26 April 2016

Hong Kong March 2016 - PMQ

Continued from
Hong Kong March 2016 Introduction
Hong Kong March 2016 - Food Trail I Cha Chaan Teng
Hong Kong March 2016 - Food Trail II Roasted Goose, Noodles, Congee, Dim Sum
Hong Kong March 2016 - Day trip to Sai Kung
Hong Kong March 2016 - Food Trail III Dining at Sai Kung


My precious impression of Hong Kong has always been mainly food and shopping, probably because the stays were usually short.

This time, I had the opportunity to explore new places and one of them is PMQ, which stands for Police Married Quarters; it is actually a former dormitory for Chinese rank and file police officers (in 1950s), and the historical site has since been revitalized (in 2009) as a creative hub for local design talents. It's stated that there are about 100 design and creative enterprises specialising in areas such as fashion, accessories, home/furniture, food, design services/galleries etc, housed in PMQ. PMQ also organises programs and events regularly such as exhibitions, performances, talks, bazaars etc.


PMQ is located at a quiet area of Soho, Central Hong Kong. Luckily I had data roaming and able to locate the place easily using google map.


Reached there 11 plus, whole place felt serene and quiet. There are two main blocks of 7 floors. Unfortunately most of the shops didn't open till after 1 or 2pm and by then I had completed my rounds (yes, I covered the entire place!).


Even though most of the shops and galleries were not opened yet, I was happy to window-shop, browse the various art installations, and basically just enjoy the peaceful atmosphere and admire the scenery.





There are two street pianos (located at different locations) and visitors welcome to play them :) Resonance of piano music while strolling the grounds. Lovely!



There are many interesting concept shops, cafes and eateries. Oh, the uber popular Japanese ABC Cooking Studio is housed here too.

But I merely window-shopped and browsed through briefly because the prices were *ahem* quite costly.







When I was there, PMQ had this interesting art installation "Hong Kong on Steps". 7 artists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, South Korea and Japan collaborated and featured their creative art work on 20 flights of stairs around PMQ.

For visitors, we could partake by taking photos of the art work and upload them on social media like Instagram or FB. Upon completion, we could even redeem a souvenir (by showing the post on social media to organiser). This is certainly an effective way of promoting the place and create awareness for the artists.

There's no specifications on number of steps/photos to cover, but since I was browsing the area anyway, I covered all the 20 flights of stairs spanning 6 stairways, 7 floors! Great workout! Luckily the weather was comfortable, else I would just take the lifts.









Overall, I enjoyed the visit to PMQ, didn't know there's such an interesting place in Hong Kong. It would have been even better if my visit coincides with some exhibitions or bazaar (like upcoming there's a food truck festival), but it's a nice place to visit if you have a few hours to spare and keen in the creative industries.

PMQ - http://www.pmq.org.hk/

Stay tuned for upcoming post on Teakha, a tea cafe specialising in teas and tea-infused food.

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