Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

1600 pandas had a great time on the beach of Park Island / Ma Wan recently, and were warmly welcomed by Park Island residents. The pandas, created by French artist Paulo Grangeon in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature, are a protest work from the artist about the dwindling panda population. Each paper panda represents a real panda. In 2004, the WWF estimated that only 1,600 pandas inhabit the planet and that the species is endangered.  The pandas have already visited France, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Taiwan as part of a world tour. Their arrival in Hong Kong brings them closer to the natural home of real pandas, in the bamboo forests of western China.  Here's a nice little video of the  1600 pandas arriving in Hong Kong . Below are a few photos of the pandas on the beach at Park Island. Pandas enjoying the beach at Ma Wan Park Island residents welcome 1600 pandas who came for a visit

I've received a number of emails since my last update on this blog, asking if Hong Kong property prices will start to rise again. Currently, by applying a mathematical calculation of cost of rent vs cost to borrow, Hong Kong property is relatively fairly priced. That is, not excessively overpriced, nor excessively under priced . In my mind, the biggest deciding factor is still: 1) How long the Fed will keep interest rates at current levels; and 2) To what extent the property cooling measures will be eased in Hong Kong. That is, will they be eased prior to the Fed increasing interest rates, in tandem with t he Fed increasing interest rates, or at a lag in time from the time t he Fed increasing interest rates. If you knew the answer to these questions you could with great certainty make money (or prevent losing money) with regard to investing in property in Hong Kong. My prediction is still that the  cooling measures will be eased in Hong Kong  in tandem wit

I've written on the topic of car access to Park Island for residents before and it is always a topic of interest, both to Park Island residents who prefer not to have car access (due to wanting to limit public access/noise/pollution etc) to Park Island, and those who prefer to have cars, due to both the convenience and the likely significant boost in property prices that would undoubtedly result (welcomed by owners, but no so much by those of who rent apartments on Park Island.). See:  http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.sg/2010/11/will-private-cars-ever-be-allowed-on.html I recently received an interesting "unofficial" update today from a senior Hong Kong Transport Department official that I will now share. As some of you may know, in the past, one main reason cited for not allowing private cars for residents of Park Island has been that the Transport Department had concerns about the effect on traffic congestion over the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Kap Shui Mun Br

Check out these bands who recently performed at Cafe Roma on Park Island.  You probably wouldn't find people this cooling living in Discovery Bay...  WHITE NOISE JOE STEINER & JAMES BEETON - Acustic Gig Also some of Park Island's female talent visible in the first clip - :)

In a post in 2012 I wrote about plans to significantly expand/replenish the main beach on Ma Wan. See : http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.com/2012/09/ma-wans-tung-wan-beach-to-be-extended.html  Map of proposed Tung Wan Beach replenishment project. I spoke to the Department of Leisure and Cultural Services today for an update, as the previous plans were to commence works in March or April of 2014, and so far I have not see the beach grow. The latest plans are now for works to be commenced in March/April of 2015, with the project to be finished by the end of 2015. So, what caused the delay? Well it's typical Government bureaucracy, (as is often the case). In a nutshell, the volume of sand to be added is so large that it will "significantly alter the shoreline and high-water mark". In essence under some Ordinances, this is considered to be "creating new land". So even though the Department of Leisure and Cultural Services has approved the pro

My name is Mimi and I found your blog page and learned many great things about Park Island in Ma Wan. I would love to move in this place as my office in causeway bay but I need flatmate to share the place. I have searched many website but so far could not find any particular flatmate who want to stay in ma wan. It is such a shame that many people don't really know how great the lifestyle they have in Ma Wan and always look for the flats in Hong Kong Island even there is 24hrs easy access from park island to central. As I found that you have  over 20 years of living experience in Hong Kong and resident in Park Island, I am begging for your support if possible. If you know any information about where I can find a flatmate to live in Ma Wan, pls kindly reply me at  goaotearoa@gmail.com Thank you for taking your time to reading this. Best Regards Mimi

These photos show the space and size you can get in some of the Park Island apartments. This apartment is 1532 square feet, with a rooftop of around 600 square feet. Combined with amazing views, and high quality yet minimalist renovations, you can create an extremely comfortable home ideal for people who desire both space, peace, views, and easy access to a host of facilities on the island. The views of the bridge are also stunning, especially in the evenings. The bank valuation for these type of apartments is between 18-20 million, depending on which block they are in, although agents will tell you that you well need to pay over 20 million to get one as all sellers are asking beyond bank valuation. Further, publicity and interest from buyers and possible tenants of the AnaCapri apartments on Ma Wan is creating new interest and awareness in apartments such as a the one featured here, as such people inevitably view and consider these once they have come to Park Island to view