Friday, April 27, 2012

The Birds and the Bees

Not those birds and bees.
Actual birds.
And flowers.
Which attract bees, so there ya go.


These last few letters in the A-Z blog challenge are why its called the A-Z blog Challenge. Today's post is brought to you by the letter X and since my theme has been my trip to China how about a little Mandarin?

Mind you, I don't speak Mandarin except for the word xie xie which means thank you. While that does begin with the letter x, it doesn't fit with today's post so it's google to the resuce...

X is for Xing Qu

Which in Mandarin means 'interest in something'.
I realize it's a stretch but won't all the letter x posts today be a stretch?


Flowers and birds.
Two things I have an interest in plus we visited the Flower Market and the Bird Market while in Hong Kong and I want to include that in my trip recap.


There's a lot of what they called 'themed street shopping' in Hong Kong which means you'll find the flower market on Flower Market Road. Essentially it's three blocks of store fronts selling gorgeous flowers. I loved the way they wrapped the individual rose buds in mesh before bundling them together.


Lots of shops selling orchids of every size, shape, color and variety...so beautiful!


This was one of our favorites and is called a tiger orchid-


As you near the end of the flower market you'll see the entrance to the Bird Market.


The bird market is exactly what it sounds like-an outdoor market selling birds along with everything you'd need to keep one in your home.


And I do mean everything.


I love birds in the wild but I'm not a big fan of birds as pets. They seem like creatures that belong in their natural habitat as opposed to living indoors. I was told that a lot of people in Hong Kong keep birds as pets because they don't require the living space a big dog would need. The market is mostly songbirds which are kept in these pretty bamboo cages...bird singing contests are popular here.


The market itself was interesting...I wish I had an audio file! Some of the cages were really beautiful and I loved the pretty little water dishes inside. Naturally I'd go to a bird market and fixate on the tiny pieces of pottery...I appreciate pretty pottery even if it belongs to a bird.


You'll also see sites like this one...


...clipping the wings. See, that's why I'm not a fan I think. I realize its a necessity if you don't want your pet to get loose but its a bird and weren't they born to fly? I had mixed feelings about the market, obviously, but a visit here is a unique experience...if you're in Hong Kong these two markets together are definitely worth a look...


Especially if shared with a friend.

Thanks for joining me in my little stroll thru the markets today. Or in keeping with the spirit of the challenge- xie xie!

17 comments:

  1. I was going to suggest you use some Chinese name since so many start with X. Glad you found a way to do a "X" post.

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  2. I so love the flowers, but I am with you on the birds!Yuck!

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  3. I bought a beautiful birdcage at that market. I even managed to get it home as a carry-on on the plane! I loved the flower market!

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  4. I LOVE the tiger orchid! How unique and beautiful. And yes, the X posts today WILL be a stretch. I posted an x-ray of my 91 year-old mom's shoulder after a break and surgery to implant a metal apparatus for stability. It's gross and amazing at the same time. :-)

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  5. What beautiful flowers and I agree about keeping birds caged but then it's a different culture. It's so interesting to hear about other places.

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  6. Now you're talking my language! I love love love all the flowers!
    Son #1 had a bird. Oh my it was the. messiest. thing. ever. Bleh.

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  7. so many beautiful things to see--thanks for the stroll :)

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  8. Gorgeous! Just curious, how much would one of those bundles of roses cost there?

    Hate the idea of caged birds too. I don't even want to clip our chicken's wings. Hope it won't be necessary, but we're new to this farming thing so we'll see.

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  9. X-cellent job on the letter X. The orchids are so beautiful. The bird market would have been tough for me, though we do have a family parrot who now lives with my son but has lived with most of us at one time another. Scott the bird is about 25 years old.

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  10. Beautiful flowers on that street and the water bowls in the bamboo cages - porcelain right?
    I agree with you on the birds. We hear them when we sit outside and they sing and fly about. To see one in a cage (even a gilded cage cm) would be saddening.
    Thanks for sharing this exciting travel experience.

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  11. I'm right there with you on the birds as pets issue. And those flowers WERE gorgeous! Even though I'm not a fan of cut flowers...I like them in the yard, growing. Not cut just so they can die. You were surrounded by brilliant colors! And I don't know about everyone else but my 'x' was most definitely a stretch. LOL

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  12. I suppose the markets are great for consumers - makes comparison shopping easy but it's got to be hard on sellers!

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  13. Well I can't think of a better place to be than a flower market. They amaze me with their beauty. Actually birds amaze me too. I did have a lovebird for 13 years. I did have to clip her wings from time to time. Also she got very sick once and I had to give her shots through her breast bone!!! I would have enjoyed both of these places you visited. We are planning on going to see the Field of flowers in Carlsbad tomorrow.

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  14. Poor birdie :-( But beautiful photos otherwise, especially those gorgeous bouquets of flowers!

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  15. What an interesting post for the letter X. So many beautiful flowers. I feel so bad for the birds, having to get their wings clipped.

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  16. The flowers are beautiful, oh my those orchids! I am with you on the birds, my mom had birds at one time and talk about messy!
    until next time... nel

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  17. Clever woman to use a Mandarin phrase! You had described the bird market to me, but the photos really give me the visuals. What gorgeous cages, but I agree I'm conflicted about the wing clipping and keeping of said birdies in the cages.
    The photos of the flowers are luminous!
    Thanks for the peeks at how another part of our world lives.

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