Places to Chat
Old Cricket Says
Chatterbox: In This Month's Issue
Old Cricket Says
Old Cricket Says
Dog walking is common in America, but in Hong Kong, bird walking is more popular. That’s right, bird walking—but not on a leash—in a cage! According to my friend Kate Carroll, taking a walk with your feathered friend is a Chinese pastime dating back to the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty in the seventeenth century.
Kate never owned a bird while living in Hong Kong, but she enjoyed strolling through the park where many Chinese proudly carry their colorful pets in fancy cages. In a city crowded with seven million people, bird walking offers fresh air and an escape from apartment life—for humans as well as their larks and thrushes. It is an important social event for older Chinese, who hang their birdcages on tree branches, then chat leisurely with friends, sip tea, or play mahjong, a Chinese tile game.
The Yuen Po Bird Garden, also known as Bird Street, is the place to buy a sparrow or more exotic bird, or to treat your pet to a scrumptious tidbit. Shops line the pedestrian alley beyond the lovely Moon Gate, where countless birds chirp and strut their feathers for potential buyers. Some perch on stands, uncaged, to the amusement of the crowds.
On Bird Street the tweeting comes from beautiful birds and not from smart phones. Indulgent owners pluck live crickets and grasshoppers with chopsticks and feed these choice morsels to their tiny songsters. Delicate porcelain bowls hold water for a refreshing drink. The cages are as fascinating and ornate as the birds themselves. Crafters use bamboo and teakwood to fashion birdcages of all shapes and sizes.
Cheerful tweeting and trilling brings harmony to all who stroll down colorful Bird Street, where Hong Kong’s birds are still as pampered as they were by the Manchu nobility centuries ago.
What unusual pets have you seen in the park or out for a walk?
submitted by Old Cricket
(March 25, 2014 - 4:07 pm)
(March 25, 2014 - 4:07 pm)
Thank you for putting this article in the April issue, Old Cricket! I learned a lot from it. Once, while I was at a shopping center, I saw a very tiny dog. It was so cute! My dad said to watch out for the dog because it might bite us. I didn't see any dog, but I looked down and saw the mini dog! It was the smallest dog I've ever seen.
And you'd also better watch out not to step on such a tiny dog!
Old Cricket
(April 4, 2014 - 3:07 pm)
top
(April 10, 2014 - 3:00 pm)
I have seen people walking their chickens along a road. Don't run over those chickens.
(April 29, 2014 - 6:00 pm)