles with a fork.

[ Whimsical tune plays ] [ Suspenseful music plays ] Another Ancient Chinese tradition very much alive in Hong Kong is feng shui.

-I'm Kerby Kuek.

I'm an advisor and consultant for businesses and residential in accordance to the feng shui principle, which is natural science.

[ Bell clangs ] -So, Kerby, right now, we're in Central Hong Kong, surrounded by some of the most important businesses in the world.

-Right.

Right.

-So, that building right there has been built with the principles of feng shui?

-Yes, definitely.

-[laughing] How?

How?

-Well, they've picked the right spot, like I say.

When the flow energy flow down, it actually flow down to the spot here, so they have their own setting on how to harness the energy to bring that energy up to the buildings, okay?

-So you're saying that the architect had a feng shui master to plan the position of the building?

-Yes, yeah.

They openly admitted this, okay?

Look at the underground.

-Yes?

-It's blank, okay?

-There's space under it.

-Right.

This is how they attract the five-dragon energy.

-The five-dragon energy.

What is that?

-Right, the five mountains of Hong Kong.

-Oh, oh!

And they're all dragons?

-We call it dragons.

-No fly around.

-They don't fly around.

They just produce the energy for the spot.

-Okay.

So it's got a lot of stuff.

-Right.

-Does that have to do with the principles of feng shui?

-Placed for aesthetic reason only.

[ Laughter ] Not everything is related to feng shui.

[ Laughter ] -And, yet, you'd be amazed when it is, like a building covered in a cage to protect it from the bad energy of another building that is shaped like a knife, or simple doorways that are angled away from the unkind energy created by zooming traffic.

Where's the bad energy coming from?

-Bad energy coming down from the drastic flow of energy.

-Ah.

-You see the road here emerge?

-And there's a decline, too.

-Right.

Decline, decline, the energy's rushed and disturbed.

-What does feng shui mean?

Literally, what is the translation?

-Well, what feng shui means: "wind and water."

-Wind and water?

-Wind and water.

-Okay.

Is it a principle?

Is it a philosophy?

Is it a religion?

-Well, it is everything put into one, okay?

Put it this way: We try to aim a spot, a place, that lives harmoniously with the nature.

[ Flute plays tranquil tune ] [ Insects rattling ] -Kerby had given me an entirely different way to get to know and understand Hong Kong and harmonizing with nature?

Turned out to not be difficult at all.

SK, it is amazing to me that we are just an hour outside of Hong Kong.

-[Laughing] -I mean, I feel like I was, you know, we traveled five days to reach this point.

That's what I'm gonna tell my friends.

-[laughs] The good thing is you don't see any sort of the manmade structure, you know?

Looking at all the 180, you only see greens and the natural woods.

I'm SK Shum.

-I'm Gally Shum.

-And I'm the founder of Hong Kong Hiking Meetup and I would say the Hong Kong largest hiking group.

-Are all your trails accessible by public transportation?

-Yeah.

90% would be.

-Pretty much.

-Yeah, very much.

-That is amazing!

-Yeah.

-That is so unique.

I mean, that just doesn't exist anywhere else.

Hong Kong has over 100 trails to discover and the Hong Kong Meetup has over 1,800 hikes every year.

All trails are open to the public and easily accessible from downtown Hong Kong.

When you're a traveler in a foreign country, most of the people you come in contact with are there to serve you.

I took this hike to explore a different side of Hong Kong, but also to enjoy the locals in their downtime.

So, SK, when did you found this hiking group?

-Oh, 2005?

-2005.

-Yeah, yeah.

[laughs] -Well, that's a long time ago.

-13 years.

-13 years.

And how many people are a part of it?

-When we were started, -Yeah?

-were four people.

-Four people, okay.

-Yeah.

Now we are closing in at 22,000.

-22,000 people?!

-Yes.

Yes.

-Oh, my goodness!

-[laughing] Yeah.

I didn't create it intentionally.

-Okay.

-It grew organically, so that people start referring friends.

-[both] Social media.

-helps a great deal.

-That's how I found out about you.

I'm always asked, "How do you meet other people when you go to these places?"

This, to me, seemed like a perfect way.

-Perfect way.

-Yeah, to meet people.

-And it's a perfect way to do matching, too.

We do have a lot of relationships come -Oh, really?

-out of the hiking activities.

-Is that right?

-Yes.

Yes.

-Is it hard to be a Hong Konger and meet other people?

-Hard for me.

-Hard for you.

Okay.

-Hard for her.

-I haven't had a chance yet.

-Her standard is too high.

-Her standards are too high.

[ Laughter ] Ay, gosh.

Do you think most Hong Kongers know that they have this access to their city?

-One of my joys is taking people who've been born in Hong Kong, raised in Hong Kong, out on hikes like this, and they go, "Wow.

I had no idea."

-Yeah.

Right.

-Really, and they're just astounded that, in their own backyard was this incredible countryside, which is about 40% of Hong Kong is our countryside.

They're just amazed.

-Like every metropolitans in the world, the living pace is always fast and people are workaholics, but to strive for balance of life is so nice.

We have the space, this green, and all this great nature where we can share and we enjoy the fellowship together with people and with nature.

-I love my friends, my neighbors in this area.

Everyone is very friendly.

We know each other and we also know their parents, their kids.

I think this strong relationship represent the old Hong Kong, yeah.

Although we are very busy, but we care each other.

-Hong Kong has the greatest energy.

It's a place that is really buzzing.

I think, I mean, if you're interested in nightlife, food and fashion and shopping, all this sort of exciting stuff, you must come to Hong Kong.

-When a city still amazes, whether it's your first time there, or your tenth, when its dragon energy encourages you to explore its busy streets, as well as its unknown paths, when the people are happy to help you enjoy the mystery and subtlety of a massive metropolis, that is when we share a love of travel and that's why Hong Kong, China, is a place to love.

[ Gong crashes ] -For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.