We had a stroll around Mong Kok this afternoon. To me, this area feels different from the other parts of Hong Kong, a little more like traditional China and less like a slick and modern corporate center. One of the traditional things you can see here is the Bird Garden and market.Songbirds are prized pets, though they seem to be popular only with old men. In the Bird Garden, birds are taken out to enjoy the air in their ornate cages while their owners socialize.
The cages are carefully placed among beautiful landscaping, sometimes high up on display rods or on the ground. Shrill whistles and trills fill the air, while sparrows and other wild birds hop around under the cages to eat spilled birdseed.
I just love the tiny Chinese bowls in each bird's cage.
The garden also has a small market where you can buy cages of all sizes, as well as birds.
Bird flu is a big worry here, so there are lots of signs warning against feeding wild birds.
As for the domesticated ones, the government conducts regular tests and the market is closed once a month for cleaning. An epidemic of bird flu in the Bird Garden would be catastrophic, given that Mong Kok has one of the highest population densities in the world. I can't find anything official to back me up, but the figure tossed about most often is a staggering 130,000 people per square kilometer!
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