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Eric Fichtl

Hong Kong

<p>Contrasting styles at the Chi Lin Nunnery, a Buddhist temple complex in Kowloon. <br /></p>
<p>A view over the rooftops of Kowloon, near the Hong Kong Observatory. The blur results from condensation on the lens due to a rapid transition from a climate-controlled interior to Hong Kong's humid exterior.</p>
<p>A view of Wan Chai's verticality with the Wing Tak blocks on Bowrington Road front and centre, and more towers beyond in Causeway Bay.</p>
<p>Escalators in a Hong Kong shopping mall prove reminiscent of M.C. Escher's drawings.</p><p>Pardon the pun in the title. Had to be done.</p>
<p>Space-restricted Hong Kong has been building high-density high-rise housing for decades. More and more districts are taking on this character.<br /></p>
<p>A view down Whampoa Street in the Hung Hom district of Hong Kong. <br /></p> <p>Along the left side of the street there was once a relaxed little restaurant called El Merry where friends and I enjoyed the odd meal.<br /></p>
<p>Hong Kongers rush along the waterfront shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve 2013.</p>
<p>Better known for its soaring skyline and manic lifestyle, Hong Kong also retains aspects of its pre-colonial Chinese tradition, particularly in the New Territories connected to the mainland. This courtyard home called Tai Fu Tai dates from 1865, not long after the British had seized Hong Kong Island but before they leased the New Territories from China. It is an outstanding example of 19th Century Chinese architecture. <br /></p>
<p>Men gather to read and air their birds in the shade of a tiny park wedged between busy streets in Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Taking a caged bird for a walk is an old tradition – it is said that the birds are inspired to sing more beautifully by these meet-ups.<br /></p>
<p>People gather around a statue of Hong Kong film idol Bruce Lee. <br /></p>
<p>The facade of the Ming Fung Building on Wan Chai Road reveals a few residents still up, burning the midnight oil. <br /></p>
<p>Two people quite enjoying the seaside district of Stanley, Hong Kong.</p>
<p>The terraced Chinese Permanent Cemetery hugs the hillsides behind the high-rise towers of Aberdeen, almost forming an ampitheatre where the ancestors can watch over their descendants. </p>
<p>A woman shields herself from one of Hong Kong's sudden, torrential rain storms.</p>
<p>Hong Kong has the world's best skyline (and as a former Chicagoan and New Yorker I can say that). By night, the city's standout skyscrapers illuminate in a choreography of colour while thousands of flats add a galaxy of twinkling lights. Fast moving weather patterns and the faint outline of the Peak further enhance the scene. Here's just some of that mesmerising vista of Central shot from Kowloon.</p>